Last full day in Vietnam and only full day in Ha Noi. We made the most of it, beginning at the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum Complex. My intent was to visit the site and museum but skip viewing Ho's corpse but the only way into the complex is past the body so I paid my respects in person.
The line to visit the body is very regimented. Checked our back packs at the complex gate. Approaching the mausoleum we are issued carry bags for our cameras which we hand over to guards at a security booth before entering the building. We file into the mausoleum past white uniformed guards standing at attention holding SKS rifles with fixed bayonets. Other white uniformed guards instruct us tokeep our hands out of our pockets. We climb a series of stairs, making a few turns and enter the sarcophagus room from Ho's top right, pass around his feet and exit from his top left. Down a couple flights of steps and exit the building where we retrieve our cameras. It's all very respectful but Ho's pale body, neatly laid out in a high-collared dark suit, seems diminished by the the massive tomb.
The adjacent Ho Chi Minh Museum remembers a much more vital (and vertical) version of Ho than his nearby corpse. The Ho Chi Minh of history and record is not at all diminished by the massive tomb. The displays reminded me that Ho was dedicated and determined Vietnamese nationalist, which was the core of his leadership and success. Among the many Ho Chi Minh quotations was one about the duty of public officials to remember that all that they have comes from the people which imposes a duty to see that what they have is used well and for the public good. That speaks to me as a long-time bureaucratic guerrilla.
Next stop was the Temple of Literature, a public park devoted to stelae recording doctoral examinations given during the 15th to 18th centuries. Each stela is a single stone sculpture about six feet tall and is a tablet placed vertically on the back of a turtle, one of the four sacred animals in Vietnamese culture (the others are unicorn, dragon and phoenix). The tablet records the questions and answers for an individual candidate. The script is in the oriental characters used in Vietnam before introduction of the Latin alphabet in the 19th century. The carvings of the various turtles reflect the changing styles over three centuries. A few turtle noses are worn from students touching them for good luck before exams. There are about 40 stelae in all. Other successful candidates are listed but don't have individual stelae.
We had a late lunch at the Koto Restaurant near the Temple. It's a project that helps street kids learn skills that will help them stay off the streets. Food was good and well-presented. We tried to visit the Women's Museum but our taxi driver took us to the wrong location. The walk back to the hotel became an extended quest in search of an inexpensive factory second parka. In the process we saw the most incredible rush hour gridlock--cars, buses, motorbikes and a few bicycles all trying to squeeze through an unsignaled intersection. Motorbikes began streaming down the sidewalks. The din was almost more than I could handle but I managed to stick it out and we finally found that name brand parka for $20. We each bought one.
We navigated our way back to the hotel area where we both went for a massage (foot for me, shoulder for Maggie). Then showers. Maggie's asleep now. I will be any minute.
Man! What a trip!
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