Hanoi Part 1: Politics and Propaganda

We departed last Friday morning to Hanoi, Vietnam, which is only an hour and a half flight from Hong Kong.  With three days to spend as we pleased in this city, we were eager to soak up the history and culture and food, but also take time to relax and be pampered during this quick weekend getaway.

Three main themes threaded their way into our trip, and the immediate, most compelling and interesting observations centered around what I'll loosely categorize as the political environment of north Vietnam.

We realized very quickly that the North Vietnamese are not rolling out any welcome mats or red carpets for tourists or the Americans.  It was a refreshing change from Hong Kong, where expats are treated with deference, politeness or at least a studied indifference.  In Hanoi, the locals shot us some surly looks as we bumbled our way across the streets, honked at us as necessary, but otherwise generally ignored us as much as possible.  When I went to an alleyway and tried to order food, the woman looked at me blankly, then ignored us completely.  When Michael tried to tell the women we wanted food, they just shook their heads and shrugged.  No English.

I know it sounds perverse, but it was a refreshing change.  As Michael pointed out, it was also really nice to feel like we were quiet observers of a city and its culture - unlike other places we've been (like Luang Prabang), the locals here were not doing anything out of the ordinary to cater to tourists.  (I wondered how much of the palpable hostility was due to remnants of the Vietnam War, but articles (see here and here) indicate that Vietnamese (the youth anyway) are very pro-America.  So it makes me think that this may be just how the Hanoians do. We noticed that the locals seemed kind of grumpy toward each other as well.) We quite liked it.

We started our sightseeing at the Hoa Lo prison, which translates as "fiery furnace" or "hell hole" and is now a museum.  This prison was built by the French in the late 1880s when Vietnam was still a part of French Indochina, and was known then as "Maison Centrale".  The jail held Vietnamese female and male political prisoners that sought independence from French rule until 1954, when Vietnam gained its independence. The exhibits covering this time period in the prison exhort the glory of the revolution, the courage of the independent fighters, the defiance of the political prisoners, the wickedness and depravity of the French.  You get the idea.

The prison is probably more famously known as the "Hanoi Hilton," a name bestowed upon it when the prison held American prisoners of war (mostly pilots), including John McCain, during the Vietnam War.   I admit this was one of the main reasons we were intrigued and eager to check this place out.

Walking through the sections of this jail reading the descriptions, watching the video clips and looking at the pictures, I could not help but feel shock and anger at the blatantly false descriptions of the North Vietnamese treatment of the American POWs.  Accounts of brutality and torture are pretty well documented among the American prison survivors, but to read the wall displays at the prison, you would think the Americans played basketball and celebrated Christmas all the days and nights of their stay at the Hanoi Hilton.  I do not know how McCain managed to return for a diplomatic visit.

The contrast between the Vietnamese display and the American display was too incongruous and the propaganda, while fascinating, just too much to bear.  How is one supposed to believe that the French beat their prisoners, served up infested food, and used the guillotine -- and then in the next breath believe that the Vietnamese did not interrogate or torture but instead treated the Americans like friends and family?  The lack of nuance or subtlety in this treatment of history was breathtaking.  

Here are some choice bits, mostly taken from the infamous "blue room" where the initial interrogations and torture / beating of American prisoners took place:

"During the war, the national economy was difficult but Vietnamese government had created the best living conditions to US pilots for they had a stable life during the temporary detention period."  Mmm hm.

 John McCain's suit and outfit, but McCain has stated that those boots don't look like his and the name tag isn't right.

 This was the best -- the Camp Regulations policy:

"American servicemen participating in the war of aggression by U.S. administration in Vietnam and caught in the act while perpetrating barbarous crimes against the Vietnamese land and people, should have been duly punished according to their criminal acts; but the Government and people of Vietnam, endowed with noble and humanitarian traditions, have given those captured American servicemen the opportunity to benefit a lenient and generous policy by affording them a normal life in the detention camps or practical conditions of Viet-Nam permit it and conforming to the situation in which the war is still on."

 Backgammon, leisure reading, cards, a volleyball net, a guitar and tennis shoes - just another fun day at torture camp.

While walking around the Old Quarter of the city, observing the vibrant, bustling culture of restaurants and shops, or when reading about Vietnam's phenomenal growth in the newspapers, it's easy to forget that Vietnam is officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, a single party state governed by the Communist Party of Vietnam.  Well, we became very much attuned to the government's presence in the lives of its citizens when we awoke at 6 A.M. on Saturday morning to a voice lecturing over the loudspeakers on the street, followed by music.  It probably lasted half an hour.  It turns out the government does this every morning in each district, to make important announcements and also to encourage citizens to be clean, work hard, do their morning exercises, etc.  Just a a little reminder that big brother is always watching you.

Other little things reminded us of the state presence.  We didn't go to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum because I'd read that there were really long lines.  (As fascinated as I am by history, I don't feel the need to wait in line for an hour or two in order to see an embalmed body for ten to fifteen seconds.)  However, the hero worship that surrounds Ho Chi Minh is prevalent.  His name is everywhere, his image is on the currency... it's clear he is revered (or at least meant to be - and civilians best not forget that).

Walking around our hotel at night, we also realized that we were right next to a bunch of official looking buildings.  The streets were wide and tree lined, perfect for the pomp and circumstance that you would associate with a Communist country.  (I always think of Scheisskopf and his obsession with parading in Catch-22).  There were many signs in front of the buildings, but unfortunately they were all in Vietnamese.

At night, we wondered if there was a curfew at midnight because everything shut down lickety split starting around 11 p.m.  After some poking around online, it seems that there was such a thing back in 2001, but I'm not sure if the official curfew is still in place.  Given the casual but ever-present government, I do believe that the "fun police" would patrol the city late at night to ensure that bars are closed by midnight.  We old farts were certainly not out and about at that time to observe it first hand.

I'm hoping we can go to Ho Chi Minh soon to compare and contrast the cities. I'm also curious to learn more about the dynamics within Vietnam -- for example, if any tensions linger between the south and the north.