Ho Chi Minh's Tomb & Temple of Literature

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For those unfamiliar, Ho Chi Minh is like the father of modern Vietnam. He was a Communist revolutionary who fought against French occupation and American aggression. He was president of North Vietnam from 1945 until his death in 1969. He did not live to see the reunification of Vietnam. He is a beloved figure in Vietnam among seemingly everyone and is featured on the front of the Vietnamese currency, the dong.


The Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is modeled after Lenin's Tomb in Moscow. I had read some time ago, but must have forgotten, that his preserved body is on display in the tomb. It startled me a little bit to see him on display surrounded by observers onthree sides. This tomb goes against something Ho himself said not long before his death, "Not only is cremation good from the point of view of hygiene but also it saves farmland."


When I arrived on the back of a motorbike taxi, I saw a line to get in that stretched for blocks. As we rounded the corner I saw that it just kept going. I couldn't believe that this was a normal Tuesday crowd. As it turns out it wassome kind of holliday and there thousands and thousands of children off school who had come to Mausoleum. At first I thought I had picked a bad day to come, but it ended up being a lot of fun. The kids were so funny and nice. Many were not used to seeing westerners. Some stared,but most practised their "Hello" followed by tons of laughter amongst each other. A little boy in line in front of me just kept staring at me until finally his mother pointed to my water bottle (it was super hot that day). I handed him the bottle and he began to down it, then handed it to his sister, then back to him. When I finally got it back it was almost gone and the mother was laughing hysterically.

The Temple of Literature is a national treasure of Vietnam. It was founded in 1070 as Confucian Temple but by 1076 it was Vietnam's first University. The temple grounds are very beautiful and house about 80 steles (engraved stone tablets) each resting on the back of a large stone turtle. Students here would pass a series of tests that would put them to higher ranking until they would eventually be administered a test by the king.

The Temple of Literature is featured on the back of the very common 100,000 dong banknote.

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