Ethnographic Museum, Hanoi

We flew from Siem Reap, Cambodia, to Hanoi, Vietnam. During a 1-day exploration of the city, we visited the Ethnographic Museum. which presents a lot of information about the different ethnic groups in Vietnam. My favorite displays, of course, were the ones about textile production. One display showed a variety of textile equipment - a simple loom, a yarn winder, a spinning wheel. Another showed a treadle loom with an interesting way of managing the warp. The warp travels from breast beam through the heddles, then back and *under* the back beam, up over the top and forward to the cross member above the weaver, where it is wound around a stick that is twisted to tension the warp. There's no reed, the weaver uses a sword to beat the weft into place.

Then came a 2-day excursion to Ha Long Bay, a very scenic area that has been used for movie locations, including one of the older James Bond films. Pictures of that area later - stay tuned!