TRAVELMAN IN VIETNAM: Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, Good food, the military museum, and more!

On my way to the Lotte mall, I walked through the Vuon Bach Thao Botanical Gardens. The gardens are behind the Vietnamese Parliament Building and Ho Chi Minh's mausoleum.

I was simply following Mapsme to the mall, so I didn't know what to expect. I came upon a large open square (Ba Dinah Square) with a lot of tourists milling about. I passed a line close to where I entered. A very important looking guard directed people through the line. Everyone knows that the cleaner and fancier your military uniform, the more special you are. I later discovered that he was one of the Royal Guards...

Mapsme directed me to go by the gurard and walk down a path through the park. It looked like the guard was simply on line duty, a line that was going to a ticket booth in the opposite direction I was heading, so I continued onward.

Once again, Mapsme isn't right all the time. The Royal Guard blew his whistle at me and emphatically motioned for me to get in the line. I didn't want to get in the line, I wasn't going to the garden, I was simply passing through. I tried to communicate this to him, but I continued to get emphatic gestures to get in line.

...So I got in line.

Well, not really. I went to the back of it, then drifted away into the square. I could cross the square and get to where I needed to get to without following the Mapsme path (it looked like it was closed for renovation anyways).

That's when I walked by a building I later identified on the internet as the Parliament Building. I could be wrong, but I think it's the building where George Clinton and the Parliament Funkadelic hold their rehearsals and world summits of funk...

Directly across from Parliament was a large square granite building with two Royal Guards at its doors. Ho Chi Minh was carved across the upper facade. I assumed this was the final resting place of "He Who Enlightens" (That's what Ho Chi Minh translates to.) ...And we all know that when I assume, I never make an ass out of u or me because my assumptions are always correct. Ahem.

Anyway, I was right. He's in there, embalmed, on display, like Lenin in Moscow. People line up to see him when it's open. It wasn't open...

I continued onward to the mall, got what needed getting, and returned to my hostel to have lunch at my favorite place a few doors down.

Google translator translates the words on the sign in the back of the restaurant as "Three ball of crab." I don't think that's accurate. An English speaking employee of the hostel said just "Crab." But it was so much more that...

It was a giant bowl of noodle soup that contained an assortment of items. I believe it had beef, some greens, maybe tofu, something that tasted like fish (probably the crab). And pieces of a tiny white sausage that looked like it wasn't cooked. I avoided the white sausage thingys.

A local who didn't speak English sat down across from me on my first day there and directed me on how to properly treat myself. The bread crumb looking stuff is broken peanuts that are kept in a jar on the table. He encouraged me to put a couple heaping scoops in my bowl. I heeded his instruction. He also bought a plate of the fried dough rolls, which he encouraged me to put in my soup. It's best to let it get nice and soaked with broth, then eat a bite with some of the many soup ingredients heaped on top. It was very delicious. So much so that I ate there every afternoon for 35000 Dong...

I figured out all on my own to put the spicy peppers and juice in the soup as well. They also provide you with half of a mini lime to squeeze into the meal...

A lot of the locals had the soup served to them with the broth on the side. I would have liked to try that sometime, but enjoyed the broth in it too much to change my scheme.

Moving on!

I went to the military museum. It would have been a short walk but there is a very large military complex in the way. The buildings go on and on for about ten blocks. And even though Mapsme tells you that you can cut through the complex, you can't. The guard in front started blowing his whistle at me and waved me away when I took this picture of the spot that Mapsme wanted to enter...

This is at the entrance to the museum...

So is this...

And a reminder that I'm in Vietnam and not 'Merica....

Mural artists...

Flowers on bicycles....

And Vietnam's version of Sergeant Pepper's lonely Heart's Club Band...

!steemitworldmap 21.0375 lat 105.8351 long Ho Chi Minh Mauseleum and more Vietnam d3scr