The Museum of Ethnology

This was a nice museum that was focused on the many, many different ethnic minority groups in Vietnam and many of the other countries in SE Asia.

It was set up a bit like Old World Wisconsin. The inside had a section, it seemed, for every ethnic group represented, and the outside had buildings and areas set up like the different villages you would find in the extreme rural areas of SE Asia. The only picture I took of the inside was a picture of the different guitars. Go figure.

The outside was much more interesting. 

It was essentially a massive photo shoot for the women of Vietnam once again. When people claim that the pictures didn’t capture the essence of the event, this is also true. At every turn, there were photo shoots. They were everywhere, but they also quickly moved out of the way if asked. It was quite a phenomenon.

The rest of the place was fascinating. Climbing into the houses on stilts and hoping that my 200-pound frame wouldn’t crash through the bamboo floors was exhilarating. 

Did I mention the handles on the stairs? 

This is a funeral/tomb area celebrating the the cycle of life.

Falling through this floor would be quite the morning wake-up. No fun stair knobs at the top of this one, though. What you don't know is that I had to wait quite a while for the photo shoot to end so that it was a clean picture. 

Thang Long Water Puppet Show

We left here in an Uber (Grab) an hour before the show, and what was a 15-minute ride to the museum turned into an hour-long ride back. We arrived 2 minutes after the start of the show and made it just as the intro music had begun. 

Basically, what happens is that there are about 6 or 7 skits that are performed by wooden puppets in a pool of water. There is a band on the side providing theme music and some vocal actors providing the dialogue. Here is a short example. 

I mean really, it was an hour of our time, two if you account for the travel, but totally worth it. So fun to watch and to see the different instruments being played and well just kind of campy fun. 

The puppet masters taking a bow.

The Food Tour

On the way back to the hotel to get ready for the food tour, we came across a person burning fake money in the street. This was happening all over the city. This is the first chance I had to get a video.

The belief is that the spirit world runs parallel to ours. Burning paper items “sends” them to ancestors or wandering spirits in the afterlife. If ancestors are comfortable and cared for, they look out for the living. If spirits are ignored, they may cause bad luck. 

What gets burned: Fake money (for prosperity), paper clothes, shoes, houses, phones, motorbikes, even paper iPhones and passports. The offerings are often burned outside homes, shops, temples, or on the sidewalk.

The 1st and 15th are thought to be moments when the veil between worlds is thinner. People make offerings to reset luck, ask for smooth business, health, and protection. Businesses are especially serious about this because bad luck = bad cash flow. 

Our food tour was great. We met some other travelers and had some beef noodle soup (not Pho), Bahn MI (a sandwich on a baguette), a spring roll (pictured below, as is our guide), some fish something that was neither of our favorites, some Egg Chocolate (Delicious), and finished up with some ice cream. I was too busy eating and chit chatting to take too many pictures.