A short Cyclo ride from the Old Quarter to the other side of the Citadel Restricted Area brings one onto the spectacular Bah Dinh. This enormous square which was built on the grounds of the former Palace of the General Governor for Indochina is the ceremonial and political center of Hanoi and indeed Vietnam itself. It was here on the second of September 1945 that Ho Chi Minh read out Vietnam's Declaration of Independence to a crowd of half-a-million Vietnamese that had gathered here, and is it here that each year on that date that an even greater number of people gather to celebrate that momentous occasion.
The square itself is dominated by a giant gray block of granite on its eastern side, this is of course Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum. Built between 1973 and 1975 from local construction materials, its design is said to reflect that of traditional Vietnamese housing but in all honesty it looks more like a typical Communist/Modernist monstrosity to me. Ho's embalmed body lies inside, despite his own expressed preference to be buried, where it can be viewed by all. Sadly he was on his annual visit to Russia (every Sept-Nov) for repair work when I was there so I couldn't pay my respects.
The Vietnamese may have become disillusioned about Communism but they are still fiercely loyal to their fallen hero whom they affectionately refer to as Uncle Ho, and any criticism of him will cause offence. This place has become a site of pilgrimage for people from all over the country who still see him as the great liberator who freed them from colonial rule. It is hard to go anywhere in Vietnam without feeling his presence and if you would like to learn more about the life and the legacy of this great man then the nearby Ho Chi Minh museum is the place to go.
At the heart of this little enclave of buildings is Hanoi's famous One Pillar Pagoda this tiny little building 3 square meters in size and completely overwhelmed by the surrounding buildings is something of a disappointment. The original pagoda shaped like a lotus flower, sitting on a single stone pillar rising like the stem from an artificial lake, was according to local legend constructed by King Ly Tai Tong (r. 1028-1054) to give thanks to the goddess Quan Am for the birth of his son and heir. This concrete reconstruction, built after the retreating French troops leveled the site in 1954, however fails to capture the romance.