Travelog - A travel guide to Vietnam

Undoubtedly, Son La Prison is one of the most famous historic relics in Son La Province and a large number of tourists visit \”the hell on earth\” during French colonialism to listen to the stories about the struggle and bravery of communists.

The French colonialists built the prison on the initial area of 500m² on the top of Khau Ca Hill in the center of the town of Son La in 1908, mainly for confining common criminals.

Frightened by the ever-surging movement, the French expanded the prison by 1,500m² in 1930 and a further 170m² in 1940 to detain more revolutionary soldiers.

The expansion showed the intention of the French colonialists to torture the bodies and the revolutionary spirits of prisoners and then gradually kills them in individual or collective cells 3m deep in the ground.

All the cells were built with a stone bed with a short and narrow cemented surface and a fetter to prevent prisoners from escape.

The prison, which was called Le Penitencier de Son La in the French language, was also enlarged to receive more prisoners including females, but the French colonialists’ scheme did not come true. &

The French colonialists converted the steel prison into a hell on earth and confined 1,007 political prisoners between 1930 and 1945.

The harsh weather, bad conditions and fatal illnesses took the lives of many communists, though the French colonialists were never able to ground down and stamp out the strong-willed struggle of revolutionaries.

Documents say it was the steel prison that lit the revolutionary flame all over the northwest region of Vietnam during the time.

The killing place was also considered as a great school to train and provide excellent communists such as Tran Huy Lieu, To Hieu, Le Duan, Truong Chinh, Nguyen Luong Bang, Van Tien Dung, Le Duc Tho and many other brave independence fighters for the Vietnamese revolution.

Nowadays, visitors to the prison can listen to stories about the numerous revolutionary movements led by the Vietnamese Communist Party from the guides of the famous historic relic.

Though many cells of the prison were ruined by bombings during wars, the relic contains evidence of the savageness and the wicked torture of the French colonialist region to wear down the lives of political prisoners and Vietnamese patriots.

The guide also tells visitors of touching stories about in-prison activities of Vietnamese prisoners such as mutual help, solidarity, revolutionary propagation, and struggles for prisoners’ rights.

Nowadays in the area of the prison stands tall the peach-tree of To Hieu, who was elected chief of the Party Committee at Son La Prison in May 1940.

Next to the prison is the Son La Museum, where visitors can gain not only insight into the bravery of communist fighters but also cultural diversity of ethic minority groups and artifacts found in the mountainous province.

The province, about 380km northeast of Hanoi, has many other tourist attractions, including Tham Ke Cave, craft villages and farms, and the hot stream of Mong Village.