Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum

Unless you’ve seen Lenin in his glass coffin in Moscow, visiting the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum will undoubtedly be one of the most bizarre travel experiences of your life. The massive building, clad in gray granite, is a lesson in Communist-era architecture; at its center lies the eerie, dimly lit room that houses the glass coffin holding the former leader’s embalmed body, surrounded by four guards. Visitors are speedily shuffled through after having been repeatedly reminded not to speak and to remove their hands from their pockets before entering.

If you arrive at 8 A.M. to beat the crowds, as your guide will insist you do, the whole experience takes all of 10 minutes. A dress code is enforced (no bare shoulders or legs). Close to the Mausoleum, your guide can take you to see Ho Chi Minh’s former home overlooking a scenic lake.