Ho Chi Minh’s Mausoleum Hanoi

In that great communist tradition, the liberator of Vietnam Ho Chi Minh remains lying in state so his admirers can pay their respects, even nearly five decades after his death.

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The mausoleum is set in sprawling Ba Dinh Square, where Ho Chi Minh read out the Declaration of Independence in 1945. This is easily Hanoi's most popular attraction, at least when it comes to something you need to queue for. We showed up just after gates opened to find a line already snaking for hundreds of metres outside the entrance gate. Entrance is free, and your bags will need to be X-rayed, but you can keep them with you. We waited for around 40 minutes to eventually enter the small room where his embalmed body rests under subdued lights. Visitors circumnavigate the glass sarcophagus holding Bac Ho, in literally guarded silence, for about 60 seconds.

The Soviet-style edifice at an angle. Photo taken in or around Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, Hanoi, Vietnam by Samantha Brown.

The Soviet-style edifice at an angle. Photo: Samantha Brown

Considering how long he's been lying here, Vietnam's founding father is looking pretty good—a bit like he's just taking a nap. Teams of experts from Russia still visit regularly to consult and help out with his ... Travelfish members only (Full text is around 300 words.)

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