More Hanoi Highlights -- Wednesday

Ho Chi Minh (the person, not the city)

So today we got more information about Ho Chi Minh, who is really more like our Thomas Jefferson than George Washington.   He was born in 1890 and in 1911 he went abroad to study.  During his travels, he visited 60 different countries, and studied the various governmental systems available.  In 1931 he returned to Vietnam and on September 2, 1945, he presented the Declaration of Independence written for Vietnam.

Why that date, you might ask?  (Go ahead – ask – I’m gonna tell you anyhow).

Japan occupied Vietnam during WWII.  During that time, roughly 2 million of the population died due to starvation and disease.  When they pulled out in August of 1945, though, there was a vacuum in the power structure because the French, who’d claimed it prior to Japan, hadn’t made it back yet.  This is primarily why their Independence Day happened to be September 2, 1945.

The French came back shortly thereafter, though, wanted to reclaim their “colony”, and that started a whole other round of unpleasantness.

Ho Chi Minh died of a heart attack in 1969.  He served as the first – and only – president of Vietnam between 1945 and 1969.  After that the form of government was modified and they have had Prime Ministers.

As with many countries, there is great reverence paid to this man, who rightfully deserves that respect. 

After he died, they constructed a Mausoleum between 1973 and 1975.  This is located on their equivalent of the Washington Mall, with numerous ceremonial soldiers (in dress whites that have got to be a bitch to keep clean!) around.

The place is well organized, with Disney-type lines (I can see there might be long lines during high season).  While you stand in line there are fans to keep you cool and video monitors playing a variety of historical highlights of events that have happened.  It appears that the mall is also a popular concert venue.

Interestingly, the scroll across the bottom of the screen gave you pollution counts for a number of different items.  The one that caught my attention was that the humidity was 96.34%.

It felt every bit of it – and many of the locals thought it was chilly, as evidenced by the hollow fill jackets they were wearing.

You wind through the complex – having surrendered cameras and backpacks, and going through a metal detector – and as you enter the tomb itself you notice that it is getting much, much, MUCH colder.  There is probably a 30 degree temperature drop between outside and inside.

Once you climb the flight of stairs you wind around and can view Ho Chi Minh through his glass enclosure.  When you think how long he’s been there, it’s pretty amazing that the body looks that good.  We were told that every October he is shipped to Russia to have a little work done and keep him looking good.

Across from the tomb is the Parliament House.  No tours, there, just another government building.

They have an election every 5 years to choose the Prime Minister (and presumably those lesser officials that are elected).

The body is in that big building -- no pictures were allowed

Parliament Building Across the Street

Ho Chi Minh's House

Again, this place is much like the Washington Mall, a mixture of historical and operating governmental buildings.  There is the Yellow House, which was originally the mansion of the French Indochina Governor.  Built in 1903, it looks incredibly opulent from the outside.

Ho Chi Minh, being a simple man, thought it too fussy to use and refused to stay in it.  Instead, he had other quarters built for him.  It’s now used as a reception hall for major guests to VN, i.e., US Presidents.

Ho Chi Minh originally stayed in the “Small House”, which is just what it sounds like.  He used this between 1954 and 1958 while another place was being built.

During his earlier years, he’d lived in the mountains and got to know many of the ethnic minorities there.  He became a fan of that style of building and had a “House on Stilts” built for his use.  Again, very simple, very cool.  Nice view of the fish pond.

He could clap and the Coi would come to the steps to be fed.

Interestingly enough, Ho Chi Minh never married, and the vast majority of his staff were male.  Make of that what you may.

Because they were at war – first with the French then with the US – while he was in office, there is an air raid bunker built 15 feet below ground.  To warn of impending air raids, a large artillery shell was used as a bell to sound the alarm.

Despite the long French occupation of the country, less than 5% of the population now speak French.  The predominant languages are Vietnamese, English and Chinese.

One Pillar Pagoda

This is the symbol of the City of Hanoi.   The King who constructed it originally in the year 1100 was unable to have a son.  He prayed about this and one night Buddha helped him out, and the Pagoda was then built as an offering of thanks.  Unfortunately, the French destroyed the original in 1954 as they were vacating the property and the one currently in place is a duplicate.

There are two types of Buddhism, both going back about 2,000 years.  One is from India and the other from China.  If the monks are wearing brown robes, they are of the Chinese branch; if yellow, the Indian branch.

At the One Pillar Pagoda (in a side chapel), there are two big statutes on each side of the alter to the Buddha – one represents good and one evil.  You can guess their respective domains.

Traditional Vietnamese religion had three Goddesses, representing Sky (wearing Red), Mountain (wearing Green) and Water (wearing White).

We had a chance to go in the Ho Chi Minh memorial museum, but opted out in favor of other activities.  We realized that a five hour walking tour of Hanoi wasn’t going to be in our best interests!

Hanoi Hilton

Hanoi Hilton is the prison in the Central District of Hanoi.  As Americans, we primarily think of it as a place that atrocities were committed against US soldiers.  Undoubtedly, that happened, but there is so much more to the history of the place.

This complex – of which only about 20% still remains – was originally built in 1896 by the French to house political prisoners.  It eventually morphed into a place for criminals as well, and was converted to a POW camp for Americans when the first US pilot was shot down in 1954.

Before we start getting all up at arms about this, let’s look at the history – which is pretty well documented.

The French guillotine – one of two in Vietnam – used to kill political prisoners is still there.  Those prisoners who were executed had their heads placed in baskets and displayed.

Within the cells, prisoners were fastened by their ankles in iron restraints.  They had to eat and use the toilet while restrained.  They were in a common dormitory type setting, and there were accommodations for female prisoners as well.

The place was built to house about 500 prisoners, but by the time the French gave it up in 1954 it was housing about 2,000.

There were specific quarters for female prisoners.  Some had babies while there, and were allowed to keep the infants with them.

The prisons were essentially a school for communism.  After all, it’s not like the prisoners can go anywhere – they’re locked up and are going to talk.  During that time, those that live are going to share ideas.  Eventually a number of them escaped through the sewer system and became the governmental leaders in 1954.

Compare this to the comments made about the US prisons for suspected Al Queda members.  The same argument has been made – they would not have been able to communicate and organize had the US not done them the courtesy of transporting them all to the same place.

There are two rooms in the complex dedicated to the US war in Vietnam.  Senator McCain is featured prominently in the photos.  There does seem to be some resentment that someone they consider a war criminal is now a US Senator and was a candidate for president.

We’re not saying anyone was “right” or “wrong” about this.  There is a lot that most of us will never know, and governments are prone to give out misinformation to keep the masses in check.  Traveling to another country, though, especially one where we were the invaders and with who conflict occurred within our lifetimes, causes some significant deep thought.

One has to wonder if governments are doomed to continue to make the same decisions – and the same errors – over and over again.

Old Town

The rest of the day was wandering around the center city with the opportunity to shop.  You can tell that it’s the day before a holiday and everyone is winding down, though.  Lots of places were closed (we had a hard time finding a cup of coffee), and there’s lots of little kids that are being indulged by grandparents. 

There’s also a fair amount of burning of offerings happening on the street, which is interesting to watch.

The first meal of the New Year is important – it’s going to involve Sticky Rice, Bamboo Shoots, chicken and pork.  The family will burn incense and offerings at the family alter, and there will be five different types of fruit outside the front door.

By this time, though, we were tired of walking.  Shopping isn’t much fun if you’re not interested in buying much of anything, and we figured we would rather have a little rest before the afternoon / evening activities. 

We convinced the guide that we were capable travelers who could make it to the theater for the Water Puppet Show this afternoon without his assistance, encouraged him to go home and be with his family, and we’ll see him Sunday for our trip to the airport. 

We are free here tomorrow -- Tet Holiday (similar to Christmas day).  We plan on chilling out in the luxury hotel...walking around...and generally resting.  On Friday we leave the hotel at 8 am for a 3 hour bus ride to board...yes...another boat.  We'll be on a boat for 24 hours in Halong Bay.  We return to the hotel Saturday afternoon...the depart for home on Sunday.