Report of participated tour ()

The following report will present information I have collected during the tour and from other
sources, which will be kept short and relevant to save time. Every piece of data and information
will be placed with chronological order as the presented tour.
Tour #1: Hoan Kiem Lake – Hoa Lo Prison - French Quarter
Hanoi is the capital of Vietnam, with a history longer than 1000 years and possessed nearly
every element which builds up into a miniaturize version of Vietnam. Some have claimed that
Hanoi is the best place to visit to experience the most of what this country has to offer should a
tourist’s schedule with a tight time budget. And within its heart is arguably the most well-
recognized symbol by every Vietnamese – Hoan Kiem Lake, from which the tour began.
Destination 1: Hoan Kiem Lake.
With an average depth of around 1.2m, reaching 2m in places and its overall dimension are
640m long and 220m wide, with a perimeter of 1750m, this place seems as a small, seemingly
insignificant pond of water. But in actual, it is one of Vietnam’s most famous destination, with a
history as old as the city, with stories, legends, historic and cultural values as well as the poetic
scenery surrounding it, Hoan Kiem Lake is the living proof of Hanoi’s rich history.
The lake itself is well-known for the legend of king Le Loi and the magic sword. It was told that
Vietnam was under the invasion of the China’s Ming Dynasty when the sword was found. A
good friend of Le Loi, Le Than, found the blade of the sword whilst net-fishing. The blade was
brought to Le Loi himself. The was an inscription on it, writing “Thuận Thiên” (As the god’s will).
A month later, he found the handle of the sword within the jungle of Lam Son with the same
inscription on it. The two pieces fits as if they were puzzle pieces, and with it helps, he and his
army brought defeat to the invaders. Later, during a cruise on the lake, Le Loi encountered Kim
Quy – the golden turtle, who emerged from the waters to ask the king to return the sword to
Long Vuong (Dragon King). He did what was ask, and returned the sword. In honor of this
event, the lake was renamed from Thuy Vong as Hoan Kiem, meaning Return the Sword.
What make this legend even more concrete is what lies beneath the green waters. The turtle in
the legend was believe to be an individual of one of the largest and rarest specie of fresh water
turtle in the world, scientifically known as the Rafetus Swinhoei, which was later renamed as the
Rafetus leloi, in honor of the king. For the general public, it is known as the Red River giant soft-
shell turtle. There is only known to be a few of this specie left in the wild. In Hoan Kiem Lake,
there was believe to be two most recent individuals, which are sadly now both deceased. The
first one was killed by accident, under the hands of a local fisherman, which is now still
preserved in the Jade Temple, weighing up to 250kg and as long as 2,1m. The last one died in
January 19 , 2016 due to natural causes. They were the living proof of the legend, making the
th

history of the lake and the city a lot more intriguing.  

The Jade Temple

Placed lovely on a small oasis to the north of the lake is the Jade Temple. This cultural siite is a
compound of different architectures and sighting. From the entrance, the first thing you will
encounter is the Thap But (the Pen Tower), built on a base of a miniature rock mountain of 4
meters, based on the idea of the confician scholar Nguyen Van Sieu. The tower is shaped as a
pen, with a measured height of 33m and on it is an inscription “Ta Thanh Thien” which roughly
translated as “to write on the blue sky”.
Move in a bit closer, is the gate of Dai Nghien, which is shaped as an ink tray. Immediately, you
can easily see the gate of Long Mon - Ho Bang (The Dragon and The Tiger). These are two of
VIetnamese sacred animals, with the Dragon being among one of the four spiritual animals
(which includes the Crane, The Turtle, The Unicorn and THe Dragon). It was said that the king
Ly Thai To had chosen this land as the capital Thang Long because it had the “the rong cuon ho
ngoi” (the stance of the rolling dragon and the sitting tiger. A bit further is the third gate, red-
painted and built with a roof. The architecture is meant to be an in tray (or ink pot) that suites the
size of the giant pen of the Thap But.
The gates leads to The Huc bridge, one of the most poetic scenery of Hanoi, with its signature
red color, in contrast to the green colors of the water. The name of the bridge means “the
morning sunlight”. The bridge connects to the well-known Jade Temple, the main attraction. The
history behind it is truly amazing. But to keep short, the temple doesn’t have an exact year of
construction, but due to its deterioration, it was rebuilt many times, and in the 19th century,
Nguyen Van Sieu carried out its latest renovation, that formed what it is today. The temple was
dedicated to general Tran Hung Dao, the man who participated in bringing the defeat to the
Mongolian invaders during the 13th century, and some other gods and historical figures. In side
there is also the body of the lake’s turtle, which died during the 1950s.

Hoa Lo Prison
Hoa Lo Prison is known as one of the most gruesome and absurd war remnants and historical
museum in South East Asia. Built in 1896, just 4 years after the “living hell” on Con Dao, and
covered more than 12000 km2, Hoa Lo Prison, or the Maison Central in French, is the largest
and most fortified prison back then. But nowadays, only a small portion of 2000km2 remains to
serve cultural and historical purposes
The prison was meant mostly for political prisoners and revolts. The compound was split into 4
sections:
The A and B sector were dedicated to the prisoners on trial, important prisoners and prisoners
who violated the prison’s regulation.
Sector C for French and foreign prisoners
And sektor D for prisoners on death sentence
The prison was originally designed to detain 600 prisoners, but actual numbers went up to 2000.
Crowdly confined in small spaces, with limitation of movement due to restrictions by cuff on
prisoners feet, and harsh, unhygienic living conditions and brutal methods of torture as well as
interrogation has brought sufferings and even death to political and revolutionary activist at the
time.
Construction was meticulously and attentively dedicated to create what is known to most people
as hell: doors, locks, materials, … was shipped from France, dark, small cellars and solitary
confinement, walls covered with tar, … And most horrifyingly, the Cachot, “the hell of all hell”.
Prisoners to be locked up here are usually convicted with the worst of crimes. Solitary
confinement, little to no natural sunlight, all living activity must be done at the same room, steep
floor, … took a toll on its victims. Also within the prison is a guillotine, a middle-aged weapon
design to bring terror to the prisoners, and the population of Vietnam.
After the August Revolution and the victory of the Vietnamese against the French colonist
marked by the Genovia accord, this place was used as a revolutionary education center, and
during the period of 1954 to 1973, a prison of the North Vietnam to detain American prisoners,
mostly pilot in planes shot down by Vietnamese soldiers, and convicted intelligents of the South
during this period. During this area, the prison was nicknamed by American soldiers as the
“Hanoi Hilton”.

The Hanoi Opera House

Hanoi Opera House finished its construction on 9th, December 1911, situated on No1 Trang
Tien street, close to Vietnam’s museum of History and Hoan Kiem lake based on the Opera
Garnier in Paris. And ever since it has been an integral center of art and culture of the city, as
well as its history values. Back at the time, it received major backlash and mixed opinions, due
to its costing over 2 million franc. The opera house carries influences of opera houses in
Southern France as well as styles inspired by  neoclassicism and renaissance. During the final
years of the 20th century, it was horribly deteriorated, and later renovated to become what it is
today/

St Joseph’s Cathedral
St Joseph’s Cathedral was constructed in 1886, for religious activities of the French in Hanoi,
based on Gothic architecture, popular in Europe during the 12th century as well as the
Renaissance. Similar to other churches in VIetnam, it was localized with sculptings and
paintings. On both side of the cathedral are two bell towers higher than 30m, with two cross on
top. On the square in front of the cathedral is an iron statue of Mother Maria. Until now, it is still
used by Catholic organizations in Vietnam