Stay true to the dreams of thy youth

Today we made our way over to the (in)famous Hanoi Hilton, a military prison built by the French in the late 1800s to deal with the Vietnamese fighters trying to throw off the French occupation. While the majority of the museum was dedicated to the Vietnamese imprisonment, a small two rooms mentioned its role during the Vietnam War (known as the American War here). Interestingly enough, walking in to these rooms and reading the descriptions of the prison, you would think these soldiers had an imprisonment at about the same level of harshness as that of Martha Stewart at Camp Cupcake...

Signs state that despite the American aggression, and although the Vietnamese should have punished these invaders, they instead provided them with clean conditions, basketball courts, books, and leisurelly time to hang out with their friends. Somehow I envisioned their imprisonment a little bit differently.

One of the rooms had the uniform worn by Senator John McCain when he was captured and imprisoned at this prison... I'm guessing his hair didn't turn white in his mid-30s due to his leisurely time in the courtyard of this prison... Anyways, as we were looking at the memorabilia in the museum, a white lady came through and started making funny noises by McCain's uniform. I thought she was crying, until I noticed that she was laughing. She said it was so funny to see his picture and uniform... Now as a disclaimer, most of you probably know that I'm no big fan of the Vietnam War (or the current war (or president)), but to laugh at a prisoner's imprisonment and torture... I was surprisingly pissed, and left the room.

And, in a cruel twist of irony... in the late 1990s, as Vietnam allowed further outside investment in Vietnam, they decided to tear down three forths of the prison to make room for a large office building... Tomorrow we leave for Halong Bay!!! If you don't know what that is, imagine that perfect beach scene you see in brochures with spiring mountains rising out of the sea... we'll be there!