Vietnam Museum of Ethnology

The museum opened in 1997 in Cau Giay district, well out of the tourist centre, and it is the most useful single stop for understanding who lives in Vietnam. The indoor building works through the fifty-four officially recognised ethnic groups with clothing, tools, basketry, musical instruments and film, labelled in Vietnamese, French and English at a level of detail most museums here do not attempt. Behind it, a garden holds full-size houses built or rebuilt by craftsmen from the communities themselves: a Bahnar communal house with a roof close to twenty metres tall, an Ede longhouse you climb into on a notched log, a Tay stilt house, a Hmong house of pounded earth. A third building covers cultures elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

What you actually see

• The Bahnar communal house - a rong house with a thatched roof rising close to twenty metres.
• The Ede longhouse - entered by a notched log stair, dark and narrow inside.
• The indoor galleries - clothing, looms, fish traps and instruments of all fifty-four groups.
• Water puppetry - village troupes perform in a pond in the grounds at set times.

When to go

Open Tuesday to Sunday and closed on Mondays, which catches people out. Mornings are cooler for the outdoor houses, and the garden has almost no shade at midday in summer. Allow three hours if you read the labels. Vietnamese school groups fill the indoor halls on weekday mornings during term, so early afternoon is quieter.

Honest expectations

It is a long way from the Old Quarter and the taxi fare back at rush hour can cost more than the ticket. The indoor displays are dense and text-heavy, and children tire of them quickly, though the outdoor houses save the visit. Some captions are dated. Interiors are dim, and flash is not allowed.

Nearby

West Lake and the Temple of Literature are both on the way back to the centre.