Vietnamese Women's Museum

It had become quite warm and muggy so we were happy to get into air conditioned comfort at this very interesting museum. Of note, an exhibit on the many street vendors: women who travel from the country staying for a couple of weeks to sell their fruits etc and then return home where husband and children are or perhaps they are single household families. What a difficult life, they pay a small amount to stay dormitory style with fellow women.
Opened in 1995, it shows the roles and contributions of Vietnamese women in their family, work and military roles. There are three permanent exhibitions: Women in Family, showing the traditional roles of women through stories of marriage, child raising and household responsibilities. Women in History is about the contributions women made during the wars of independence in combat and support roles, and Women’s Fashion displays from the 54 ethnic tribes. There were touching portraits called "mothers of Vietnam" and if you lost two or more sons you would qualify for some $ or pension; many posthumously as the program started relatively recently. There was also a special exhibit on the Dao Mau, the worship of the Mother Goddess. This started in the 1500's but had been banned by the Communists until 1987. This has been a source of strength, inspiration and hope for many.

MUSINGS ON HANOI
Similar to Bangkok, Nancy found Hanoi an "intense city" but we have been warned it is less intense traffic than Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). We are glad we visited Hanoi even though Jesse, our nail guy back in Kelowna said to skip it; but how can you not go to the capital? Pictures never seem to capture the crowding and busyness adequately. Personal bubble space is small, businesses run out of the corner or a street or narrow alleyways. Down such alleyways are where people both work and live. The nearby lake was always a reprieve and well used by the locals. The Splendid hotel group was down such an alleyway where only motorcycles go and we were on the 8th floor not facing a road way so it was very quiet. However, windows did not open and the split air conditioner did not seem to lessen the humidity which was worsened by the small bathroom so everything always seemed damp. The initial reprieve of cooler weather when we first arrived gave way to the same heat and humidity and we are finding we need to do any walking as early in the day as possible.

The hotel staff were very pleasant, although the breakfast too extensive for our tastes and the food was lukewarm rather than hot which made Nancy a bit anxious given the recurrence of GI upset. Overall, we would probably not stay at this hotel again.

We would absolutely recommend doing a walking tour, cooking class, water puppet theatre and both museums.Read more