yvonnesL7908LW
★★★★4.0Wrote on 1 Jul 2024
A clone environment as compared to the Mausoleum of Mau in China
The Mausoleum grounds is where in September 1945 that Ho Chi Minh read Vietnam’s Declaration of Independence, and it’s here today that the national leader’s body rests within a massive granite mausoleum. In his speech back in 1954 Ho used quotes out of the preamble of the US constitution to set the pace of getting rid of the French, who had moved back into Vietnam following the Japanese occupation during WW II, and where the country was split in two at the 19 th parallel (communist influence from Russia in the North and wester influence in the South). This area of the Mausoleum is somewhat like what we observed a few years back in Tiananmen Square in Beijing China with Charman Mau’s mausoleum, with a big national flag, and a single military guard under the flag. Here in Vietnam, there was no solders standing under the national flag, but there were sure a lot of Soldiers at the Mausoleum entrance and posted around his body. We had to check our cameras (as no pictures are allowed inside the mausoleum). You must remove your hat, and have your knees and shoulders covered, plus no sunglasses (all as a position of respect to the country’s former leader). The line to view the body of Ho Chi Minh, was very / VERY long (well over 1000), but we received a VIP pass and jumped right into the middle of the line. The Mausoleum is closed on Mondays, and we were originally scheduled to stop here yesterday, but our great guide Henry just swapped the schedule. The setting of the body is very elegant of a well-preserved person. Originally, Uncle Hoe had requested to be cremated and his ashes scattered over the waters, but following his passing in 1969, the government decided to display his body, as a symbol of the inspiration of a simplistic, modest educated gentleman that had inspired his nation to throw off the yoke of colonialism. The government wanted the body to be preserved like Lenin in Moscow and Mao Zedong in China, and thus approached the Russians for help. The Chinees did not want the Russians to help as the Chinese and Vietnamese were at odds AGAINST one another, so the body was moved rom cave to cave until the Russians finally preformed the cosmetic preservation. After viewing the guards, flowers, the body of Uncle Ho (no pictures allowed), we continued to the Prudential Palace next door to the Mausoleum; viewing the massive building, and the plush grounds around it. As part of the grounds, we viewed where Uncle Ho lived on the grounds in a masonry building during the war with a bomb shelter and underground tunnel over to the Citadel where communications to the arms was sent out. After the war he moved into a stilt house on the grounds until his passing.