More Hanoi – The Remnants of a Communist Country

A visit to Ho Chi Minh’s mausoleum is on the short list of “must see” in Hanoi. We were up and out early to join the very long line of tourists, which may have been longer than usual because it was a Saturday. We left our worldly possessions (including cameras and passports) with our guide, Phuong. It was an eye-opening experience and it was the first time since arriving in Vietnam that I felt as though I was in a (formerly) communist country.

We entered the line to go through the metal scanner and in single file entered the queue that stretched along the long block in front of the mausoleum. The line was under the “direction” of the guards, who repeatedly asked that we remove a hat, take our hands out of our pockets, and at a particular point to form a double line. It was like being in grade school. Penny was assigned a new partner, and became instant best friends with Sue from the Singapore. Did I mention that there was NO talking? At a corner, our line merged with one of many large groups of school children that were on class trips. We walked in silence – almost marching – along the front of the very large boxy building. We were told to wait (in the steamy Hanoi sunshine) as we watched a wreath laying ceremony on the steps. And then we were allowed to proceed up the stairs, in pairs, quietly into a blast of very cold air conditioning.

As we wound our way through the corridors, the guards were very vigilant, maintaining quiet, reminding us to keep our hands at our sides, and making sure we kept a constant pace. The queue moved around the glass enclosed embalmed body of Uncle Ho on three sides. There are motionless soldiers standing at attention. It is surreal. It is rumored that the body is returned to Moscow on a regular basis for maintenance, which may be more fact than fiction. The waxy sheen made it difficult to determine if this is a real body that has been heavily embalmed or a wax replica. I’ll never know…

His diminutive stature is very evident, in death as in life. As the engineer of the country’s independence, he was instrumental in defeating the Americans, French and Japanese. This small country also fought the Chinese and Cambodians. Whether you like Uncle Ho or not, one really has to respect his accomplishments. Ho Chi Minh stood in front of this very building to declare independence in 1945.

Adjacent to the mausoleum is the Presidential Palace (built for the General Governor of Indochina), a beautiful, mustard colored French Colonial building. Ho Chi Minh refused to live in the mansion after the defeat of the French, preferring to live in a small cottage on the property and later the house on stilts. His choice of living and working environment illustrates the importance of simplicity and modesty to this Vietnamese revolutionary. This building is elegantly crafted with lacquered and polished wood, following the model of a traditional communal house on stilts.

It was a very busy day and we joined the masses to see the sights of Hanoi. We pushed on to visit the Temple of Literature. Amidst a lot of tourists, you can still feel the serenity and calm as you walk through the gates of what is the city’s first university. The complex is home to Van Mieu, a temple that was built in 1070 to worship the Chinese philosopher Confucius, and Quoc Tu Giam, an elite institution to teach the doctrines of Confucius and his disciples. This was the center for Confucian learning for more than 700 years to about 938 A.D. It is representative of the strong cultural heritage of the Mandarins.

Within the walls are a series of four courtyards that served as an entrance to the university. In addition there are lotus-filled pools and red-roofed temples. Architecturally, it is an example of classic Chinese with Vietnamese influences. Still present are rows of stone tortoises with stelae: stone diplomas, really -- erected between 1484 and 1780, bearing the names and birthplaces of more than 1300 doctor laureates who managed to pass the university's rigorous examinations. The turtle is a symbol of long-life and wisdom and rubbing the turtle’s heads is thought to bring good luck!

We couldn’t leave Hanoi without seeing the Maison Centrale, better known to Americans as the Hanoi Hilton. The prison was built in 1896 by the French to house up to 450 “opponents” of colonialism. The Hoa Loa Prison, as the Vietnamese knew it, is now a museum. Most of the original building was demolished during construction of an adjacent high-rise building.

The interrogation room where many newly captured Americans were interrogated and tortured, notorious among former prisoners as the "blue room," is now made up to look like a very comfortable, if spartan, barracks-style room. Displays in the room claim that Americans were treated well and not tortured, in stark contradiction to the many claims of former prisoners that the room was the site of numerous acts of torture. The audio-visual presentation is classic propaganda.

The name: Hanoi Hilton is a sarcastic reference to the Hilton hotel chain. Its most famous inmates were John McCain, the US pilot who later became a senator and Douglas Pete Peterson, the first US ambassador to the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

Yes, the undercurrent of communism is ever present –
And the adventure continues…