A mausoleum for a man who wanted cremation

We’re up at 10am today in a race to see the embalmed corpse of Ho Chi Minh, the famous 20th Century “emperor” of Vietnam and oft-claimed founder of its modern constitution. Today is the last day before his body is flown to Russia for “maintenance” and we are lucky to make it just in time thanks to a speedy single motorbike taxi which manages to squeeze us both on.
The process of filing past the body is full of typical Communist pomp and circumstance and red tape. First we have to leave all our bags and cameras in two separate places, then walk about half a mile along a red carpet flanked by uniformed guards. Inside the concrete Mausoleum itself it is deathly quiet and dimly lit. It is interesting to see the old fellow in his box but it seems a shame because it was done against his dying wishes; he wanted to be cremated.
Actually it is the nearby museum of his life which is more interesting. It is clear he was quite a special man who saw Vietnam’s place in the world order and knew how to get his patriotic people to stand up and fight for peace and independence. This eventually led them into the two wars: the French war of Indo-China and the American war. He led his people to defeat the French and into the beginning of the American war where he appealed quite graciously for peace to the American people in a letter he wrote to the national press. Unfortunately our lesson in his life is ended prematurely since the museum closes abruptly at 11am. It’s a shame because of all the museums we’ve visited this one is especially creatively done and is one place I’d love to revisit.
We try a market lunch again but are less happy with today’s choice: the beer comes from a murky keg and we just don’t know if we can trust the food.
Later after an afternoon nap in the hotel, we end up at a fancy Italian restaurant and follow a good meal with an ice cream from Fanny’s Ice Cream Parlour and a leisurely walk around the beautiful lake near by.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 31st, 2004 at 10:41 am and is filed under Vietnam. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.