My Son: Hinduism in Vietnam

Today, Hinduism is a religion that is more or less limited to India, but in yester years, it had spread its wings far into the east. Sri Lanka, Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar, Indonesia and even Vietnam had prominent and successful Hindu kingdoms. The eastern most Hindu kingdom that ever existed was at My Son in Central Vietnam. It is perhaps the longest inhabited archaeological site in Indo china, but a large portion of its architecture was destroyed by US carpet bombing during a single week of the Vietnam war.


This UNESCO World Heritage Site, is a cluster of Hindu temples in ruins that are dedicated to the worship of Lord Shiva, who was known under various local names, the most important of which is Bhadresvara. It was sometime between the 4th and the 13th centuries that this Indian Hinduism culture developed on the coast of contemporary Vietnam. This was the Champa kingdom and My Son was its religious and political capital. Today, the entire site is located in the Duy Xuyen district of Quang Nam province in Central Vietnam and is located about 50 kilometers south of the tourist hot spot of Hoi An, which is another UNESCO World Heritage Site.


The My Son monuments are considered unique and without equal in Southeast Asia. It is an exceptional example of cultural exchange, with an indigenous society adapting to external cultural influences, notably the Hindu art and architecture of the Indian sub-continent. And the Champa kingdom was an important phenomenon in the political and cultural history of Southeast Asia, which is vividly illustrated by the ruins of My Son.


The My Son temple complex is regarded as one of the foremost Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia and is the foremost heritage site of this nature in Vietnam. It is often compared with other historical temple complexes in Southeast Asia such as Borobudur of Java in Indonesia, Angkor Wat of Cambodia, Bagan of Myanmar and Ayutthaya of Thailand.


This extinct civilization that exists today in ruins looks magnificent against the green mountains and on closer inspection makes you realize that not only the views, but the entire civilization behind it in its hey days was very grand. One can get a good idea about the place, the culture and its rich history by visiting the museum of cham culture at Danang and then the My Son temple complex to understand the depth of architecture, the influence of Hinduism and the seamless merging with the Cham culture.


This place, restored and resurrected by French scholars before and after the war can be viewed in different clusters. A and B form the largest of the temples in the complex and house a lot of shrines to worship Shiva, his consorts, Ganesha and more. The other smaller temples like C, D, E, F, G, H, K are still being restored or have been damaged beyond recognition. One can see a lot of bomb craters in their space.


To enter the My Son sanctuary one needs to purchase a ticket that costs 100,000 VND or ~5 USD. This ticket allows you to explore the entire temple complex and see a complimentary dance of the Cham culture performed by the local artists living here. Days can be really warm and hence most tourists visit during the early morning or late afternoon hours. A complete visit, including the Cham dance program should take you 3 to 4 hours.


The sanctuary does not provide you with an audio guide, but you can hire an external guide to help you understand the history. If you are a fan of Hinduism or would like to see the remains of an ancient civilization, then you should visit My Son. After all, it is a remarkable architectural ensemble that developed over a period of ten centuries and presents a vivid picture of spiritual and political life in an important phase of the history of Southeast Asia.


I would totally recommend it based on my recent visit here. The UNESCO World Heritage site that includes the temple sanctuary, the Apsara dance, the lovely countryside with paddy fields and the lush green experience makes this a must-see destination in Vietnam.

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Hoi An: History, Beaches, Riverside, Rich Culture, Relaxed Atmosphere and Great Shopping

Hoi An is often dubbed as the best shopping destination of Vietnam. It definitely stands up to this tag, but it is not just shopping that draws hoards of tourists here. The old quarter of Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage Site that used to be a thriving South East Asian trading port between the 15th and the 19th century. Then there are the beautiful beaches located a short ride away and the white coral islands about a 30 minute boat ride away. Then, there is the relaxed atmosphere of the ancient town with its river side, good night life and museums.


Hoi An, located about 35 kilometers south of Danang in Central Vietnam was a port and trading center of the local Sa Huynh people along the Thu Bon river as early as the 2nd century BC. This continued to expand, and by the 15th century, Hoi An was already the most important port of the powerful Champa kingdom. It continued after the Vietnamese absorption of the Champa kingdom in the same capacity, becoming one of the most important centers of mercantile, and hence cultural, exchange in South-East Asia.


It was through Hoi An that Christianity penetrated in the 17th century. It retained its role as the main port of the central region throughout the 19th century, when the Nguyen dynasty kings operated a ‘closed trade policy’. By the end of the century, the rise of other ports on the coast of Vietnam, in particular Da Nang, and silting of its harbor, led to the final eclipse of Hoi An. As a result of this economic stagnation, Hoi An has preserved its early appearance in a remarkably intact state.


In this intact state of Hoi An, one can see ancient houses, community houses, pagodas from the 19th century, a fine wooden bridge reminiscent of Japanese examples and many ancient tombs built in Vietnamese, Japanese and Chinese styles. This architecture of Hoi An, which is built entirely of wood, if of considerable interest as it combines traditional Vietnamese designs and techniques with those from other countries, above all China and Japan, whose citizens settled there to trade and built houses and community centers to all their designs.


This Hoi An is a UNESCO World Heritage site, one has to pay USD 5 or 90,000 VND as entrance fee to enter the key buildings of interest. However, walking by these buildings and in the town is free of cost. Since Hoi An is a small town, it retains some of the original country side charm of Vietnam with its lively markets, busy river side business center, lush green paddy fields and a very easy lifestyle.


In the last few decades from the time tourism really picked up here, the people of Hoi An have started renouncing traditional lifestyles to get into the tourism market. This has led to a whole bunch of shopping areas in Hoi An where one can buy all sorts of goods in Hoi An, especially clothes and shoes. The tailoring in Hoi An is supposed to be one of the best in Vietnam. A lot of tourists come here to get their suits done for a decent price, but more importantly within 24 hours. You will get a flavor of it as soon as you arrive in Hoi An as a lot of young to middle aged women will attempt to interact with you and then finally ask you if you are interested in getting some clothes custom fitted for you.


As a town, Hoi An is very small and hence most of its charms, restaurants, river sides and countryside can either be explored on foot (I prefer walking) or on a bicycle (this is the what a lot of tourists prefer). Hoi An is best explored on either of these two as it allows you to soak in the easy and yet very cultural side of Hoi An. It is also a good way of slowly exploring the entire old quarter of Hoi An, which turns into a no-vehicle zone in the evening.


In terms of places to visit nearby, there are the Cua Dai and Aang Bang beaches. Cua Dai is more a local beach that is busy every evening, while the Aang Bang is slightly more quiet with great waters for swimming and a long beach for sun bathing. Then, there is the ‘Marble Mountains’ between Hoi An and Danang. The caves systems, the line of marble shops selling up to 50 tons of carved marble and the aerial views of the azure coastline are the highlights of the ‘Marble Mountains’.


On the other side of Hoi An is the UNESCO World Heritage Site and Hindu kingdom of My Son that was the headquarters of the Champa kingdom in the 8th century. Today, the place exists in ruins (thanks to the bombings during the Vietnam-America war), but the ruins located within thick forests has a lot of archaeological importance as this is where an entire Hindu empire used to prosper. It also depicts the power India used to have in those times.


Apart from these places of interest, Hoi An has a long river system, waves of green rice paddies, beautiful country side life, swaying coconut palms and more that can be explored at leisure. The town has enough in it to keep you interested at least for a week if not more. I stayed here for 1 week and wished I could stay longer. May be, I will go fulfill that dream by returning here some time soon and stay longer.


If you love shopping, I doubt you will ever get time to explore places around Hoi An. Such is the depth of street shopping here. You might find the fancy bags and the designer labels, but Hoi An has its own sweet way of keeping the female mind very interested.

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Never travel during the Chinese New Year: My Nha Trang Story from Vietnam

Before traveling to Vietnam, do ensure that your travel dates are not near ‘Tet’, the Vietnamese New Year and definitely not in the 10 days after Tet. If it is, be ready to pay higher prices for everything (travel, food and accommodation) and sometimes be shooed out of a city just because there are no rooms to sleep in that city. If you are sensible, then you will plan your dates after the holiday season is over else, if you crazy like me, you will be treated to a great adventure. This is my adventure during the Tet holidays when I was made to travel from Mui Ne to Nha Trang to Danang to Hoi An, all in a single day, just because I chose to travel during Tet. Now, you might wonder that the entire world travels during the Christmas/New Year holiday season and we still find places to stay, albeit by paying a higher fee. The Tet, is similar, though it happens on a different scale. It comes in that time of the year when the tourists are still in Vietnam so the rooms are ready fairly booked and then the entire country (rich, middle class and poor) go into holiday mode. People visit their families, go out on day trips, drink all day, go to exotic places, get their photos taken and all the typical holiday stuff. The only difference is that the rest of the world has many holidays and hence the citizens of those countries split their holidays. In Vietnam, there is only one holiday, Tet, and the rest of the year, the Vietnamese work hard.


Hence, when Tet comes, the country literally shuts down for 11 days. Even the capital shuts down for 4-5 days. The places that don’t shut down are places catering to the holidaying crowd and they charge a premium for it. If you ask why, they will say ‘Happy New Year’ and expect you to understand it. Food prices go up by about 20%. It is even written on the menu cards in restaurants. Cost of travel goes up 3 to 4 fold. A $6 bus ticket from Mui Ne to Nha Trang cost me $18. The biggest jump takes place in the hotel prices. A $5 hotel can go up to as much as $70 depending on the city and the hotel location.


The worst place to be traveling to is Nha Trang, Vietnam’s most popular beach destination and Mui Ne, the adventure beach destination that is close to Ho Chi Minh city. Even before I left Ho Chi Minh city on the 2nd day of the New Year, I knew it would be difficult to travel, but wasn’t aware of the enormity of the crowd. It took me 5 hours to find a place that fit my budget in Mui Ne and after paying 3 times the regular price for a bus ride to Nha Trang, I found out that I got lucky at Mui Ne and Nha Trang is the true thing. I searched for a hotel from 5:30 AM to 10 AM, only to find out that all the hotels were booked in the city. I knew it would be bad as last evening when I had checked the internet, 90% of the places were sold out and the ones that were available were too expensive. Even the hotels that I had called were booked. But, I was not ready for a ‘Sorry we are full’ and ‘It is Happy New Year, we are full…full…full’ kind of statements.


I was forced to look outside Nha Trang and this led me to book myself on a train to Danang, a coastal city in Central Vietnam. Thankfully, I got some hard sleeper seats. The train was scheduled to leave Nha Trang at half past one in the afternoon and hence I had enough time to kill in Nha Trang, which is a decent looking coastal town. I headed straight to the beach, dropped my bags there, went for a swim with the mighty waves and then paid $1 for a fresh water garden hose bath right on the beach. After freshening up, I fixed up my hammock under the coconut trees to relax for a while while the holidaying crowd whizzed past me. After a short nap, I walked to the nearby Nha Trang center for a wholesome lunch meal while I watched the Nha Trang marine drive from high up.

My train left the Nha Trang station in the afternoon and after 10 and a half hours of breezing through lush green countryside, beautiful coasts and mist covered mountains, I reached the town of Danang. Thankfully, I had caught up on some sleep in the train and thus had enough energy to haggle with the taxi drivers for a ride to Hoi An, about 35 kms from Danang. When I arrived at Hoi An, it was mid night and again I was treated to the same statements of ‘We are full and it is Happy New Year’. Thankfully, a local helped me in finding a good place, though I paid $35 for it. I am sure he got some commission for himself from the hotel staff, but nonetheless, he helped me. As you can see, if you wish to travel during Tet, it will be crazy, very expensive and a real pain. If this doesn’t matter to you, then rock on, else stay put in one place during Tet. Better still, stay out of Vietnam till everything returns to normalcy.

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