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Published: March 9th 2012
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We had a great stay at the Renaissance Saigon Riverside Hotel they are really plush appartments huge rooms and very well maintained. The staff are very friendly and helpful and if you want to stay outside the City this is the perfect place. The transport service is superb Boat or by Road the timings are spot on and very realiable. It was soon time to fly back to Hanoi and our worries about using internal flight operator Jetstar were completely unfounded as this flight took off 10 minutes early and so we were in Hanoi early as well. All 3 internal flights were fantastic, and all on time.
We had chosen a different hotel this time, the main reason is the other one is a bit of a walk late at night, so this one the Essence Hotel in Hanoi is right in the centre of backpacker land and so easy to pop back to the room as the toilet facilities are not that brilliant even in the restaurants. This Hotel is virtually brand new and we had already heard how good it was, and we had a fantastic welcome, the manager showing us everything with maps and a free
bottle of wine we had chosen a suite which is just perfect. The attention to detail in this hotel is 2nd to none and it is without question a place we can recommend if you are coming to Hanoi.
Last time we were here we did not visit the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum affectionately known as "Uncle Ho" Well Uncle Ho died of heart failure during the Vietnam War or as the Vietnamese call it the American War. He was a well travelled man and on his return to Vietnam he eventually became the political leader of the country, and a much loved leader, so much so that his wishes to be cremated were ignored and he was laid to rest here is Hanoi in 1969 in the massive mausoleum which we went to see. What a visit it was as well, you have to imagine this huge building that comes in well maintained gardens, gardeners everywhere digging and planting bedding plants. The first impression you get with the music playing is one of grandeur. Which is not really Uncle Ho's style as he lived quite a simple life as inside you can visit his old working quarters and
later his house of stilts which was built near where he worked, and it is certainly nice, but not grand. But, his Mausoleum is very grand and there are guards everywhere. We walked up to the first desk and they searched our bags, ok to go on, we walked around the corner and there we had a airport security type system to go through, ok to go on again we followed a roped off path through the grounds for about 1/3 of a mile, it was a beautiful day about 27 degrees hot for Hanoi at this time of year. We then had to hand in our cameras, into a little bag that was tagged and we got a tag to keep and hand in after. Back on the trail we followed the path, it was quite busy, but no queue the people were all moving along as we walked up the grand stairs, being watched VERY carefully by the guards. The amount of guards increased as we got closer to the Mauesoleum and by the time we were walking up the steps there was a guard every few yards and when we walked into the main room you could
see 6 guards around the square room and 4 guards stood to attention on each corner of the tomb. Uncle Ho is encased in a large tomb with glass and it is very easy to see him. Each year for a couple of months he goes to Russia to be repaired or whatever they have to do to ensure he is looking his best.
Outside you can go straight into Ho Chi Minh's house and Garden where he worked and lived. Now this is really all still very well maintained with Gardener's everywhere again but the living accomodation was very basic and also his office. Although he did have a wooden house of stilts built to sleep in for the last 2 years of his life he still did not spend a lot of money from the state, he kept everything to a minimum. The cars were also on display he had 3, but they were all donated from Russia, so they were free! Outside of the grounds there are two really large screens which play the uplifting socialist music and also show pictures of his life. This is a no expense spared operation to perserve him and his
life, but that is complete contrast to how he actually lived. He did not want fuss or a lot of grandeur but it is being heaped on him now. On the way home we stopped for a famous ice cream at Fannys.
Yesterday evening we went to the Water Puppet Show the tickets were a modest £3 and it is a 45 minute show, now I think it is something you either love and think is very clever, or something you hate and find very boring. Or like us found it just about watchable but glad it wasn't any longer! It was worth seeing but not worth going to again!
Well our time is coming to an end here and in fact I am writing this at Hanoi airport, we both think we want to come back as it has been fantastic. The Vietnamese people are so friendly and make you feel welcome and special. The hotel staff just cannot be praised high enough, they were all just so good it is hard to come to a conculsion which were the best. The weather has been just about perfect as well, it was slightly cold in Hanoi the first time, but on return it was up in the high twenties, but cool again today. The middle of the country the weather was just perfect mid twenties and of course Saigon was hot, it is how we expected it to be and it turned out that way. We had one day with just a slight drizze last night in fact but it was nice to cool down before coming home. Vietnam certainly has a few niggles that you have to get your head round, the hawkers can be a bit of a pest, but they can take a joke so that's not so bad. The roads are really amazing, how they don't have more accidents we will never understand, we must have seen about 1000 near misses, but that's the way it is, we saw just 2 accidents and they were just minor with people being knocked off motorbikes but at slow speeds. It is really impossible to work out how there are not hundreds more. I think we will be coming back as it is well worth the long trip to see. Thanks Vietnam for a fabulous holiday, Paul and Pauline signing off...........till next time!
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