So after a good night’s rest in a very comfortable bed I went in search of breakfast and I mean in search!! I managed to miss the named restaurant in which I should have taken breakfast and opted for the plush Club Restaurant in the central courtyard where it turns out I should have paid a premium but I never did, just served by a friendly and very attentive team of staff.
This morning we were to visit some of Hanoi’s most famous historical and cultural sites including Ba Dinh Square and the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum and later the Temple of Literature before venturing out on our own for lunch – the fiery experience I mentioned earlier – just keeping you interested!
Before describing the visits I think I should introduce you in more depth to Vietnam’s revered spiritual and cultural Leader – Ho Chi Minh. You can of course research this for yourself on Wikipedia but here is a summary to add some context to my experiences today.
Hồ Chí Minh (1890 – 1969), was the Vietnamese Communist revolutionary leader who was Prime Minister (1945–55) and President (1945–69) of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (North Vietnam). He was the key figure in the foundation of the People's Army of Vietnam and the Việt Cộng during the Vietnam War.
He led the Việt Minh independence movement from 1941, establishing the Communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945 and defeating the French Union in 1954 at the battle of Điện Biên Phủ.
He officially stepped down from power in 1965 due to health problems, but remained a highly visible figurehead and inspiration for those Vietnamese fighting for his cause—a united, communist Vietnam—until his death. He remains the “Father of Vietnam” and is still held in great reverence. In his honour, after the war, Saigon, the former capital of the Republic of Vietnam, was renamed Hồ Chí Minh City but the name Saigon is still very widely used.
A short bus ride brought us to Ba Dinh Square where president Ho Chi Minh read the Proclamation of Independence of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam on September 2, 1945. It is named after the Ba Đình Uprising, an anti-French rebellion that occurred in Vietnam in 1886.
The granite Mausoleum was built to display Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed body and is a major site of tourism and pilgrimage.
The queues for entry to the Mausoleum were already extensive and included scores of primary school children mostly of 4 to 6 years old. Such is the reverence for this Father of Vietnam that it is considered important for children to pay their respects at his Mausoleum.
Security as one might expect was tight to enter the Mausoleum. The guards marshalled the queues efficiently and rules applied as to how to walk and hold your arms in respect by your side. Unfortunately as I was waved to enter a group of a hundred or more of these children were directed in front of me but I was prevented from turning back. I didn’t mind the children who were well ordered but their teachers seemed to think I was some kind of imposter and I was jostled out of the way more than once. I was quite relieved to complete my observation and move outside to rejoin my fellow travellers.
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