Journal Day 35 - Learning about Uncle Ho in Hanoi.

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I headed out to explore the old quarter this morning after a full Fry-up breakfast which I was strangely crazing for.
Watched a few elderly people doing their ti-chi on the misty edge of the Hiem Keap lake which really suited the setting and looked pretty therapeutic.

Walked past a craft shop which looked significantly better than the normal shops selling sculptures etc. along the narrow streets of the old quarter. Went back for a look in. Really quality hand carved Stone and wood stuff here. A polite sales-women followed me around the shop explaining the symbolism of each piece. 'I'm just looking' I told her. These things were a bit pricey for me.
Just then i happened upon a large hand-carved plate mounted on an elegantly carved wooden stand.
The woman explained. She described that The piece was carved out of natural Rose-wood. It depicts the 4 mythical animals of our Vietnamese Buddhist religion and It was carved near Hanoi in their own artisan workshop;

the dragon symbolises power and nobility.
the 'unicorn' (head of dragon and body of lion symbolises intelligence and goodness.
the tortoise represents both the Heaven and the Earth (the shell heaven and the soft body earth), And the tortoise therefore symbolises longevity and perfection.
And the elegant, graceful Phoenix symbolises peace and its body is said to represent the 6 celestial bodies. The head-the sky, the eyes-the sun & the moon, the wings-the wind, the feet-the earth, and it's tail-the planets....

Together these 4 animals make up Vietnam's Coat of Arms and are considered the national emblems of Vietnam.

So I looked again at it. And then at the price.
$100.
I'd seen a similar type of plate in other shops, but this was very different. Whoever carved this knew what they were at.
But nope, too experience....
But is is bloody beautiful.....
Too expensive....
I looked at the fragile curved lengths of wood coming from the head of the Phoenix.....
I faffed about for ages.
Basically I gave in and after haggling it down to $90 I bought the damn thing.

I've officially now bought far too many handcrafted goods. I'll worry about how to transport this seriously fragile thing later.

I walked through the old quarter to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum which is found halfway down a vast flat, pedestrianized paved area closed off from the crazy motorbike traffic.
The mausoleum in a Large communist marble stone monument with pillars and heavy capped roof apparently meant to evoke a lotus flower but more brutalist and soviet than anything else which, having read a bit about ol' Ho, is at odds to the simplicity which which he lived his life. I imagine he'd prefer something a little more humble. Inside his body lies preserved for posterity in a glass case where visitors can see him and pay their respects by strolling along in a queue. As far as I'm aware this only happens a couple of hours every day and unfortunately I missed my opportunity to see him today.

Beyond the mausoleum is the large Ho chi Minh museum, again an undoubtedly Soviet design.
Inside the museum the displays follow uncle Ho's (as the locals like to call him) life from the very beginning in a simple rural hut, through his education and early political evolution in Paris where he adopted the name Nguyen Ai Quoc (Nguyen the patriot), to the revolution he started in his homeland, up to his death. It's pretty clear from everything I've seen and heard that The Vietnamese people hold Ho Chi Minh very close to their hearts.
A few notes from my visit to the museum....
He Grew up in simple rural family in Vietnam,
Went to France to study where he worked in many different jobs, photographer, painter, etc.
All the while growing politically against the French colonisation of his homeland.
Founding member of French communist party,
He wrote many articles about the plight of Indochina,
Went to the soviet to study Leninism and communism,
Returned home to set up the Vietnam communist party. A revolutionary party with the aim of getting rid of the French colonists. He believed the best doctrine with which to do this was Leninism.
He wanted 'revolution,' 'national salvation and for liberation of the working class.'
He sought about stirring up an Anti-imperialist and anti-feudalist revolution. And he succeeded in doing so....

Just at this point I got tapped on the shoulder to leave the museum as it was closed!

Also visited the One pillar pagoda.
Ho Chi Minh's house on stilts. (notes to be written up)

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