Vietnam Part II - Uncle Ho's Birthday

It was very convenient that Stephen's Mum moved to Hanoi, as this is the resting location of the last of the Big 3 Embalmed Communist Dictators.  Having seen Lenin in Moscow and Mao in Beijing, I was keen to cross Ho Chi Minh (called "Uncle Ho") of the list to catch up with Stephen.  Interestingly, Ho Chi Minh didn't want to be embalmed - apparently his will specified that he wanted to be cremated, but it was decided that he should be embalmed anyway. 

We were a little concerned initially as the day that we were planning on visiting him happened to be his 122nd birthday.  I was especially concerned as visiting rules forbade shorts - long pants were a requirement, in the 36C 85% humidity weather.  We decided to go first thing in the morning and chance it.

Here's the Mausoleum from outside, including part of the queue.  We did actually make it - we queued for maybe an hour, which wasn't so bad (after the 2 hours queuing to see Mao at least).  It was amusing, however, that the Mausoleum was the best air-conditioned place in the entire city of Hanoi, as far as I could tell.  As per usual, there was no photography of the dearly departed leader.

A statue of him in the museum outside the Mausoleum.

A painting of him.  I think he looks a bit like Vietnamese Colonel Sanders in this photo.

They were really keen on Lenin in Hanoi too - there was a Lenin Park with a big statue of him, and posters about him everywhere.  There was no mention of Mao though, funnily enough.

Next post in this series - Part III.