A Morning in Hanoi

leboughton
2 days ago
2 min read

The small group tour portion of my trip started last night in Hanoi, Vietnam. We have 9 people in the group at this time, 3 couples from Canada, 1 from Ireland, and little ole me. It’s a really nice group of people, led by Hahn (Happy) Tran, a local Vietnamese woman. We met and went for dinner and drinks last night, but started the tour in earnest this morning, with a scooter tour around Hanoi. The scooter drivers were all women…awesome way to support the local/female economy. Here is a shot of all of us at one of our stops:

And me with my driver, Quan:

It’s hard to capture just how crazy the vehicular traffic is here. Lanes don’t really exist and there are not a lot of traffic lights. Scooters carry whole families and freight, and weave like crazy among the cars and busses and bikes. Here are a few still shots to give you a sense:

We stopped at several places along the way…I’ll just highlight a couple.

First was the notorious Hai Lo Prison, aka the Hanoi Hilton. It was originally built by the French colonists to hold and torture Vietnamese rebels in horrible conditions. They evidently used the guillotine constantly.

The Vietnamese took control from the French in 1954. Then during the Vietnam War (or the American War, as the Vietnamese call it) it was used to hold pilots shot down over Hanoi, and other prisoners of war (including John McCain). The conditions during this time were much more humane. The last image below is the remains of a B52 that was shot down in 1972, preserved to remind the younger generation of this part of the country’s history.

I found the whole experience profoundly moving. I think it hit especially hard given the way our current government is detaining immigrants in inhumane conditions. There was a beautiful memorial in the prison. I lit incense and silently asked for forgiveness for our current and past transgressions.

On a lighter note, we also stopped at a local market which sold all kinds of food including live chickens, eels, frogs, fish, meat, fruits and vegetables of all kinds. It was packed with people on foot, bikes, and scooters. Unreal.