Au Revoir Vietnam

One of the places we included in our already hectic last day was a quick visit to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, where the embalmed body of the founding father of Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh is kept.  It is an imposing memorial for a leader of his caliber and Vietnamese speak about him with a lot of reverence and I figured out that he is as important as Mahatma Gandhi for us Indians, if not more.

The Mausoleum is one of the most visited places and Lan, our guide spoke as if it is one of the seven wonders of the world and how could we go without peeping in there.  It is said that the leaders’ body is embalmed and kept for the general public to be viewed in a massive Mausoleum amidst a gigantic square in the middle of the town.

Ba Dinh Square in front of the mausoleum is noteworthy as the site is where President Ho declared the independence of Vietnam on September 2, 1945. The square is composed of 240 patches of grass divided by intersecting concrete pathways. 

The impressive and most revered Mausoleum

 Inspite of the pressure from Lan to visit the inside of the Mausoleum, we just crossed this place and viewed it only from the outside, the babes not very interested to get into the snaking queues and lose out on our time.  Lan was not very happy, she had to deal with that.  Ho’s Mausoleum was crowded to the hilt, with high security right from the entrance and we already were slowing down our pace.  Ample security guards were around this place and they were quite strict – wouldn’t allow us to take pictures anywhere near the monument for Ho.  They were doing their duty with an absurd sincerity. I also noticed people looked grim, not many were speaking in raised voices and there are strict dress codes too – indecent clothing is not allowed, most elements that are followed in a religious place. Photography was not allowed.  Period. One of the young guards almost snarled at us when we wanted to take a picture of a beautiful garden, because it was on the Mausoleum’s side.

The prayer flags around the Pagoda

We instead visited the one pillar Pagoda, within the security zone.  Prayer flags adorned the surroundings of this pagoda and by now our brains had stopped taking in new inputs and we were drifting along. We could’ve easily miss the history of this place and dismiss it as a concrete pillar topped by a wooden structure in the middle of a grubby pond, thankfully Lan took us to this place.

The One Legged Pagoda, the smallest of the pagodas that we visited in Vietnam

Rising from one pillar in the centre of an elegantly square shaped lotus pond, the One Pillar Pagoda is said to represent a lotus flower growing up out of the water. The little temple is constructed from wood based on a single stone pillar crafted into the shape of a lotus blossom and has been rebuilt several times, and is set in a beautifully tranquil garden with benches provided for comfortable seating. The shrine inside the pagoda is dedicated to the Vietnamese Buddhist deity Quan Am with her effigy nestled inside the tiny three square metres temple. Legend claims that this temple was built by a fatherless emperor who was granted a son on a lotus flower and commissioned this pagoda in gratitude to Quan Am.

The lotus pond and the prayer flags 

We came down the stairs and I was watching my gal gang – all of us in silent contemplation and Sudha busy clicking pictures one moment and then she was gone. Literally into thin air. A bit of panic there as we couldn’t trace her for almost 20 minutes.

Though  Jay and I went in searching for her first, leaving Lan and Rosy, the place was crowded and we couldn’t find her.  We got back to the place where Rosy and Lan were waiting, took Lan along with me and almost ran upto the entrance, all the way telling Lan that she has to look for black and white stripes (that was the design of Sudha’s top).  Kept screening people swarming around me for this design and repeatedly told that to Lan, ( or for myself) and my head kept telling me to find Sudha.  My logic told me she would probably get back to the starting point, when she figured out she got lost.

Only Lan had a phone and none of us were carrying it, so I know she cannot call.  Myriad thoughts ran in my head, but focused on the look out for Sudha, I heard my name being screamed out at the end of 20 minutes, only to be tightly hugged by a flustered and tearful Sudha.  It was such an intense moment for both of us, and all my grit seemed to melt away once I saw her – shaking and tearful, we stayed in an everlasting embrace for some moments. This probably was the babes longest 20 minutes.  Ahhhhh!!!

Shopping at Dong Xuan market got us squealing like kids, and helped us put the “lost and found” incident behind us and that’s when we regretted not planning out our shopping time well.  I wanted to buy almost everything from that market, crockery, souvenirs, and what not, anyway we managed to pick what we could in an measly one hour. This is the largest indoor market in Hanoi and throws up a very endearing local lifestyle with its variety of wares, that we could have brought back home.

Vietnam still tops the list of the best places we have visited so far, her thick greenery, Karst mountains, flowing green and yellow paddies, aquamarine blue seas and scintillating views all steeped in rich culture and history, refusing to get out of our minds eye.  Even now.