Today I woke at what would normally be the crack of dawn for me in the UK to get up and have breakfast so I could hire a bike and make it over to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Now I had heard the traffic here was a bit mental and it's true. There are random traffic restrictions but if you're riding a bicycle forget it you can violate almost all of them including going down one way streets but I am still not ok with turning right on a red light...we'll still wait for green!

It took a while for me to get to the Mausoleum and I was hoping it would be worth it since the queue was so long. It was free admission though so shouldn't complain too much really. They check your bags and take any liquids and camera equipment off of you before you get there and you walk in single file into the most air conditioned building I have ever been into. You cannot deviate from the red carpet and must walk in silence with your arms down by your side and keep walking, no loitering. It was a bit regimented and weird to be honest but I guess they have thousands of visitors come through every day and since they're only open for about 3 hours for 4 days a week they have a lot of people to cram in. I have seen tombs and Mausoleums before and seen bodies which have been preserved but never anything like this before. He's been dead for 43 years this year and he almost looks like he passed yesterday. It was kind of spooky. It's also kind of sad really that they're going to forever preserve him this way when it was against his wishes. I read that he wanted to be cremated and placed in 3 urns one at the top, middle and bottom of the country in hidden locations and that he said cremation saves farm land...smart man lol.

Anyway, the visit continued with a walk to the Presidential Palace, you're not allowed inside but just a walk round the outside and in the gardens. The biggest yellow (I'm sure it's meant to be gold) building I have seen in a while which wasn't a Temple. You got to walk round his house and see his famous Coy Carp pond where there are still hundreds of fish swimming round. Afterwards I went to see the One Pillar Pagoda which was nice but I should have come earlier in the day as there were way too many people there. Started to feel unwell again, think it's lack of water since they confiscated everything at the entrance. Bought a drink and went to get my bike. Since I was over this way I thought I might try and cycle to the B52 museum.

Don't. It wasn't really a museum, just sort of a scrap yard of piled up plane and tank parts randomly strewn about. The fact that there was a massive area with loose bricks everywhere making it look like a building site didn't really make the experience any better. I also ripped my favourite harem trousers as they got caught in the chain of the bike...damn bike! After settling down in the nearest park which was Lenin park (yes there is a massive statue of Lenin in the park) for a while I thought I would try and make it to the Old City Gate, however quickly got lost...even with a map. Don't say anything lol. It was a good lost though as I got to ride through the Old Quarter and round the streets which only traditionally sell one thing. One road which sells toys, One road which sells and mends shoes, One road that works with metal etc. A bit random but I guess it works very well if you want to shop about and find something.

I finally understand the term when it rains it rains as tonight the heavens well and truly opened! It rained so much that there was almost a mini swimming pool outside of the hostel. There was over a foot of water in the streets, we were ok as our hostel was raised with a step but the lady across the way had a door almost level with the road and she was trying to mop up faster than it was pouring into her tour agency. It was a bit weird though to see some cockroaches 'swimming' in the water...they were probably drowning but still lol.

Feeling a bit low again tonight, a cash machine robbed me of almost 4 million Vietnamese Dong, it's about 195 GBP which may not sound a lot to some people but it's a hell of a lot on a backpacker budget. To make things worse the robbing cash machine caused me to reach my transaction limit so I cannot draw any money out for another day or so, leaving me stuck in Hanoi with no money instead of sailing round Halong Bay or visiting the Sapa hill tribe villages. If anything I have learnt about this week in particular is that travelling has it's problems and is not always fun. I'll keep my head up though, still travelling the world and the reception gave me a free beer as I was upset lol. This Hostel really is the best one, they've been so helpful and nice.

The picture is of the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, just the outside as there's no pictures allowed inside - controlled environment or something lol.