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Finding well-being through travel and books. |
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Hello and welcome! I have two great passions in life. The first one is travel. After a series of life-changing events, my husband and I decided to spend the kids’ inheritance and see as much of the world as possible (I’m still bitter about Damascus). Our bible? A Thousand Places to See Before You Die. Please join us on our adventures seeing new places, meeting fascinating people and trying new, exciting, and sometimes just plain weird, food. My second great passion is books. Reading expands my interior world in the same way travel expands my external one. And, books are a great way to armchair travel - not only through distance but through time as well. My tastes are eclectic, so we’ll be looking at a wide range of writing in a possibly haphazard fashion. Come along for the ride! My best, Kirsten ** Images For Use By Upgraded+ Only ** |
| “The Ho Chi Minh mausoleum is the holiest site in the country for the Vietnamese because he is revered not only as the liberator from the French but also because of his communist ideology.” Han swept an arm to encompass the massive structure, built with help from the Russians in the same style as Lenin’s tomb in Red Square (but many times the size). It is situated on Ba Dinh Square, the biggest square in Hanoi. “Ho Chi Minh wanted to be cremated when he died, as is our custom. But, when Ho Chi Minh died in 1969, the civil war was still going on. The generals were afraid that if the people knew he had died, they would lose heart and stop fighting. This was just after the North had suffered a terrible defeat during the Tet Offensive of 1968 and already rumours were circulating that he died because of the stress. But I think he died of old age. He was 79 and in those days, people didn’t live as long – although 79 is no age at all now. Millions of people come from all over each year to pay their respects and, perhaps to pray.” He gestured to the long line of people snaking across the square. “They come as early as 6:00 in the morning and it can take two and a half hours to actually get to the mausoleum. There, if you go inside, you can still see his body, preserved by nitrogen in a glass sarcophagus.” “It is very difficult to become one of Ho Chi Minh’s body guards,” he nodded to the guards in their snowy white uniforms posted on either side of the door and every five feet thereafter. “It is a very prestigious position to hold.” More here  |
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