St. John's University Athletics
St. John's Volleyball Arrives In Hanoi
5/20/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Volleyball
- St. John's Volleyball Travels To Vietnam
- Postcard: Greetings From Vietnam Part X
- Photo Gallery: St. John's vs. Japan
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.
Ch??o bu???i t???i
(Good night!)
??? Red Storm ???
