A visitor’s guide to Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, a Hanoi highlight
Tran Thi Bao traveled all night by bus to make it to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum in time for the 6 a.m. flag raising ceremony.
On this September morning, a steady rain persisted. At 5:30 a.m., a mere 90 minutes after Bao and other faraway travelers arrived in Hanoi, the sky was dusty gray with barely a hint of sun.
Getting to Hanoi from Long San Village in Nghe An province in north-central Vietnam is a seven-hour ride on mostly rural roads. But to Bao and her group of fellow Vietnamese citizens, it’s a necessary journey to honor their late leader.
To foreign travelers, it’s a solid Hanoi tourist attraction that offers valuable insights into Vietnam’s history, values and culture.
Ho Chi Minh, considered the father of Vietnam and the founder of its Communist Party, is a lauded figure among the Vietnamese, while he remains a controversial subject to those who don’t support communism.
Ho served as the president of North Vietnam for 25 years; his powerful reign in the communist country symbolizes the struggle of the Vietnamese people’s fight for independence from the anti-communist regime in the south and from that regime’s southern allies, including the United States.
Uncle Ho, as the former Communist Party leader is often endearingly referred to by Vietnamese, is an important historical figure, and the Vietnamese people largely consider a visit to the mausoleum an honor – well worth the long journey many citizens endure.
