Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Hanoi

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Located west of the Old quarter, this place is a spotllight for all the vietnameses and a place of peregrination. Inside the mausoleum one can see the Ho Chi Minh mummy. In the area it´s possible to see also the Nha San Bac Ho house, where the leader used to live, and the beautiful Presidential Palace, built in 1906, and formerly the Palace of the general gobernor of Indochina.

Brave the crowds to catch a fleeting glimpse of Vietnam's founding father - Uncle Ho. Note however that the Mausoleum is only open in the first 9 months of the year and only in the mornings. Be prepared for a bit of walking and long queues as the Mausoleum itself is located within a rather large compound with vast gardens. There are usually lots of people visiting the Mausoleum to pay their respects, and of course because it's free.

Security is also tight, and you will have to check in your bags, cell phones and cameras. Strange but there are two separate check in counters. A bag counter is located at the main entrance where you can deposit your haversack (the counter staff will then try to "sell" you a pamplet on the Mausoleum for 4,000 dong). There is a separate small counter to deposit your cell phones and cameras further into the complex. Don't know how they do it, but somehow or another, the staff there, manage to transport your camera and cell phones to a similar pick up counter once you come out from the Mausoleum. Note that once you come out of the Mausoleum, you end up at the other end of the complex, and you'll have to walk all the way back across in order to pick up your haversack deposited at the entrance.

It was all in all a rather strange experience. Felt like we were like cattle being herded to a destination. The guards are also stern, making sure you keep in line and keep up with the pace of the person walking in front of you. Don't expect to be allowed to linger to see if the body is real!

The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is a suitable austere monument to modern Vietnam's most important founding figure. I didn't go in, as I had no need to view a corpse. However, I was very pleased to, completely by good fortune, catch the changing of the guard at 11am. I watched the whole thing, which is very overated in the Lonely Planet, but still worth seeing.
In the vicinity of the mausoleum there are other enormous buildings worth looking at. The Ho Chi Minh Musuem was one I was tempted to go into, but there were crowds the day I went and I decided not to.

The Mausoleum is where Uncle Ho's embalmed body lies inside a glass case.

Each year in early autumn, his body will be flown to Moscow for maintenance.

It opens from 0800 to 1100 from tue to thu and over the weekends.

The place seems so peaceful and quiet, I guess they wanted Unlce Ho to RIP.

We heard that the house of Uncle Ho has been dismolished.

We were fortunate to witness the changing of guards ceremony. We saw the guards just marching by.

If you are feeling morbet and wish to see the man responsible for the path wish Vietnam has recently taken, then get yourself out of bed early and head on down to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum.

They only have a number of places that they allow in to "vaccum sealed" chamber of the beloved leader of the Communist Party. So get there early (they open at 9am) and get yourself in line for the most exciting display of a dead person you've ever seen. But forget about taking photos to remember this momentous occasion for you'll be quick shot down buy the 4 stern men in uniform.

Personally, I think this ride is not worth the wait, but it is a part of history. Beside, when else can you see greatness.

It's a spiritual experience, watching a dead famous man's body preserved. The body is older than me !

We can not bring anything except wallet (money) to mausoleum. There are 2 deposits counter to put our things.

First at the entrance gate where we have to put our bag but we still allowed to bring camera, cell phone and money. Then we stand in line, make a group.

The second deposit is before we enter the mausoleum, not allowed to bring camera and cell phone.

When the father of this great nation, Ho Chi Minh, died in 1969 his body was recovered from its burial place, cleaned up, embalmed and put on display in this granite mausoleum. The influence of socialist Russia (a country that supported Vietnam after the war) is very apparent here as the mausoleum was modelled after Lenin’s tomb.

From what I read, Ho Chi Minh had been quoted as saying "Not only is cremation good from the point of view of hygiene, but it also saves farmland." I guess Uncle Ho's followers had a different view and decided not to save the farm!

Inspite of the changing times and the economy becoming more commercialised and market-driven, it appears that the Vietnamese continue to hold HCM in high regard because apart from the gawking tourists lining up to view the body, there were just as many locals queueing to pay their respects.

Certainly no visit to Hanoi is complete without a visit to the Uncle Ho's mausoleum. A MUST SEE!

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day.
Teach a man to Clap, and you'll feed him for a life-time!

At Uncle Ho's fishing pond (this is what the tourist brochure called this huge pond next to Uncle Ho's Yellow House), we were told by our guide that Ho Chi Minh would stand by the lake and summon the fishes to come to him simply by clapping his hands. Our guide did it and the fishes came. Lo and behold, when I clapped my hands, the fishes started to slowly but surely come to me!

Isn't it amazing? Uncle Ho really trained his fishes well. LOL