May 20, 2007
HANOI, Vietnam -
Fact of the Day:Hanoi means “bend in the river” and indicates
the city’s location along the Red River that flows from China. The
city has been Vietnam’s capital since A.D. 1010 and before
receiving its current name, the capital city was also known as
Thang Long or “City of the Ascending Dragon.”
The St. John’s volleyball team arrived in Hanoi Sunday morning
to begin the second leg of its historic journey throughout
Vietnam.
The Red Storm checked out of the New Epoch Hotel in Ho Chi Minh
City early in the morning and loaded a bus full of luggage and
souvenirs. At 9:15 a.m., the squad, along with the St. John’s
psychology students and University faculty, departed Ho Chi Minh
City. Two hours later, the group deplaned in Hanoi.
The outskirts of Hanoi is quite different than what the team was
used to in Ho Chi Minh City. There are lots of flat, green plains
with lakes and cows walking along side the road. Before checking
into the hotel, the entire group stopped for a buffet lunch at Sen
Restaurant just about 10 minutes outside the city. After lunch, the
party checked into the Hanoi Horison Hotel but did not have much
time to rest as they had to quickly return to the buses for a city
tour. One of the first sites the group saw was the presidential
palace and Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum.
The first official stop on the tour was the Temple of
Literature. The temple is composed of two distinct areas – Van
Mien, a temple built in 1070 to worship the Chinese philosopher
Confucius; and Quoc Tu Giam, an elite institute established in 1076
to teach the doctrines of Confucius. The group walked around and
listened to stories about what each of the sections meant. While
walking around the temple, assistant coach Li Chen translated the
Chinese writings for the group, helping them get a better
understanding for the intellectual and philosophical history of the
temple.
“The architecture of the temple is beautiful,” said Alanna Rutan
(San Diego, Calif.). “It is really interesting how the many
buildings and statutes have survived throughout the years.”
The next stop on the trip was the Hoa Lo Prison, also known as
the Hanoi Hilton. When the team first heard they would visit this
site, they thought they were going to see a hotel. But, the Hanoi
Hilton housed political prisoners beginning in 1896 when it was
constructed by the French. The Vietnamese took over the prison in
1954 and used it to house prisoners of war from 1964 to 1973. U.S.
senator John McCain was one of the prison’s many famous
inmates.
“It was very interesting to see the history and how the
prisoners were kept,” said Casie Brooks (Victorville, Calif.) “My
dad told me about the prison before I left, so I was excited to
actually get to see it. It was surreal to see the cells and how the
prisoners were treated.”
After taking numerous photos in the prison, the group went to its
third destination – a cyclo tour of the old quarter. It was a
relaxing opportunity for the travelers to see the city from a
different point of view. Individuals were biked around the old part
of the city and then dropped off at the West Lake for dinner. With
the dinner cruise complete, the Red Storm and its travel partners
returned to the hotel. Most of the volleyball team visited the
pool, while the rest chose to go to bed early.
The Red Storm will continue to explore the capital city on
Monday and will then travel five hours north for the final leg of
the trip, an overnight cruise through one of the world’s oldest
heritage sites, Ha Long Bay.
Before heading to bed, Latoya Blunt (Vacaville, Calif.) checked
in with RedStormSports.com to post the team’s first daily journal
entry from Hanoi. To view her postcard, click here.
Chào buổi tối
(Good night!)