10-31-19 - Halloween, Hotel Hanoi style
/Day 137. Kyle & Leanne joint blog.
What’s the best way to celebrate Halloween in Vietnam? Visit a dead guy, of course. Not just any dead guy but Ho Chi Minh, or Uncle Ho as he was called by the Vietnamese. Ho Chi Minh’s HUGE mausoleum and former home is a tourist attraction that brings in millions of Vietnamese (and foreigners) to visit each year. We see a sign that there have been over 60 million Vietnamese tourists and 15 million foreign tourists. Kyle does the quick math and informs us that 80% of the tourists are domestic not dissimilar to the China which had 85 – 90% domestic tourists and many attractions we visited.
Ho Chi Minh was a Vietnamese revolutionary and politician who lived from 1890 – 1969. He left Vietnam in 1911 and spend thirty years abroad living in countries such as the US, UK, France, Russia, Thailand and China. He founded the Communist Party of Vietnam in 1930. He returned to Vietnam in 1941 to lead the Vietnam independence movement establishing the Communist-ruled Democratic Republic of Vietnam in 1945. He defeated the French Union in 1954 ending the Indochina War and gaining Vietnam their independence. He served as Prime Minister of North Vietnam from 1945 to 1955 and its President from 1945 to 1969. He was a key figure in the People’s Army of Vietnam and the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War which lasted from 1955 to 1975. North Vietnam was victorious in the war and was reunified with the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam) in 1976. Saigon, the former capital of South Vietnam was renamed Ho Chi Minh City in his honor. Ho officially stepped down from power in 1965 due to health problems and died in 1969.
The line to walk past Ho Chi Minh’s entombment is hundreds of people long as we shuffle past dozens of military guards snaking our way outside and then finally inside in the Mausoleum. Some of the crazy crowded tourist attractions we’ve been to have employed the moving conveyer belt strategy to ensure slow, dawdling tourists don’t unnecessarily delay the overall procession. However; this is not necessary here as we witness some of the Vietnamese women bowing, genuflecting and praying over his remains only to be met with Vietnamese military soldiers ushering and pushing them forward to keep the line moving. We witness firsthand how revered he is by the Vietnamese people for their view of his gaining independence from France and leading the war which resulted in reunifying the Country.
We visit Ho Chi Minh’s former house on stilts, his preserved cars (gifts from the Soviets) and a museum dedicated to him. The brochure points out that Ho Chi Minh had a simple modest 2-room open air house built for him instead of living in the former French Indo-China General’s house that is adjacent to it. We learn he visited 56 countries over his lifetime - and spent a good portion of his life working and living outside of Vietnam. For his dedication and service to Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh is revered by his countrymen as not only defeating invaders but for establishing the path for the country.
We then walk to the Citadel, a UNESCO site that was the original city wall. Unfortunately, there is only one of four gates remaining as the French destroyed most of the walls and gates in the late 19th century. The last remaining gate is surrounded by the original city wall which has two huge holes where cannonballs left their mark. So it turns out to be more of a photo stop than an activity.
We visit another Roman Catholic cathedral, Our Lady of Hanoi – Queen of Martyrs. We admire brilliant white statues outside and take our share of pictures. There is another large group of Vietnamese who we think are a wedding party taking a flourish of wedding pictures.
We are running low on energy but manage a stop at a Buddhist temple named Thang Do. It is not as impressive as some of the others we have seen but each stop is an opportunity to learn about the history specific to each temple and the worship practices.
Some grumbling teens leave us ready to walk back to the hotel. After three big walking days around Hanoi, a little grumbling is to be expected. Add to that missing our hometown Halloween fun today. A few retire to the hotel room midday for studies and a few head back out to Prague Pub for a late lunch. While we don’t encounter any interesting global couples, we are barraged by our share of Hawkers again. How many donuts and cigarette lighters does one tourist need to purchase each day?
After the late lunch, we head back for a rest at the hotel. It’s Halloween! We need a plan! We bought the costumes last night but the teenagers aren’t so willing to go outside sharing them with locals. John suggests us having a party right in the hotel room and everyone gets excited for it. So we hold our own Halloween party complete with a clan-favorite games of Werewolf, scary ghost stories, makeshift trick or treating and even the filming of a scary movie in our costumes directed by Ashley. It’s the kind of family fun we love in this trip. We only have each other but with seven, it’s always a party in a sense!
John orders room service for our Halloween party. When bringing up our dinner, the room service staff were super excited about our Halloween party and told us we were the first foreigners to celebrate Halloween in their hotel. They even took our costume family photos for us. More good family bonding even knowing the teens are missing Halloween fun with their friends back home. So we made our own fun. After the teens kick us out of their room so they can go to sleep, Kyle and Leanne stay up late in their own room to watch a scary movie before calling it a night.
Happy Halloween, Hotel Hanoi style!
