go girls

M has a cold so we took it pretty easy today. Still waiting to hear of possible employment but no word so far.

Our cultural outing was to the Southern Women's Museum in District 3. We saw one floor of it yesterday but got (politely) kicked out, forgetting closing time for lunch was 11.30am to 1.30pm. Three storeys of women's history in Vietnam - an interesting counterpoint to the War Remnants museum, although there were plenty of girls with guns. Definitely worth a look if you are visiting HCMC, particularly as it's free. Both times M and I were virtually the only visitors. Of course there is plenty about martyrs and war heroes, but also a fantastic collection of jewellery, a clothing and textiles display, and works of art.

Fascinating to see that there are a number of female goddesses and heroines revered in Vietnam, including the Trung Ladies, two sisters who built their own female army and warded off a number of attacks from the Chinese in AD39.

Trung sisters rule

Unfortunately, according to Wikipedia, they and their army were finally defeated when the Chinese invaders got clever, got naked and scared them off.

We also ate handsomely today for lunch and dinner without having to walk more than 100m. District 3 is great for food places!