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My Lai
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One of the war vestiges left
after the Vietnam War. The
destruction of an entire
village by Lieutenant
Calley’s men is probably the
best documented military
atrocity on record. The
massacre occurred on 16
April 1968, and 504 women,
old men, children and babies
were mindlessly slaughtered
by Company C with almost no
resistance. There is a
museum here, with photos
depicting the series of
events on this horrific day.
The atrocities occurred over
different sites within a two
or three square kilometers
area. Walking among the
fields, you occasionally
come across a memorial
plaque indicating the number
of people that died on that
spot. Lieutenant Calley was
later court martialled and
sentenced to life, but only
served three of those years.
Following the US Supreme
Court’s refusal to hear his
case, Calley was paroled. My
Lai is about 15 km North of
Quang Ngai
THE COASTLINE AND
THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS
Central and the coast line
of Vietnam ( includes Nha
Trang, Mui Ne, Phan Thiet,
Phan Rang, My Lai, central
highland...) is featured by
lots of lovely beaches. With
3,260km-long coastline,
Vietnam has numerous
pristine plages, of which
those in the Centre are
highly recommended for their
amazingly crystal water,
rich of sunlight, less of
rivermouths, and flat shore
dotted by fishing villages;
few of them have been
developed as comfortable
resorts like China Beach,
Nha Trang or Phan Thiet.
Yet, should you turn West,
you will meet an absolute
different topography near
the Lao border – the fertile
plateaus cultivated for
industry trees plantation
and cattle farming. It's Tay
Nguyen – "the Plateau in the
West". There are also lots
of minority groups inhabit
this area with those customs
and conducts that are very
unlike their brothers in
Northern Vietnam. Their
festive days and exciting
daily life, the highland
scenery and the sea and
mountain resorts – all make
a voyage to the Centre of
Vietnam so diversified and
memorable
Dai Lanh Beach
Located at around 80 km
North of Nha Trang, Dai Lanh
is a picturesque fishing
village with red-tile roofs.
There's a high vantage point
in the area known as Cap
Varella, with sweeping
views. Dai Lanh Beach
extends along Highway 1, at
the southern end it becomes
a sand dune area that
connects with the 30-km-long
Hon Gom Peninsula, another
scenic area. Sheltered in
here is Vung Co, one of the
nicest beaches on the coast.
Any bus heading between Qui
Nhon and Nha Trang will pass
through there
Cana Beach
35 km South of Phan Rang,
and 123 km North of Phan
Thiet lies Cana Beach, a
great stretch of white sand
strewn with boulders. The
water is a beautiful
turquoise. Onshore, the area
has been colonized by
prickly pear cacti
Phan Thiet
Phan Thiet is an old Cham
outpost of 75,000 people
that supports a large
fishing fleet and is famous
for "nuoc mam", or
fish sauce, the traditional
and most popular dipping
sauce of the Vietnamese. The
special smell of fish and
fish sauce permeates the
downtown area as Phan Thiet
river cutting through the
centre of town is packed
with boats. Phan Thiet has a
beachfront a few km to the
east of town, but a bigger
draw is Mui Ne Beach, 22km
east of town. The road to
Mui Ne travels is stunning
with sand dunes edging one
side while the other is
bordered by a relatively
unspoiled beach, and both
sides are littered with
pregnant coconut trees. The
fishing village at Mui Ne is
very picturesque dotted with
hundreds of multicolored
boats
Nha Trang
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Established as a port town
in the 1920s, Nha Trang now
has a population of 280,000,
and serves as the capital of
Khanh Hoa province. Fishing
is the major industry. It is
one of the nicest cities in
southern Vietnam, blessed
with lovely beaches, 19
beautiful surrounding
islands and great ice cream!
To meet the increasing
number of local and foreign
tourists, different kinds of
hotels and guests houses
have been built along the
beachfront, intermingled
with old French villas. It's
pleasant to cycling in Nha
Trang and the surroundings,
since the city has wide
boulevards and little
traffic. On days where it is
too warm to cycle, you
should take a boat out to
the islands for a day of
snorkeling in turquoise
water and coral reefs, have
a fantastic seafood banquet
for lunch, and return to
town just in time to wander
down to the beach for a late
afternoon beer of fruit
shake. A number of
remarkable sights is in the
suburb, of which we would
recommend:
Po Nagar Cham Tower
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On the north side of Nha
Trang, across Xom Bong
Bridge excited with red-blue
fishing boats are the
best-preserved Cham Towers
in Central Vietnam, a
sanctuary of Po Nagar, a
mythical goddess. Among the
8 towers constructed between
the 7th and 12th
centuries, only 4 left and
they are still used as
places of worship. There is
a group of nuns that may
show you around with their
best sign language and
smiles and there is a small
interesting museum to the
right of the north tower
displaying photographs and
ancient statues. The hillock
upon which the Cham Towers
sit offers a great panorama
of the surrounds and a view
over the entrance to the
river with Nha Trang as a
background. The entrance to
the site is at street level
followed by a staircase
uphill to the top. You will
notice on the right of you
way up the remains of the
meditation hall, which was
the original entrance for
Cham worshippers. The north
tower is the largest and
main one situated on a
higher level directly in
front of the meditation
hall. The other smaller
towers are only metres away
from this and all of them
are facing due east.
Remember to take off your
shoes before entering any of
the temples
Hon Chong Headland
Due east of the Cham Towers
are fishing villages, with a
lot of boats move in and out
of the surreal-looking bay
by Xom Bong Bridge. A
slippery fish market opens
early in the morning. West
of the Cham Towers is Hai
Dao Island resort, a
collection of cabins
connected to the mainland by
footbridges. Cockfights are
sometimes staged here. To
the northeast of the towers
is Hon Chong Promontory
where hundreds of boulders
are balanced on top of one
another. The massive boulder
at the tip of the Promontory
is call Chong Rock. Various
legends are associated with
this boulder which is said
to bear the imprint of a
large hand. Naturally, there
are various (beautiful)
look-outs with refreshment
stalls are set around by the
local people
Pagodas and churches
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On the northwest side of Nha
Trang is Long Son Pagoda,
and active Buddhist temple
featuring and unusual red
brass Buddha on a wooden
lotus pedestal. On top of a
hill behind the pagoda is
the massive 9-m high white
Buddha on a lotus throne.
Embedded in the octagonal
base are 7 stucco likeness
of Buddhist martyr, monks,
and nuns who died protesting
the repressive Ngo Dinh Diem
regime in southern Vietnam
during the Vietnam War. Some
of them have immolated
themselves and the white
Buddha was built in their
memory in 1963.
On the other side of the
tracks, east of the railway
station is Nha Trang
Cathedral, complete with
stained glass windows and
French Gothic lines. It was
built in the 1930s and the
daily masses are still held
here in the early morning
and late afternoon
Pasteur Institute
At the north end of Tran Phu
Blvd. is the Pasteur
Institute, with a small but
fascinating Museum dedicated
to the French Dr. Alexander
Yersin (1863-1943). The
Pasteur Institute was
founded by Yersin in 1895,
and he is probably one of
the most respected French
man in Vietnam. Being a
Renaissance man, Yersin was
not only famous for the
pioneering medical research
but was an explorer,
botanist, biologist, and
entomologist, and also
interested in photography
and astronomy. He explored
the Da Lat area and
recommended sitting a hill
station there. He was also
responsible for the
introduction of rubber and
quinine producing trees and
discovered the microbe that
caused the bubonic plague.
This institute now performs
research and produces
vaccines. Within the Nha
Trang institute, the office
and library of Dr. Yersin
are now open to the public
and contain a small yet
interesting collection of
his equipment. It was on
Yersin's recommendations
that his laboratory in Nha
Trang and Dr. Albert
Calmette's laboratory in
Saigon were upgraded to the
level of Indochina Pasteur
Institute, the 1st
established outside Paris.
Indochinese Pasteur
Institutes later appeared in
Hanoi and Da Lat, and
microbiology labs opened in
Hue, Vientiane and Phnompenh
Further south - Phan
Rang and Thap Cham
Phan Rang is actually a twin
town, that is known as Phan
Rang and Thap Cham. It is a
small town on the coast with
its main attraction being
the Cham history and towers
in the surrounding area. The
Cham Empire thrived around
Phan Rang from around the 8th
century until it fell in the
17th century. The
Phan Rang region is very
dry, as it manages to avoid
the summer and winter
monsoons, and receives and
average rainfall of only
60cm per year. The immediate
area around Phan Rang is
very beautiful and is
spotted with grape gardens,
and the best dragon fruit in
Vietnam is meant to be grown
in this area. Phan Rang
marks the intersection of
Highway 1 and the best road
to Dalat from the coast
Pklong Garai Cham Tower
The main attraction in Phan
Rang is a small group of
Cham towers which sit by the
roadside 7 km towards Dalat.
These towers were built in
the early 14 century as
Hindu temples during the
Cham Empire and they are
beautifully preserved. The
towers were named after the
King who invented a system
of irrigation used in local
villages. As the tourist
buses from Nha Trang to
Dalat pass through Phan
Rang, the Cham towers are
seen as a convenient place
to break the journey. The
result is that the towers
are periodically swarmed by
travelers heading north and
south. You can enter the
largest temple, in the
center of which there is an
ancient linga (phallic
symbol) with a human face
painted on it. The other
towers still retain their
shape and some of the carved
details are clearly visible
Hill tribe villages
If you have some spare time
it is worthwhile visiting
the hill tribes. To get to
the villages, take the road
heading to Dalat and the
Cham Towers. Before you
reach the Cham Towers there
is a gas station on the
right hand side, turn right
onto the dirt road before
the gas station. The private
road leads to different
villages. The irrigation
system used by the hill
tribe people is interesting
and can be seen when you
explore the area |
