Saturday Nov. 3, 2012
Scattered Showers, Perfect Temperature
Da Nang, Vietnam
One of the highlights of the week in Da Nang was My Son where the Hindu temple ruins of the Champa dynasty can be found. The temples were contructed between the 4th and 14th centuries. It's quite interesting because the temples were used to worship Shiva, the Hindu God. I especially found it interesting to learn how HInduism found its way to the isolated mountains of Southeast Asia. The ruins were discovered by a French archaelogist in the 1930s. It was pretty much intact until the US carpet bomb attacks during the Vietnam War in August 1969. Its quite unfortunate as the buildings must have been magnificent. I don't know what the US govt was thinking but bombing an ancient and sacred temple ground seems unethical even if the Viet Cong were hiding there. Unlike Angkor Wat, the temples were built using smaller bricks. No one knows to this date how the buildings were made as it took a major bombing to destroy them. Even today, the area surrounding My Son is dangerous due to unexploded landmines because it is located near the Ho Chin Minh trail. The photos below do not do it justice. It really is a special place and one should visit when in Vietnam. Unfortunately, as it common throughout history of mankind, war with the Viets and Chinese diminished the thriving Champa Kingdom in the 14th century. Today, many "Champa" are Muslim and are a minority ethnic group in Vietnam
The My Son temple ruins
Bullet holes in the temple from the Vietnam War
Unexploded US missiles. Dat made it clear that we should not touch it. I'm sure they deactivated it but it stands as a reminder what damage war can do
Bomb Crater from Vietnam War
After thoroughly enjoying My Son and getting educated by our incredibly passionate and knowledgeable guide Dat, we headed back to Hoi An to do some more sightseeing and also get our second fitting for the clothes I had made.
Hoi An, the town, is a Unesco world heritage sight and is quite beautiful. It used to be thriving port up to the 19th century where people from all over Asia met. The architecture of the homes and buildings are amazing. One can see the influence of the Japanese, Chinese and Vietnamese whern walking through the town. The bridge (in my previous post) is the only covered Japanese style bridge (build by the Japanese) in Southeast Asia and has a pagoda on it.
Today, though we visited the Quan Cong Temple and also one of the traditional homes. I did not take photos of the traditional home cuz it was pouring rain and packed with French tourists. The home though belongs to a 4th generation family and is interesting to see as it is located next to the river with beautiful lacquered furniture and antiques. Also, because flooding is common, it is designed so that the furniture can be transported to the upper floors rather quickly. On the walls were markers of floods. In 2007, they had one of the worst floods where the marker was over the 2meter mark!
The Quan Cong Temple was magnificent. I did take photos of it as the pack of French tourists left before us. It was build in the 1600s by the Chinese Community to worship their esteemed general Quan Cong. He was known for his loyalty and bravery. The temple is Taoist I believe and very very beautiful.
Quan Cong Temple of Hoi An
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