Remains of the Day cont.
...as we came up (very slowly now) and made our way around Uncle Ho's outstretched corpse, I couldn' t help but pause and take in (with something akin to wonder) what I was seeing - each humbled person, with respect reaching something close to veneration, held their hands together and did obeisance at the glowing glass case before them--the case which (to them) housed the one who brought light to their darkened souls and life to their dead hearts; the one who brought equality where their was oppression and division, equinamity where there was injustice, and hope and salvation within where there was fear and opposition without. However, as important as I feel catching their sentiment is, I digress. The three of us, now slightly more at ease because one of us had made friends with a kind gentleman who relished the opportunity of getting to use his English with foreigners, viewed the body in turn and immediately headed for a taxi, recounting our adventure with amazement over and over again the whole way back to the hotel.
by the way, that priviledged procession of Vietnamese patriots, we found out later, was none other than a group of Park employees taking part in an annual, exclusive viewing of Ho Chi Minh's body...and incredibly enough, three foreigners had the unique opportunity to be a part of it!
