Ho Chi Minh was former president of Northern Vietnam and has lead his country into victory from the Vietnam War. Unfortunately, his death came sooner than victory itself. He is a Vietnamese Marxist revolutionary that will forever be embedded in Vietnam’s history. In the capital of Vietnam, Hanoi, you can visit his mausoleum and museum. Where I am about to take you is to the museum, a trip that you will confuse, educate, and stimulate your mind – hence the acid trip.
One hit cost me 15,000Dong ($.75). The first room to the right were posters of Ho Chi Minh doing good deeds. I noticed that in nearly every picture, he is holding a cigarette. Below each portrate there are captions written in both Vietnamese and English. You’d think that for such a popular man, they’d have correct usage of English but this was not the case. Even when quoted by English speakers, it had somehow gone wrong in translation. Some of the portraits made no sense and seemed to not even relate to anything at all but I began to wonder if this would make more sense to a Vietnamese local.
Ho Chi Minh Musuem
The acid trip escalated: For the next room, it was of North Korea. Was I even allowed in this room? Books were laid out on a large table. They were all of Kim Jung Il and how “great” of a man he is. A Great Personality, On The Art Of Opera, Abuses of Socialism are Intolerable, The Leadership Philosophy of Kim Jong Il, were some of the books you can read. There is a video as well. This was one of my favorite parts of this room. The video described the advanced technology of North Korea. In one example, they called a hospital Baby Paradise. The entire film looks as if it were filmed in the 1950′s but it is probably of 2010. Streets were usually empty and the scenery looked pretty yet dull, centralizing only in the capital, Pyongyang. The video didn’t accomplish much because I now think less (I didn’t it was possible) of their technology.
Hung up around the room were painted and embroidered art. There were of kittens, lakes, forests, and other cliché art work that wasn’t at all impressive. The best being one right above the video screen of a large picture of an eagle. Out of all the animals and to be part of this exhibit right in the center of a room I thought the choice of an eagle was a bit odd but hilarious.
I don’t think there are many countries on the planet that would feature N.Korea in their national museum.
Books about Kim Jung Il
North Korean Exhibit
The acid trip peaked: I was in the body of Ho Chi Minh himself on the third level. Each room captured a different part of his life and body(?). In one section, I entered his brain. Then, somehow I would stumble into a pile of large fruits. This is Ho Chi Minh in Wonderland. I kept trying to put all of this together but I couldn’t. Still, I kept wanting to see more.
There was a room describing the modernism and advanced technology of Vietnam with video. I love these videos. Footage of rockets taking off into space, oddly all of NASA. A clip of when the Challenger exploded then another clip of when the Americans landed on the moon. The video claimed to say Vietnam had helped. If I’m not mistaken, USA was at war with Vietnam when the American’s landed on the moon. I’m again mind-blown and confused by the message they are trying to convey in this dark trippy room of rotating mirrors, light shows, and video. I wish I understood Vietnamese.
The Ho Chi Minh museum is like visiting a modern art museum that has gone wrong but somehow still awesome. It taught me that Vietnam is all one big wonderland of mystery.
Ho Chi Minh Museum by gforbes, on Flickr
When I think of Ho Chi Minh, I usually think of Picasso. - Picasso en Museo de Ho Chi Minh by viviresfluir, on Flickr
Uncle Ho watching down on his museum. - by CapsLK, on Flickr
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