Hanoi, Round 2

Before his death, Ho Chi Minh requested he be cremated, but the succeeding Government had other plans. Hence: The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum! His body is preserved inside a dimly lit glass box, cornered by 4 armed guards, inside a large air-conditioned room. Visiting hours are severly restricted, closing at 10:30am, and with the amount of people that line up to visit, you beteter get there early! After handing in your camera to security (photos are a big no-no) you can join the cue for upto and over an hour, as they herd you through. You have to be silent, take off your hat, and walk through briskly. In total you are probably only in the actual tomb for maybe 2 min, guards shuffling you if you dawdle. But hey, its the one and only HCM! Or is it? It does look suspiciously like a manequin.

Heading back into town, Trine and I fancied trying a Moto Taxi! We asked one guy to get a mate because we needed 2 bikes, and this kid drives over, couldn’t have been more than 14 years old! Trine politely said she wanted a ‘grown up’ and he said “I have been riding for 5 years” – thats scary. Anyway another guy rode up, we negotiated (as with everything in Vietnam), and off we went.

We found a supermarket (actually quite difficult in SEASIA) near the lake, and we had to put our bags into security lockers before entering! Later walked around the lake etc before going back to the hostel and playing Poker before the night bus to Hue. The hostel’s security guard and another local were watching in interest, probably because gambling is illegal in Vietnam!

Vietnam by Bus »« Thang Long Water Puppets, Hanoi