A traveller's tale....

Con Dao: From "Earthly Hell" to Paradise

I am just back from the peaceful, fresh air of beautiful Con Dao island, to the exciting buzz of Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), Viet Nam.

Famous adventurer Marco Polo discovered Con Dao long before me, in 1294 in fact, when his boat came ashore to avoid a disastrous storm which had destroyed some of his fleet. Con Dao, an archipelago of 16 islands, was once known as Paulo Condore by early western sailors.

For me, it was a stunningly scenic 45 minute flight south from Saigon, and being there was very relaxing. Con Son is a neat little town, with well-kept streets and gardens, and yellow beaches surrounded by thick, green-forested mountains. There is a colourful underwater world of coral reefs to dive in, pearl farming, forest trails, and beautiful sunrises and sunsets from near-deserted beaches. It is one of the rare places visitors can see the turtle making its nest and laying its eggs on the beach at night. Here, there is a real sense of isolation from the busy, modern world.

The quiet isolation was exactly what I was seeking for some much-needed R&R at the end of my 11th year of tourist group leading for Intrepid in Viet Nam. For now at least, it is almost untouched by tourism. But it was not always such a paradise.

The quiet isolation was also just what the French colonialists were seeking and, in 1862, they began to build their notorious prison system on Con Dao. Here, they would brutally incarcerate, torture and murder patriotic Vietnamese who dared to resist French exploitation. For the prisoners, it was their "Earthly Hell", from which some would escape but most would not, except in death.

Later, in 1954, after the French were defeated by the Viet Minh, led by hero President Ho Chi Minh, they handed over their prisons to the US and their client regime in Saigon, to continue the "Earthly Hell", right up until Liberation Day, April 30, 1975. The next day, prisoners themselves rose up in unity with the triumphant Ho Chi Minh Campaign to free themselves, and their country.

My basic but comfortable resort accommodation was located right by some of those prisons, a constant poignant reminder of just where I was relaxing, looking over the beautiful blue-green sea.

For me, it was a sad, harrowing experience walking through just some of the many political prisons, including the especially inhuman "tiger cages". I don't think even I was quite expecting them to be so vast and horrible. Some have been restored, and some are being restored, but I think the most confronting are the ones left as they were, some still with the prisoners' writings and scratchings on the walls, and the lingering smell of human suffering and death, like it was just yesterday.

The diabolical horrors and cruelties of the past continue today in other places in the world, but we are usually deliberately kept oblivious to them (in both cases!).

I also visited the large, well-maintained Hang Duong martyrs' cemetery, peaceful under the forest of trees, the final resting place for so many Vietnamese national heroes and patriots who suffered so much on Con Dao. During the 113 years of this "Earthly Hell" alone, perhaps some 20,000 Vietnamese from all over the country - north, centre and south - died while incarcerated on Con Dao.

For many, the prison was also a revolutionary school, training a defiant generation with the strong will to fight for national salvation. Fortunately, many of those imprisoned on Con Dao lived to become important citizens and famous leaders of modern Viet Nam, including former prime minister Pham Van Dong, former president Ton Duc Thang, Le Duan, Phan Chau Trinh, Nguyen Van Linh, and diplomatic negotiator Le Duc Tho who signed the 1973 Paris Peace Agreement between Viet Nam and the USA, winning the Noble Peace Prize.

I particularly wanted to see the tomb of famous female hero Vo Thi Sau. Born in the south in 1933, she was a Viet Minh revolutionary against the French from the age of 14. She was the first Vietnamese woman to be sentenced to death and transported to Con Dao. Vo Thi Sau was imprisoned in the "tiger cages" at the tender age of 16, and executed on January 23, 1952, when she was only 19. Boldly, she faced her executioners in a white blouse so they could not fail to see her young blood shed for her country. Long ago, I read that even today there are always fresh flowers and incense on her tomb, and sure enough, so there were. Of course, I had to add my own, something I have been wanting to do for many years.

Rest in Peace - We Never Forget

Grave of Vietnamese heroine Vo Thi Sau on the island of Con Dao

Postage stamp marking the 50th Anniversary of the death of Vo Thi Sau

(I visited Con Dao from October 5-9, 2008)