Vietnam: Nha Trang

After Danang, our next aim is Nha Trang, Vietnam's number one beach destination. Now we are far south, the rice fields are much further along (1st below). They probably could grow rice year round here. Now that we know something about Cham towers, we spotted at least three of them in the distance from the train (2nd below).





At sunset we had just reached Tuy Hoa, and stopped to break up the journey. By chance we noticed on the map that they too have a Cham tower and is illuminated at night. Such dumb luck! You can spot Sun-Ling at lower left in the photo below.



The view from the Cham Tower of the Tuy Hoa river inlet and the South China Sea beyond.



Tuy Hoa has a Giant Buddha. You can spot his white head in the photo below.



Each of the cities we stopped along the coast are set at a river outlet, with the city, and its train station on the land side. Nha Trang is an exception. Its train station is 1.5km from the beach, so we took a beachfront room with a sunrise view (below) for a change.



It turns out Nha Trang has more Cham towers, and they are in active use, and possibly appropriated by Buddhists. The Cham people only get to sell their weavings and do their song and dance for tips on the side. John joked that we could have saved expense and trouble by skipping My Son. But seriously, all the Cham sites we saw really complimented each other.

Upon arriving in Nha Trang we had a tasty vegan lunch, relaxed a bit in our room, then took an evening stroll on the beach promenade.






The hotel breakfast: Noodles and mango juice.




The Cham Towers were a hot 2.5km walk to the north. First in the shade along the beach promenade, then into the sun across a bridge and over to the towers.




From the middle of the bridge, one can see the fishing fleet and the Cham Towers behind them on the shore.


There was a steady stream of tourists at the Cham Towers. No wonder, they are impressive.






There were ongoing ceremonies at 3 of the 4 towers/temples.






And a performance in front of a 1000 year-old Ganesh image. Take a close look above the fans on the right to spot Ganesha.




Leaving the Cham Towers, we crossed a different bridge and headed to the Long Son Buddhist Temple.


The weekend traffic was very, very, busy so we took a route through some alleys, festive with decorations for the upcoming Tet Lunar New Year.




The Ice Man was busy.


Above the Long Son Buddhist Temple, there are 2 Giant Buddha images, one reclining, one seated.




There is a vegetarian restaurant at the temple. We each had a rice lunch plate.


My all time favorite Giant Buddha is the one at Kamakura, Japan. This Daibutsu was cast in bronze in 1252 AD. Wow! Seen below in my 2007 photo.