Maison Centrale is known in the US as the Hanoi Hilton and is what the Vietnamese used to call Hoa Lo, "fiery oven". Much of it has been demolished, but just enough has been kept as a tourist attraction--as an important historical relic.
Hoa Lo has an established place on the tourist train in Hanoi, and it tends to be the place most Americans ask about when they hear I have been to Vietnam, the way Vietnamese are asked if they saw the Statue of Liberty after they visit the US.
Hoa Lo was built by the French to jail Vietnamese, something which many Americans do not realize.
In addition to the experience of touring the prison in the sweltering heat--a truly humbling experience--I can also recommend a view from the eighth-floor-or-so air conditioned Australian sports bar in the glass and chrome skyscraper across the street.
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