HANOI

Hanoi at night time--note the fearsome traffic

Requisite "HERE I AM IN FRONT OF HO CHI MINH'S MAUSOLEUM!" picture
Unfortunately, we could not go inside to see the former leader's body
as it is currently in Russia for its yearly maintenance.
(just the idea of an embalmed body undergoing repairs like a malfunctioning cellphone or a broken down car is enough to vehemently reaffirm my wish to be cremated when I pass away ...)

Presidential Palace built by the French in the early 20th century. Among the many reasons I am growing increasingly fond of Vietnam's most venerated leader, I was really moved to learn that when he was elected president of Vietnam in 1945, Ho Chi Minh refused to live in this ornate building because of its connection to the oppressive French government.


Instead, Ho Chi Minh chose to live in a modest cottage referred to as "The House on Stilts", built in the style of traditional Vietnamese communal dwellings.

Tree roots seem to grow in every which way here

The House on Stilts reminded me SO much of my mother's house--small, set back in nature, smelling of wood polish. By the end of the short tour, I was ready to move right in.

The Ho Chi Minh Museum was unlike any other museum I have visited in Vietnam, telling the story of the leader's life and rise to power through a combination of abstract visual art and copious personal pictures, letters, diaries, and other memorabilia of Ho Chi Minh's life.

Exhibit showing the contrast between the Vietnamese peasants and the French/ wealthy Vietnamese land owners during colonization

Cover of Ho Chi Minh's diary from when he was in jail
(I liked this drawing a lot because it looks suspiciously like the kind of sketch that would make the cover of my trusty Slingshot Organizer)

At the Ho Chi Minh museum, I bought a pack of postcards of the former leader. These two pictures below were some of my favorites: