Cham Artefacts in Danang & Marble Mountain

A pit stop on our way to Hoi An, Danang had some great things to offer for history buffs and lovers or art.

First up we visited a museum housing artefacts and sculptures of the Cham people, the same whose temples we visited in Nha Trang. It’s a bit of an unusual museum as it’s semi open air with big windows, and lots of natural light, which I really loved for photographing. There is not much detail on individual sculptures in the museum, so a tour guide (like our amazing Viet guide Loi)  is very helpful.

001_2013Danang_001 002_2013Danang_002 003_2013Danang_005 004_2013Danang_008 005_2013Danang_010 006_2013Danang_011 007_2013Danang_013 008_2013Danang_014 009_2013Danang_015 010_2013Danang_016 011_2013Danang_018 012_2013Danang_019 013_2013Danang_021 014_2013Danang_024 015_2013Danang_025 016_2013Danang_026 017_2013Danang_027 018_2013Danang_031 019_2013Danang_032 020_2013Danang_033 021_2013Danang_037 022_2013Danang_038 023_2013Danang_039 024_2013Danang_040

Next stop were the Marble Mountains, 5 marble and limestone hills. We climbed the many (and crooked) stairs up Thuy Son to visit the Chùa Tam Thai pagoda. The flat mountain was apparently used as a helicopter landing site by the Americans during the Vietnam War. Probably more interestingly there is a cave inside the mountain the the Viet Cong converted to a hospital during the war. This huge cavern now houses a very large buddha, and since more recently some statues and areas for worship. The canopy of branches hides the cave very well from above, letting light trickle inside in beams which makes for challenging, but interesting photography (on a very high ISO).

025_2013Danang_046

026_2013Danang_047

027_2013Danang_048

028_2013Danang_049

029_2013Danang_052

030_2013Danang_053

031_2013Danang_054

032_2013Danang_061

033_2013Danang_062

034_2013Danang_065

035_2013Danang_067

036_2013Danang_068

037_2013Danang_070

038_2013Danang_073

039_2013Danang_077

040_2013Danang_078

041_2013Danang_080

042_2013Danang_081

043_2013Danang_083

044_2013Danang_084

Leave a Reply