Our guide, Hoa, and driver picked us up from the hotel at 8.30am for our private day tour of the city. So glad for choice based on the the heat, humidity and crowds of people as another public holiday to commemorate Vietnam Reunification.
We headed though the old quarter and French Quarter, past Lenin's statue (hope to visit again later) to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Due to the public holiday it was actually closed which didn't deter the throngs of people coming from all areas of Vietnam to pay their respects. Incredibly patriotic and devout people with parents evidently instilling the significance to their children. And how lucky were we - managed to time the changing of the guard! The Mausoleum was created with assistance from the USSR and is modelled on Lenin's tomb - actually housing Ho Chi Minh's embalmed body. Shame we couldn't see it but the wait could have been a couple of hours.
We did visit the Presidential Palace area (with the masses!). The palace was built under French colonial rule and is now used for receptions. After Independence Ho Chi Minh refused to live in the palace choosing the simplicity of the historic house-on-stilts within the gardens for the 9 years prior to his death in 1969.
The area also incorporates gardens, large fishpond, the cars used by Ho Chi Minh and the famous One Pillar Pagoda built it 1049 and dedicated to the goddess of Mercy and protector of children, Quan Am. It was destroyed by the French forces in 1954 during the first Indo-Chinese war - then rebuilt in 1955 with a single concrete pillar.
We were happy to spend some time in the nearby Ho Chi Minh Museum which opened in 1990 displaying much memorabilia belonging and related to Ho Chi Minh. Also a current photographic exhibition pertaining to Reunification and with insight from our guide reinforced the patriotism of the Vietnamese and how indebted they feel to Ho Chi Minh.
He then escorted us to the Museum of Ethnology with fascinating and incredibly informative displays relating to the 54 different ethnic groups that make up Vietnams population - the areas they live and artefacts unique to each. The open-air exhibition had recreated life-size models of their houses and community buildings - very impressive.
It was time for lunch and Hoa took us to a street food outlet for a bowl of Pho Ba (beef) and Nem (spring rolls) - just delicious! So good to sit for a while and have a cold drink - plus Hoa's recommendation of iced green tea.
Our final stop on the tour was the Temple of Literature which was built in 1070 and is the venue of Vietnam's first university. It has five courtyards, one having inscriptions of students who obtained doctorates and another called the Great House of Ceremonies featuring a large red lacquer statue of Confucius. Was significant that many groups of students were congregating for formal photographs to celebrate their graduation!
We bid farewell to Hoa after a great day but thankful to have a rest out of the heat and humidity.
After a couple of hours, manned with map in hand, we walked to Lenin Park to check out the statue of Lenin located in a family oriented playground area, with the 200 year old Flag Tower of Hanoi across the road. We continued walking for a while then resorted to another cyclo ride round past the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum to the French Quarter. Strolled some more, stopped for beer then continued on ending up at the lake area. Found somewhere to eat - two dishes and beers costing just over $14! Awesome!
Walked on but the maze of streets can be confusing especially when you're so tired.....thank goodness for a cyclo again to return us to the hotel.