Museums Galore (Jan. 2, 2015)

Well, I did make it to the Women’s Museum today, plus two others that are not far from it. The Women’s Museum was really cool. It was 5 floors divided up into categories that focused on how Vietnamese women contributed to, participated in, or practised a variety of living skills and events. There was traditional family and marriage practises shown, including the clothing of a variety of different Vietnamese ethnicities from around the country. There was a floor describing how women were involved in and comprised 40% of the warfare guerrilla groups that fought against a number of insurgents. Women’s work over the years was detailed, the different types of sewing and cloth making styles, food preparation, home chores, field work, and child rearing were also detailed. My favourite floor was how women from the various areas practised and led their religious events. There were so many cool costumes and dances for the various rituals that only women can perform and they were fantastic.

Oh, there was also a very nice Art Show on the top floor, that had nothing to do with the museum, but was very interesting. There were no pics allowed though, so the only one I got was at the top of the stairs, where an installation was, before I was told not to take photos. 

Vietnamese Women's Museum

Floor to ceiling statue at entrance

Art installation before photos were banned

Then I went to Hoa Lo Prison, which the US GI’s nicknamed The Hanoi Hilton. It is an old prison, built by the French Colonialists in the late 1800’s. At that time, anyone that rose up against the French takeover were considered rebels and were taken there to be held prisoner, and often beheaded with the guillotine they still have on display. The place is pretty gruesome, but has been painted up to look nice, with creepy background music that enhances the horrible feel of the place. It was then used by the Vietnamese during the US/Vietnam War, to hold US pilots who were shot out of the air during the war. The propaganda that is written on the walls and information plaques is super anti-American and I could imagine that if you were from the US, going there to visit, you’d feel either angry, or embarrassed depending on what kind of person you were. It was quite negative and very aggressive towards the bad choices and inhumane and ruthless efforts against the Vietnamese, that the Americans engaged in.

Plaque out front

Entrance to Hoa Lo Prison

Textured relief piece inside prison

Large relief piece in old exercise area

The third place I went was the Temple of Literature that was built in the late 700’s. It was the place where students took an entrance exam to see if they were eligible to attend this temple, then if they were, the King would come to respond to and ask the students the exam questions, himself. They were then categorized and streamed into different professions, such as medicine, law, religion, etc. The books they studied were primarily Confucius books and many other ancient asian religious materials. The temple was a beautiful place, surrounded by walls, in the middle of Hanoi, amongst the whirring traffic and honking horns. It was a little city block haven of green and quiet in the midst of chaos. Really cool, though.

Temple of Literature entrance

Inside the temple

Model shoot while I was there

Selfie at the gardens

Real flowers to make this

Tree in a trough but lovely

Altar inside the temple

I stopped for lunch at a street food restaurant and had a great big bowl of seafood Pho. There was shrimp, fish, squid and some other marine organisms that I couldn’t identify. It was really good with a fantastic broth that tasted just perfect. 

My delicious seafood Pho for lunch

Then I came back to the hostel to take a rest and download my photos. Right after I was finished doing that, Sandra, the Swedish girl, came back from her trip to Halong Bay, so we went out for Egg Coffee, walked around for a while, then found this cute little outdoor restaurant that had hot plates, was really busy and looked amazing. We only had to look at each other to decide we would sit down and have supper there. We sat outside, in the little tiny kiddie chairs that are so popular here. I am extremely happy that Cleo was put in before this trip because I don't think I could have gotten up and down onto all these tiny street stools if she wasn't with me now. Yeah, Cleo. The meal was delicious and they bring you a plate full of chicken, pork and beef, with some veggies as well. There were green onions, white onions, okra, green beans, some tomatoes and zucchini. Then you put whatever amount you want, onto the hot plate covered in tin foil with oil on it, to let it cook. What a great meal. Oh yeah, you also get a little bowl of spice that you dip the meat and veggies into. This is hot chill sauce, sugar, salt, and some other stuff, and then you squeeze these mini limes onto it, stir it up and voila.

Sandra and me cooking our food

The raw stuff on the left, cooking
on the right 

                         

Two nice Vietnamese guys who helped us figure out how to eat this new and interesting meal

Tomorow I will take a bus to the island of Cat Ba, off of Halong Bay. It is about a 4 hours trip including the bus and the ferry over there. It is supposed to be beautiful and quiet, so I will leave my suitcase in the luggage lock up at this hostel, and just take my backpack. I won't need much and that way it's easy to just go, without having to worry about the suitcase. When I return, I have booked an Open Bus ticket that allows me to stop, get off, and get back on in various places along the way down south. I booked it from this hostel, and will be picked up here the evening I return from Cat Ba. It's a sleeper bus that will take me to Phang Nka-Ke Bang National Park for the first stop, which is quite a few hours away. That park has incredible natural caves that you can see, so I would like to do that. I will stay there for at least one night, maybe two, depending on how much there is to do. That works out well, as the hostel people are very happy to allow me to leave the suitcase in the storage locker as a result of staying here, and booking the Open Bus ticket through them.

More tomorrow. Keep smiling.