Back on the tourist trail again this morning with a visit to the infamous Hoa La prison, or the Hanoi ‘Hilton’ as it was nicknamed by American POW.

The French called the prison Maison Centrale, ‘Central House’, which was the name given to prisons for dangerous or long sentence detainees in France. It was located near Hanoi’s French Quarter where a number of other bureaucratic buildings are located, including the Police HQ.

The prison was originally used by the French for political prisoners and later by North Vietnam for US prisoners during the Vietnam War. 

The prison was demolished during the 1990s, although its gatehouse remains a museum.

At its peak the prison held more than 2000 people, with its inmates held in subhuman conditions and it became a symbol of colonialist exploitation and of the bitterness of the Vietnamese towards the French.

Many of the future leading figures in Communist North Vietnam and Vietnam Minh spent time in Maison Centrale during the 1930s and 1940s.

The Hỏa Lò was one site used by the North Vietnamese Army to house, torture, mistreat, and interrogate captured servicemen, mostly American pilots shot down during bombing raids.

The only part of the prison that exists today is the museum formed from the former gatehouse. The displays mainly show the prison during the French colonial period, including the guillotine room, still with original equipment, and the quarters for male and female Vietnamese political prisoners.

After the interesting tour we went for a further wander around the core part of the old French Quarter and visited the old Palace of Justice and the Metropolitan Hotel opposite, which is one of the most magnificent and beautiful buildings in the area. Around this district are a number of luxury retailers targeting the wealthy (sadly not us!).

In amongst these prestige old buildings are newer office towers, where the pavements outside are full of motorcycles parked in lines for the office workers.

Once back at the hotel, it was up to the roof top pool for some more time in the sun, and to enjoy the views across the Old Quarter.

As this is our last night in Hanoi, we went out for a final Vietnamese meal at Tung’s kitchen in the heart of the Old Quarter.

Such great service, and fantastic food all for less than £6!

After dinner we went for an evening walk around the lake and stopped to watch the locals dancing/keeping fit. Such a great scene and a wonderful feeling of community.

We’ve had such a wonderful time in Hanoi and the rest of Vietnam over the last 6 weeks and would highly recommend visiting this incredible country. The sights, food, beaches and most importantly the people have really made it a special time during a travelling lull in our wider tour.

Tomorrow we fly to Bangkok for one night before moving on to Beijing. As mentioned we will be unable to continue with the blog during our 3 weeks in China due to restrictions on certain apps in the country. We will however be back with full details of our time there once we arrive in Hong Kong on the 31st August.