Megan and I first decided to travel to Hanoi in order to meet-up with two of our fellow volunteers. They each bought a motorbike, Vietnamese licenses, and biked cross country from HCM in the south---all the way up to Hanoi in northern Vietnam. Megan and I decided just to fly there to say goodbye to them before they flew home for good.
Megan and I arrived to Hanoi safety and then navigated our way throughout the city, ready to backpack our way around North Vietnam ( We saved a lot of money walking everywhere and refusing to take a taxi if we couldn't find our way. We looked like complete tourists because we constantly had a map stuck in our noses but hey, we saved money and learned the streets). Once in Hanoi we stayed at a hostel and met scores of other travelers who have been backpacking throughout Asia for months. It's very common for people in other countries to work, quit their jobs to travel, then work again, travel, ect. American obligations to work and school hinder many people to leave the country so the other backpackers are always surprised to see Americans in the hostels. I was nervous to stay in a hostel because they have a lot of negative connotations but for $7 a night (includes free breakfast and free beer on Sundays), the accommodations were cleaner and more comfortable than the college I'm in staying in HCM!
In Hanoi, Megan and I saw the Hỏa Ló prison. The prison was built in 1886 and originally run by the French before Vietnam gained its independence from colonialism, in 1945. The conditions were very, very poor and used for huge devices such as the guillotine, electric shock, whips ect. Prisoners, including women and their children, were chained to large slabs of concrete and fed diseased food. According to the museum, the Vietnamese prison reformed its policies to be more humane after French independence. However, I read up on the conditions that were portrayed in the museum and it seems like there are a lot of conflicting stories about how the US war veterans were treated.
Afterwards, Megan and I traveled to the Women's History museum. It described women's roles in street-vending, religion, marriage, child bearing, and fashion. For an example, street vending played a major in rebuilding HCM city after the war. Every street is lined with women cooking and/or selling food to people passing by. Many women leave their homes in the countryside to work and sell goods within the major cities to provide for their families--- they only return home a couple of times a year to see families.
So all-in-all, we had a great time in Hanoi. There are major differences that still exist between the North and the South such as language, culture, food ect. so it was interesting to experience it. Plus, the free beer on Sunday was a great plus ;)
Here are some pictures from Hanoi:
The view of the city from our Hostel
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| The classic motorbike |
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| During our downtime, we joined some backpackers traveling from all over the world and played Poker. We didn't want bet with money so we used Vietnamese co-co puffs =) |
Pictures taken from the Women's History Museum
