Note: This museum is closed for renovation and scheduled to reopen in 2009. Communism of the Ho Chi Minh variety was an egalitarian movement where all men and women were created equal, and revolutionary women were on the front lines throughout Vietnam's long conflicts with foreign powers. Whether pushing overladen bicycles along the Ho Chi Minh Trail Network or packing a pistol through the cave complexes outside of Saigon, Vietnamese women were a little more proactive than America's "Rosy the Riveter" of World War II fame, and Hanoi's Women's Museum celebrates their pivotal contribution to the war effort and to the growth of a modern, stable Vietnam. Western women visiting the museum have mixed reactions, as some find the collection and presentation a bit sexist: Women are often portrayed as victims or as unlikely sources of sanity and strength (stress "unlikely"), and emphasis is placed on women's abilities in the cottage industry and work at home (and there are lots of dull exhibits to that effect), but it should be stressed that the spirit of the museum is to celebrate women's contributions, though the sexist slant is a bit unfortunate. It's interesting to go and deconstruct it for yourself. The entrance is a large rotunda with a great golden statue of the oversize and overmuscled Soviet school of propaganda depicting a triumphant woman facing a great wind with a small child balanced on her shoulder. The first and second floors are "up the revolution" images and artifacts of women at war, winning the war, and winning the peace. Fascinating is the section of the many initiatives of women abroad (in the U.S. and Europe), suing for peace during conflict with the French and later Americans: Find long petitions to the U.S. government, flags and peace banners from the West, and photos of marches and protests (including images of Angela Davis and a contingent of overseas Vietnamese marching). The top floor features detailed displays of women's dress, from traditional ao dai to the intricate variations among ethnic hilltribe women in the Central Highlands and the far north. A popular coffee shop is just outside the entrance to the museum, a good place to chat and connect with locals.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's Vietnam, 2nd Edition, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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