Loricat's Reviews

Weird, but a historical & cultural must-see

How can you not visit the tomb of an embalmed communist leader?

As you join the long line of people going in to see Ho Chi Minh, foreigners and locals alike, you have time to contemplate his life. Hopefully, prior to this visit, you’ve been to his home & museum, so you’re up-to-date on his place in history. Perhaps you’ve even bought a copy of his poems from a street vendor. So, now you’re in the big, bleak building, and you leave all of your belongings outside. You carry no purse, no backpack, no camera. No hat, no sunglasses. You do not put your hands in your pockets (it’s disrespectful…). You file into the mausoleum, slowly walk around the lit glass coffin up on it’s pedestal – you are on a walkway, with no chance of defiling the great Ho Chi Minh with your presence. Guards are there, to make sure you don’t put your hands in your pockets. And you think to yourself, “He’s kind of cute.”

Definitely worth the hassle.

Reviewed on: December 22, 2006