Travel Commentary - Visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum
Resting Peacefully
Paying respects at the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum
By Brent Dey
There are very few American-style fast-food restaurants in Vietnam. As ubiquitous as they are in the Czech Republic, East Berlin and the other cooling fronts of the old cold war, you’re not going to find a Wendy’s or McDonald’s in Hanoi or Saigon. That’s because the working masses prefer Hue style noodles and rice steamed rolls to our pre-processed beef.
There is one exception: Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Out of all the Western-style fast food chains, the only one the communists let through their gates is the only one named after an American state. And a red state at that. Why? Some say it’s because Colonel Saunders—the restaurant’s founder and 24-Piece Family Bucket poster boy—bears a striking resemblance to Vietnam’s revolutionary war leader, Ho Chi Minh.
When you see The Colonel’s face peering down over Saigon’s Truong Son street, this theory begins to take hold. Minh and the Colonel do share an uncanny resemblance, and both are usually seen embossed against a bright red background—though for entirely different reasons. Ronald McDonald, with his bushy red hair and Jagger-esque lips could never make the impact ‘The Colonel’ has had in Vietnam.
I’m sure the party leaders saw special appeal to having a Ho look-alike printed on store signs, soda cups and paper bags. Now ‘Uncle Ho’ (or someone who looked a lot like him) could be everywhere, smiling from newspaper advertisements and spending afternoons in the park with picnicking families. Still, I couldn’t help but think that having an American entrepreneur sharing his secret spicy chicken recipe with the masses would be enough to leave Ho Chi Minh rolling in his grave. I decided to visit his mausoleum to find out.
Ho Chi Minh is but one of a succession of communist revolutionaries to be embalmed at death and put on display like a trophy deer. The first was Vladimir Lenin in Russia, the next was China’s Chairman Mao. I figured if Minh was rolling in his grave, I’d be able to see him twirling in his little glass case rotisserie style. I bought my ticket to the mausoleum and spent the next 40 minutes standing in line.
To be fair, Minh didn’t want to be deified at his death. He was a simple man who requested that his ashes be spread evenly over the three corners of Vietnam. But after he died, he didn’t have much say in the matter. Russian scientists were flown to Hanoi at the height of the American War to embalm and refrigerate the rebel icon. He now rests publicly, save for the two months he spends each year traveling to Moscow to be treated against decay by scientists. Minh looks really good… and that’s saying something considering he’s been laying in the same spot for 30-plus years. I take a nap for 30 minutes and look like hell.
Ho rests in a glass sarcophagus bound at the corners with immaculately carved wood. This stands on a platform that rises six feet from the ground. Visitors file through the room at eye level. Four armed guards stand motionless at the base of the platform, their hats and shoulders at knee level, barely visible in the receding darkness. Above the catafalque, embedded in red marble, is an imposing display of the Communist Hammer and Cycle and the Gold Star of Vietnam. The darkness, the symbols and the soldiers give the room a chilling Cold War/Tom Clancy vibe. You feel like every bit like a spy in an espionage novel on a mission behind enemy lines.
In contrast to his surroundings, ‘Uncle Ho,’ looks peaceful in his white tunic and walking sandals. He’s much more relaxed than the stiff guards who impose a strict level of silence and respect. You get the sense that communism in general could take a cue from Ho’s tranquility. A peaceful orange light from above bathes Ho in—I couldn’t help but notice this—the same hues KFC uses to keep its new Boneless Blazin’ Buffalo Wings™ hot and crispy.
While standing in Ho’s presence, I wrestled with the emotions anyone who has known someone who has lost someone in the Vietnam War would. Was it appropriate to be visiting this gravesite? Was it un-American? Was Ho Chi Minh a villain as he was sure to have been played out in the American press, or was he simply a man with a worldview shaped by geography, French occupation and poverty? What about the pain of the people on both sides of the Vietnam conflict who lost family members simply because this man lived with a burning desire to unite his country?
Ho appears to be resting too peacefully to ponder these questions. He seems too calm to care about recent changes that are moving Vietnam to become a more open society that embraces the entrepreneurial spirit or to care that the rapid speed that the revolution he led and the lives it altered are fading from the real and painful to become abstract events earmarked - or forgotten - in the Great Book of Time.
As a side note, I later learned I wasn’t the only one to see a KFC connection. When the first Kentucky Fried Chicken opened in Saigon, the KFC executives pointed out the Colonel’s resemblance to their hosts. The Vietnamese didn’t make the connection. “Saunders was a Colonel,” they said. “Ho Chi Minh was a General.”
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IF YOU GO
Getting There
Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is located in Hanoi’s Dinh Square at the exact spot where Ho Chi Minh read Vietnam’s declaration of Independence from the French in 1945. Taxis are cheap, but if you have time and want to experience an authentic slice of Vietnamese culture, take a cyclo. It’s a rickshaw-like bicycles powered by pedals.
Hours of Operation
7.30am to 10.30am Tuesdays through Thursday (8am to 11am in winter), and weekends from 7.30am to 11am (8am to 11.30am in winter). Closed on Mondays and Fridays.
What to do
The nearby Ho Chi Minh museum is one of the best in Vietnam. Artwork and layout of displays rivals Chicago’s exceptional Museum of Natural History. Born in 1890, ‘Uncle Ho’s’ life story mirrors the story of 20th Century Vietnam—from life as a peasant to a leader in wars against France and the United States.
The grounds of the mausoleum also feature the stilt house where Ho Chi Minh lived from 1958 until his death in 1969. Next door is the Presidential Palace.
Where to Stay:
The Sofitel Metropole Hotel (826.6919) retrains all the Imperial French charm that Ho railed against. At $200 per night, it may be one of the most expensive hotels in town, but a relative bargain for the luxury to which you’ll be exposed.
When to go:
Any time between January and September. ‘Uncle Ho’ is usually in Russia in October and November. Time your visit according to the hours of operation listed above.
Where to dine:
Anywhere but Kentucky Fried Chicken.