I see dead people

Today was my Ho Chi Minh day (When I say day I mean the part of the day when I still have the will and power to visit monuments, stand in queues, etc.). I started by visiting his mausoleum. The poor guy's last request was to be burned, but instead someone thought it would be better to display his body for the pleasure of the nation and tourists. So yes, my day started with looking at a dead body. Splendid. The place itself is heavily guarded and you can't blink without someone giving you a nasty look.

Then it was already too late. The whole complex closes up at eleven AM and, although I woke up early, I managed to arrive quite late. So until everything opened up again (except the mausoleum), I went to the Temple of Literature. The place was the first academy built in Vietnam, almost a Milena ago. For me it was a nice place with nice buildings and gardens. Even though it has traffic around it, the place manages to be a nice relaxing green spot.

After that I went for lunch at KOTO. Staring at the desserts of the neighbour table, started a lovely conversation between me and two Australians women, mother and daughter, Jennie and Sophie. They have been traveling in Vietnam for three weeks (if I'm not mistaken) and are about to finish their visit and go back. They are from Melbourne, as four other Australians I met on my Halong Bay tour (a story not told yet). So when I get to Melbourne, I have many nice people to visit. I had a great time and great food, and time just flew by.

I picked myself up and walked back to the guy I started talking about. I went to a nice area around the presidential palace where you can see the places where Ho Chi Minh worked and lived. He was a modest guy, my kind of guy. I was looking for his personal toilets, as nature didn't let me the option to be too interested about anything else. It took me a few minutes to realize that the noises of traffic were absent, so I stayed for a while next to the lovely pond.

My next stop was Ho Chi Minh museum. "Unfortunately" time flew by next to the pond and I arrived to closing time. Bummer...

On one of my walks I noticed a familiar flag on a building. The area is full of embassies so I stumbled upon mine. I took my camera without thinking and two seconds after that I was trapped under five men, elite unit trained and armed to the teeth (The real story is sooo boring, but ok. Each place is guarded by some Vietnamese. One of them saw me and just blow his whistle. All of them are armed with it).