To get to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum on weekends, you need to be near it in the morning, because then hundreds of buses with pioneers from all over the country arrive here. Long lines form in rows and, thanks to the orders of the staff, move without delay to the tomb of the leader of the nation. You need to dress in such a way that you cover your knees and shoulders, as if you were going to a Buddhist temple. No wonder, because Ho Chi Minh is valued here no less than Buddha.
«Why are people so sad here? They usually smile», - Erica asked when we approached the mausoleum.
« Their dead leader lies there. He is the one who won the war!» - Arian explained to her.
In general, the territory where the mausoleum is located is huge. In addition to the tomb itself, there is a house in which the leader lived. It has three rooms - an office, a bedroom and a dining room. There is a house on stilts with two rooms.
«It's gorgeous, like a tree house, I would like to have one», - the daughter commented.
«And it's cool here too», - the man said dreamily.
The leader also had three cars: two Soviet and one French. In general, the myth of his modesty is easily dispelled by two houses and three cars. Next to the mausoleum is the Ho Chi Minh Museum, which has an unusual architectural shape of a white lotus. Its exposition combines historical artifacts with modern art installations about the path of the Vietnamese leader.
There is also a nice Pagoda on stilts and a full-fledged Buddhist temple on the territory of the complex. The Communist Party of Vietnam has long stopped fighting believers, the party bosses simply added their ideological leader to the pantheon of gods. Ho Chi Minh managed to unite the nation in one of the most difficult stages of its life, thanks to which Vietnam was able to preserve its territorial integrity and defeat the strongest country in the world - the USA.
Next, we headed to the Ethnological Museum, and it is really amazing. In the courtyard, on a huge square, there are many houses: wooden, bamboo, clay, on stilts and on the ground. Just like our Pirogovo. These are houses that were built by different ethnic groups of Vietnam in ancient times. The children were absolutely delighted. They went into all the houses, took pictures with the interior decoration: bedrooms, a forge with jugs, pots and a place for a fireplace. They especially liked the huge house on stilts. It was another quest to get there and an even bigger one - to go down.
In addition, the museum has three whole floors with various exhibits that were used in everyday life. Dresses for every taste, looms, dishes, musical instruments, hunting weapons - what else is there here? We were especially impressed by the lunar calendar in the form of a fan made of bamboo sticks, a portable cabinet for learning Mandarin, interesting fishing tools resembling barrels, and bird traps.
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