A culture vulture in Hanoi

---

Packed our bags and checked out of the hotel then headed off to the Vietnamese women's museum which, from the posters in the entrance way looked suspiciously like the museum of hairy legged feminism but did in fact turn out to be very interesting. It covered everything from the varying marriage customs in the differing ethnic groups through child birth, naming ceremonies and bringing up of children. They also covered off the Vietnamese women's part in the various conflicts and the dress and customs of the many ethnic minorities. Well worth having a look despite initial impressions. At that point we were in dire need of sustenance and found a great patisserie just over the road. Suitably fortified with freshly baked croissants and all manner of other goodies along with a couple of coffees we ventured forth to have a look Hoa Lo prison. Built in 1896 by the French to house Vietnamese insurgents it was later used by the Vietnamese to house American airman that had been shot down. One of the more notable prisoners was senator John McCain. The Americans dubbed it the Hanoi Hilton. The Americans were treated much more nicely than the French treated the Vietnamese. There was even a guillotine that was last used in 1932. After all that it was time for ice cream. We discovered a place called kemNZ, kem is Vietnamese for ice cream, and we were assured that the ice cream was 100% nz. We sat in the park beside Hoan kiem lake for an hour or so chatting to anyone who wandered up wanting to practice their English, grabbed some dinner and headed to the train station for the night train to Lao Cai and on to Sapa. This time I got it right and we had soft sleeper beds, what a glorious invention.

---