Handpicked experience · Da Nang
Da Nang, Vietnam
Brickwork whose bonding still isn't understood, craters from a week in 1969, and a town preserved because its river silted up and took the trade elsewhere.
See tracks of the past at My Son Sanctuary, where towering temples still bear the influence of Champa Kingdom
Head to Hoi An by foot and marvel at the well-preserved beauty of the coastal town
The best way to experience local life in Hoi An is through a homemade meal such as Cao Lau
A temple complex where the construction method is still an open question
War damage left visible rather than tidied away
A merchant town that trade preserved by leaving
A market and a kitchen rather than a restaurant meal
A river approach to Hoi An instead of arriving by road
A nine-hour day from Da Nang combining the Cham temple sanctuary at My Son with an afternoon in Hoi An: a river cruise, a market visit and a hands-on cooking class where you eat what you make.
Roughly an hour to My Son, a couple of hours among the ruins, then the drive to Hoi An for the river, the market and the kitchen. Walking is easy but the temple site is unshaded and gets very hot by late morning, which is why the day starts early.
The Cham temples are built of fired brick laid with no visible mortar, the joints so tight that the towers read as single carved objects. How the bricks were bonded is still argued over — the leading theory involves resin from a local tree — and the practical proof is what happened when restorers tried cement in the twentieth century. Those repairs have weathered, cracked and stained faster than the original work they were meant to protect, and they are easy to pick out.
The largest and finest group at My Son no longer exists. It was destroyed by aerial bombing over a week in 1969, and the craters are still there in the grass between the surviving towers. Roughly twenty of some seventy structures came through. Standing in the gap where the biggest temple stood, with its foundation outline still legible, is the part of the visit that people remember.
Hoi An looks preserved because trade abandoned it. For centuries it was the major port of central Vietnam, with Japanese and Chinese merchant quarters. Then the Thu Bon river silted and shifted, ships could no longer reach the wharves, and business moved north to Da Nang. A town with no economic reason to rebuild itself stayed exactly as it was, which is why the merchant houses, the bridge and the street plan survive intact.
The local dish you may meet in the cooking class is traditionally held to be impossible to make properly anywhere else: the noodles are supposed to require water drawn from one particular ancient well in the town, and lye water made from ash of trees on an offshore island. Whether or not the chemistry is decisive, cooks here treat the rule seriously, and the dish is rarely found outside this district.
Cover shoulders and knees at My Son. Bring cash for anything you buy in the market, sun protection for the temple site and mosquito repellent for the late afternoon. The cooking class produces a full meal, so plan the rest of your eating around it rather than the other way round.
Open it to pick a date and work out the price.
What the fare covers, and what to budget for separately.
The practical detail, and the answers people actually ask for.
There is no visible mortar. The joints are so tight the towers look carved rather than built, and how the bricks were bonded is still argued over — resin from a local tree is the leading explanation.
Because cement was used in twentieth-century restoration and has aged badly. Those patches have cracked, stained and weathered faster than the thousand-year-old brick beside them.
Aerial bombing over about a week destroyed the largest and finest group of temples. Roughly twenty of some seventy structures survived, and the craters are still visible between them.
Because it stopped being useful. The Thu Bon silted and shifted, ships could no longer reach the wharves, and trade moved to Da Nang — leaving a town with no economic pressure to rebuild itself.
One traditionally said to require water from a specific old well in town and lye water made from island tree ash. Whether or not that is decisive, it is rarely made outside this district.
Yes. You shop for ingredients at the market, cook, and eat what you have made, so plan the rest of the day's eating around it.
Shoulders and knees covered for the temple site, and light clothing you can walk in. My Son is unshaded and hot from mid-morning.