well. it's almost xmas--- and in that spirit (well, not actually),Yesterday I went to check out Uncle Ho. Ho Chi Minh that is.
Uncle Ho, like the fine communist leaders of his time, has been preserved in a bizarro state of rest in Hanoi.
This was not my first but actually my Second visit to a dead communist leader's body....
Why you might ask do I waste my time going to see dead people?
It's perhaps the most interesting cultural experience EVER.
So my visit to Uncle Ho was very different from my visit to Mao in Beijing. First of all, in Beijing we had to stand in line for HOURS in the extremely hot sun with hoardes of chinese tourists waiting to pay their respects. Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, while still extremely busy with people, did not have al ine that formed 2 hours before the opening!
We arrived at the mausoleum complex and first had to leave our bags (but were told to keep our cameras). Then we were shuffled through several checkpoints (and despite the vast amounts of space, forced to walk within thin white lines). Then we got to the spot where cameras were no longer allowed, and had to hand those in. We were then checked by another 10 guards--- one of whom indicated that I was NOT allowed to have my hands in my pockets---- then we were shuffled past Ho (I got tugged on the arm by not one but TWO guards--- to stay in my spot!) and then out to reclaim our cameras.
It was seriously the most regimented thing you've ever seen----
I was thinking back to China and how everyone bought flowers before they went in, and then left them in this room after seeing Mao, and then I watched the flowers get carted back out to the front and resold...
anyway, it was pretty cool to see--- more the situation then Ho Chi Minh himself (he's kind of grey and you can't get that close anyway). I would highly recommend a mausoleum visit to anyone... next i've got to get Lenin!
I'm back from Vietnam and in Bangkok for the next week and a half and then home on the 17th!
