Years and years ago when I was working in Hong Kong I went over to San Jose for business once. That was my first time in California and I arrived a couple days earlier to spend the weekend there. I was told by many to visit Alcatraz, the worldwide infamous high security prison in San Francisco. Unfortunately, you have to book tickets quite far in advance and I never made it. Fast forward a decade later, I went to San Francisco for holiday, this time I made sure I got into jail.
THE ROCK
The only way to prison Alcatraz is via the official tours. Alcatraz Island is 2km away from San Francisco. You have to catch a ferry across the choppy waters of San Francisco bay. This short journey for us tourist made the difference between life and death for many inmates at The Rock.
Alcatraz Island used to be a fort in the mid 19th century and formed part of the defence line to protect Calfornia during the height of the gold rush. In 1934 it became a maximum security escape proof prison. It was known to be the toughest prison in US, housing some of the most notorious inmates. Here's my first proper glimpse of the infamous prison.
The main prison has three storeys and four cell blocks, A to D. The corridors inside the building were named after well known US places - Michigan Avenue, Broadway, Times Square, Park Avenue, Sunset Strip. Given that most inmates spent so much time or even their whole life at The Rocks, perhaps this helped them to feel they were still in America.
INSIDE PRISON
The cost of the ticket included a self guided tour of the prison and a walk around the grounds outside. It was a bit surreal stepping inside such an infamous prison, and frankly it felt a little eerie. If I remember correctly, this is where the inmates were 'processed' once they arrived. You can see the showerheads in the center. Some years later after this trip, I went to the Auschwitz Concentration Camp in Poland, I remember seeing similar facilities. People passing through Auschwitz had no idea what their fate was, but at least here, the inmates knew why and how long they'd be here.
The whole place was pretty big and people wandered around themselves, learning about the place and life at Alcatraz from the audio guided tour. It was pretty cool, because you didn't have to hang around with a big group and wait for people or try to elbow to the front of the group to hear the tour guide.
Privacy wasn't big on the agenda in a high security prison, neither was space. Each cell was about 9 feet by 5 feet, which to be honest, for some countries is considered quite spacious. These were all en suite... but with no privacy and using salt water to flush the toilet, the conditions weren't exactly five star. But then, this was built in the 1930's and it was a tough prison, what do you expect?
It certainly scared the hell out of me!!!!
The inmates weren't the only ones living on The Rock. The Wardens, and there were four of them throughout the 30 years Alcatraz was in operation, also lived on the island. Of course, their living conditions were much better, and they lived at the Warden's House, located next to the Lighthouse. This mansion had something like 18 rooms and only the most trusted inmates got to work there. The Warden's House was burnt down by activist in 1970 when they occupied the island after Alcatraz was closed down.
This is San Francisco from The Rocks. It's probably the view inmates got to look at when they were allowed out from their cells. So near yet so far. I thought the black and white image suited the bleak mode that they probably felt.
SOUVENIERS
On a lighter note, I came away from Alcatraz with something fun. I got these two red and black magnets from the souvenir store. These are prison regulations and I thought they were perfect as fridge magnets.
The black one is Regulation #5
You are entitled to food, clothing, shelter and medical attention. ANYTHING ELSE YOU GET IS A PRIVILEGE
And the red one is Regulation #22
If you make GROUNDLESS COMPLAINTS for the purpose of creating dissatisfaction and or stirring up trouble.. you will be subject to DISCIPLINARY ACTION
They may not have been funny for the prisoners at Alcatraz, but I thought they were so funny!!