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So, the tour over, I still have a day to mooch around Hanoi before flying over to Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
And I cannot capture how lucky that was. I got the time to visit Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum, which instantly became my favourite moment of the whole trip.
Uncle Ho's tomb is such a draw that despite the late night the night before, we were in a cab to get over there by 8.30. And we were lucky we did. The queue went on for miles. Genuinely the queue was part of the attraction. Hundreds, of all ages, but not all heights, queued. Coming in from the provinces, many of the shook children hadn't really seen foreigners, and certainly not my size, so I was a big (literally) hit. So, I've been papped by a dozen 8 year old communists with true first cameras. Nice.
The officialdom around the mausoleum was awe inspiring. Firstly you have your bag taken from you for the whole trip. Then, further along the queue you have your phone and camera taken, and put into an officially approved handbag. Later, the handbag is taken from you and stored until afterwards. And then there's a long red carpet up to the mausoleum building itself. There and inside you are watched over by still faced armed guards in bright white uniforms. Sunglasses off. Shush. Quiet please. Single file. keep moving.
Then into the mausoleum room itself. There he is. Uncle Ho looking like he just dozed off for forty winks. Except he is in a reinforced glass box, with four armed guards in their number ones at each corner, unmoving except the eyes. Keep walking. Quiet.
It was astonishing. Mesmerising. I was open-mouthed throughout and for some time after. Go. Please go and see it.
Apparently he is sent to mother Russia each year to get touched up. I kid you not.
The same group of buildings includes HCM's garage with his used cars in, which is nice, his carp pool ( holding carp the size of U-boats ), his house on stilts ( he insisted it took him back to when he used to live in the mountains ), and one more building...
The one pillar pagoda. Presumably branded by the same team that brought you Comparethemarket.com, this wins the awards for most missable sight in Hanoi, so I shall stop there.
I restrained myself from buying a plastic plate with him on it. Only just.
Last treat, was the trip to the water puppet theatre. This is a traditional Vietnamese art form which is charming beyond belief, but not actaually impressive. There's a puppet show, which unlike Punch and Judy uses levers under the water in which the puppets are seen to float. All set to music.
See? Charming. Natty tricks include getting one puppet to smoke, shoot water, and climb a coconut tree with a modicum of realism.
Frankly, I'm over-holidayed now. It would take the sight of a genuine miracle to impress me now.
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