Con Dao Prison becomes an attractive tourist destination in Vietnam

The Argentine newspaper "Clarin" recently published an article about Con Dao Prison, which was famous during the resistance wars against France and the US as "hell on earth" and has now become an attractive tourist destination in Vietnam.

According to a VNA reporter in Buenos Aires, an article published on the Travel page of the newspaper "Clarin" emphasized that Con Dao is an archipelago located off the southeast coast of Vietnam. For more than a century, this place has been known as "hell on earth".

However, Con Dao is currently making efforts to develop tourism based on its potential strengths of pristine beaches and primeval forests, as well as historical values.

Con Dao Prison.

The newspaper noted that Con Son, the largest island in the Con Dao archipelago, formerly known as Poulo Condor, is now a peaceful place. Every year, Con Son welcomes about 50,000 tourists to visit its pristine beaches, coral reefs, tropical forests or to observe the sanctuary of sea turtles. In addition, visitors can also witness the "ghosts" of a very recent past behind the walls of the island's prisons.

With a mere 52 square kilometers, this island once had 8 prisons. When the Vietnam War ended in 1975, the prison area was closed. From its construction by the French colonialists in 1862 until 1975, 200,000 prisoners, mostly political prisoners, were detained on Con Dao, of whom 20,000 died.

After the French defeat in the Dien Bien Phu Campaign in 1954, Con Dao fell into the hands of the South Vietnamese government and continued to be used to detain prisoners. In the late 1990s, Con Dao was restored as a museum, recording the brutal crimes committed by the French colonialists as well as the American puppet government.

According to VNA