I am on line to visit Ho Chi Minh. His body lies preserved in a mausoleum in central Hanoi, near the simple stilt house that served his modest presidential palace. The line snakes along a covered walkway, under the watchful eyes of the honor guards whose elaborate white uniforms look à little baggy to me. They remind us to take off hats and sunglasses and hold gloved fingers to lips to politely shush us. The line moves quickly and in twenty minutes we reach "Uncle Ho" who lies in a dimly lit large central room but his body glows in the illumination of his glass chamber. Hard not to get goosebumps. We visit Ho's house which is remarkable for its simplicity and the simple French colonial style furniture. In his study, a lone bust of Lenin catches my eye.
There are very few reminders of "The American War" in Hanoi now; most of the seven million Hanoi residents have only read about it in schoolbooks. Our young guide says Vietnamese people say let bygones be bygones and I believe him and that the country has eyes very much on the future. We do see some reminders of the war - some wreckage of a B-52 bomber lies in a small lake in a busy old part of town, ignored by locals and commerated only by a small plaque on a nearby building. We also visit the prison (the "Hanoi Hilton") that housed American pilots, captured down during the war. Significantly, most of the prison has been torn down for the construction of a slick new shopping center. The propaganda in the museum is pretty understated, but still makes me uncomfortable. The prison gates must have seen horrible things, but I must take photos for my door hardware portfolio.
With the war behind us, we visit the central confusions temple and are swallowed by a crowd of young students who have come to take graduation photos. The women are all fabulously pretty and stylish, the men are trying to look cool in dark suits; there is an exhausting energy of laughing an posing for pictures. I much prefer this memory of Hanoi.
There are very few reminders of "The American War" in Hanoi now; most of the seven million Hanoi residents have only read about it in schoolbooks. Our young guide says Vietnamese people say let bygones be bygones and I believe him and that the country has eyes very much on the future. We do see some reminders of the war - some wreckage of a B-52 bomber lies in a small lake in a busy old part of town, ignored by locals and commerated only by a small plaque on a nearby building. We also visit the prison (the "Hanoi Hilton") that housed American pilots, captured down during the war. Significantly, most of the prison has been torn down for the construction of a slick new shopping center. The propaganda in the museum is pretty understated, but still makes me uncomfortable. The prison gates must have seen horrible things, but I must take photos for my door hardware portfolio.
With the war behind us, we visit the central confusions temple and are swallowed by a crowd of young students who have come to take graduation photos. The women are all fabulously pretty and stylish, the men are trying to look cool in dark suits; there is an exhausting energy of laughing an posing for pictures. I much prefer this memory of Hanoi.
I have heard from everyone who has been to Hanoi that the people are friendly and eager to put memories of the war-time enmity between Viet Nam and the U.S. behind them. Somehow the lock on the door of the prison gate seems to beckon one to put in a key to open it. I love your description of visiting Ho Chi Minh. Another amazing experience to add to your list.
ReplyDeleteMany years ago, when visiting Hanoi, a Vietnamese said: "Oh, the Americans and the French were a small problem. We've been fighting against the Chinese for a thousand years."
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