Today we started the day by visiting the Vietnamese Museum of History. It detailed the history of the many peoples and dynasties of Vietnam from the Stone Age until the last of the Vietnamese kings. Each room tried to highlight one dynasty or people of Vietnam and by doing so showed how complex and multicultural this land really is. Vietnam has a unique cultural identity infused with contributions from every society that has ever touched it.
The Beautiful Young Vietnamese-American Women's Association of the Midwest touring the museum.
A door that is nearly a thousand years old.
Tablets from Oc Eo civilization
Posing with some statues. The thin giant seems to support the hypothesis that ancient man was visited by aliens.
The museum also featured water puppetry. I had never heard of this until I read about it in our guide book and was interested in checking it out. Apparently a traditional performance art form, the puppets are used to tell stories. What is particularly interesting is that the water is used to hide the poles, ropes, and whatever else makes the puppets work. The show was a spectacular wonder inducing series of more and more complex puppets, even for jaded 21st century eyes used to computer graphics. I spent most of the show entranced by the colorful characters and confused by how the puppeteers were accomplishing their performance. I just wish my nephews and young cousins have a chance to see a water puppet show in the future.
The Jade Emperor Pagoda
Many turtles in the pond adjacent to the Jade Emperor Pagoda
The Tran Hung Dao Temple
Eating a fantastic creme brulle at the Pat' a Chou near the Ben Thanh market after some shopping.
Our last event of the day was dinner with Uncles 4 and 9 and their families at the Mon Hué. Mon Hué has a collection of restaurants throughout Ho Chi Minh City (and allegedly in California) and serves Hué style cuisine. The food was fantastic.
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