Planes, Taxis, and Turtles

Near the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum, down a twisting alley, there is a small lake in the midst of the city. In that lake lies the wreckage of a B-52 bomber, shot down by Vietnamese forces in December of 1972. It's been left in the lake as a testament to Vietnamese tenacity and as a tribute to those directly responsible for its destruction. It's not particularly easy to find, so the area is not inundated with tourists.

In the middle of a residential area....

A few of us chose to walk to that site, rather than viewing Ho Chi Minh's preserved body in the Mausoleum. Ken had seen Bac Ho (Uncle Ho, as many Vietnamese call him) on the last trip, and I had chosen not to. Part of my reasoning for this was that apparently, Ho had not wanted a great fuss made over him or his death; he requested to be cremated and scattered over part of the Central Highlands. Given his determination not to be an icon, I wonder what he'd make of the mausoleum and museum(s), his picture on all the currency, and his image a constant presence throughout the country.

Heavily guarded Presidential Palace, near Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

After a quick sprint through the Ho Chi Minh Museum, we caught taxis for our next destination. Now, just like any other place in the world, there are people who will take advantage of those whom they assume, at least, are not familiar with the geography. Unfortunately, some (not all, definitely) Ha Noi cab drivers have the reputation of taking tourists on much longer cab rides than necessary, using one way streets, construction, etc. as excuses for inflated fares. We got the other kind of less than honest cab driver -the guy with the double clicking meter. Ken was in the front seat, with another of our fellow travellers and me in the back. She and I were in charge of the map -allowing for some one way streets that we wouldn't know about, the driver seemed not to be going badly out of the way. Then Ken noticed that the meter would click at a steady rate for awhile, then speed up. He pulled out his phone to take a picture; the driver seemed nervous. Upon arrival, the fare he asked for was suddenly 30,000 dong instead of the 67,000 dong that the meter indicated. (30,000 was an entirely reasonable fare for the distances involved).

All of that was to get us to the Temple of Literature. Founded as the Temple of Confucius in 1070, it became the site of the National University in 1076, with the purpose of training promising men to serve the king and nation. In the 1400-1700's, the university was expanded to include classrooms and a dormitory for over 300 students. Today, the remains of the dormitories are likely somewhere under the businesses and streets surrounding the temple, but the refurbished temple and pagodas still exist. Students studied for three years before taking national exams; if they were successful in these, they moved on the Royal exams, in which they were questioned and assessed by the king himself. Depending upon how they did on which levels of exams were assigned a rank and corresponding privileges.

Great Middle Gate at Temple of Literature

Temple of Literature lake

Altars dedicated to the founders of the National University

 Scholars successfully passing royal exams between 1484 and 1780 had their names and birthplaces inscribed on one of a number of Doctors' Stele, which still survive at the Temple of Literature. These stele are massive stone blocks, carried on the back of a correspondingly massive stone turtle. In Vietnamese tradition, a turtle is one of the 4 sacred animals (along with the dragon, phoenix, and unicorn), and is the symbol of wisdom. The carving style of the turtles changed over time - I'm sure there's a dissertation on that topic filed somewhere!

Doctor's Stele

In spite of being a major tourist attraction, the Temple of Literature manages to maintain a peaceful and contemplative quality. It also remains a symbol of scholarly excellence; while we were visiting, there was a group of young women wearing traditional ao dais having graduation photos taken, and making offerings at various altars.

Lining up for graduation photos