Video produced/edited by Niven & Dylan

Howdy Americans,

Today, we finally slept more hours than in past days.  We have been waking up early, like 6 a.m., but not this morning; we woke up around 9 a.m.  The most important things that I have to do before I start my day are, of course, I had to brush my teeth and fix my messy, curly hair. 

Then, we walked to a place called SJ House.  It had different kinds of sandwiches, and those sandwiches looked so good.  It was hard to decide on a sandwich, but I finally picked garlic butter with a fried egg sandwich and a passion fruit drink.  It tasted delicious, and it was not too light or heavy.  It was just a perfect breakfast to start my day.

After that, we walked to the Hoa Lo Prison.  It used to be a “trading” village, but the French colonialists invaded the village and changed it into a prison.  The French colonialists built a prison.  It was heartbreaking to see those people who went through worse pain than I could imagine to experience that pain.

The Americans were arrested and put in prison.  They were treated well in the jail like the guard would give them cigarettes, allow them to write a letter, and get Christmas gifts.  At the same time, Vietnam prisoners were treated cruelly and tortured.

The prisoners suffered 27 different punishments for only a year, from June 30, 1920, to June 30, 1921.  They had to sit on a hard floor with wood and chains on their feet, and all prisoners had to sit close through hot and cold weather.  The prison doesn’t have an air conditioner or heat through the weather.  In cold weather, they sit together close to make themselves warmer. The prisoners who broke the prison’s rule had to stay in a cell where they had to poop and pee right there after they ate their food. 

Around 105 or more prisoners escaped through sewer tunnels, and the sewer tunnel was so small that I couldn’t fit into it.  The prisoners did not have good food to eat, and the food was not enough for everyone to be satisfied and full.  So they were starving and many diseases spread around the prison.  The prisoners became thinner from that, and they were thin enough to get into tunnels.  It shows how much they suffered inside prison.

After escaping prison, they still stood and spoke up for their people.  Most people would not do that because they experienced the worst that they should not have experienced, but they did it even if there could be a risk of returning to prison. 

We were hungry for lunch, so we walked to a coffee and food place called ‘Ambrosia Coffee & Brunch’ for our lunch.  Many of us have different croissant sandwiches like fried egg, avocado, and bacon.  After that, we walked around the night markets on the street to see different things, clothes, and other things we wanted to buy.  My water bottle’s cap fell onto the street, and I couldn’t get it with that many aggressive motorcycles that went faster than in other cities we had been to.  It survived with a small scratch through two vans and was hit by a motorcycle.  Then, I finally got it after a motorcycle hit.  Whew!

We are so excited to get on an overnight bus with a bed to the last city we haven’t visited in Vietnam—SAPA!

Good night Y’ALL,

McKenna