Tran Xuan Bach, an office worker in Hanoi, recently took a night tour of the Hoa Lo Prison built by the French in 1896. Bach learnt about the tour from a post on Facebook fan page of the Management Board of Hoa Lo Prison Relic. He and some of his colleagues registered for the tour of what used to be a scary place and called "Hell on Earth." The facility was also famously dubbed the "Hanoi Hilton" by American POWs incarcerated there. Before starting the tour, each of the visitors were given their own headphones so they could easily follow the instructions. Following their tour guide, they entered the main gate of the prison and made their way to the men's collective detention camp, the male political prison camp and the dungeon. The prison space was dark and stuffy, and it was still a frightening and emotional experience. "Just standing there, I felt suffocated. I really couldn't imagine how Vietnamese soldiers lived and overcame this harshness in the past," Bach said. The … [Read more...] about Horrors, heroes: night tour of Hanoi prison revisits history
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Moc Chau glass bridge recognized by Guinness as world’s longest
On Saturday, a representative from 26 Moc Chau Tourism JSC (L), the investor of Bach Long (White Dragon) glass bridge, received a certificate from Guinness World Records, the world’s authority on record-breaking achievements. With this official recognition, the Bach Long bridge has unseated a 530-meter glass bridge outside China’s Guangdong Province, which was recognized by Guinness as the world's longest in 2020. The Bach Long bridge also set a second Guinness world record as it has the world's longest glass-bottom cliff side path measured at 327 meters. Inaugurated on the Reunification Day (April 30) this year, the bridge is suspended some 150 meters above a lush green jungle valley. The glass-floored bridge is the latest tourist attraction in a highlands town well known for its undulating green tea hills and ethnic minority villages. At the foot of the bridge is Muong Mooc Cave, also … [Read more...] about Moc Chau glass bridge recognized by Guinness as world’s longest