ho chi minh mausoleum
On our last day in Hanoi, we again ventured to see what the city has to offer – this time focusing on the western portion. As it was a sunny day (a rarity by Hanoi’s standards as it is one very cloudy city), we started early in the morning and made our way to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Most people make the mistake of assuming that this mausoleum, by virtue of its name, is located in Ho Chi Minh City. But actually, it is in Hanoi. The building faces Ba Dinh Square, which is one of the few places one gets to see such a wide open space right at the heart of the city. Compared to the Old Quarter, this part of the city featured large squares and wide boulevards that were more in keeping with modern communist capitals. From the outside, the memorial reminds me of the Anitkabir in Ankara, Turkey. It was closed when we visited so there was no chance to go in. Not that we wanted to, since all one gets to see inside is Ho Chi Minh’s embalmed corpse.
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