Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum is the most important site in Hanoi for all loyal Vietnamese people. Ho Chi Minh, the nation's hero, is laid out there (btw, against his will - he wanted to be cremated!). Be prepared to see hundreds of people waiting for a short glimpse of his body. Uncle Ho is presented there for 9 months - the other 3 months of the year, his body is restaurated in Moscow. His mausoleum is a massive stone building, distantly resembling a Greek temple, but one that was built by the Soviets. It's certainly not a beautiful building, but its sheer size creates respect.

When the father of this great nation, Ho Chi Minh, died in 1969 his body was recovered from its burial place, cleaned up, embalmed and put on display in this granite mausoleum. The influence of socialist Russia (a country that supported Vietnam after the war) is very apparent here as the mausoleum was modelled after Lenin's tomb.

Inspite of the changing times and the economy becoming more commercialised and market-driven, it appears that the Vietnamese continue to hold HCM in high regard because apart from the gawking tourists lining up to view the body, there were just as many locals queueing to pay their respects.

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