Vietnam North to South – Day 11: A Day Trip from Nha Trang

Today was a free day dedicated to resting by the beach. My dad and I aren’t made for rest, though, and so we planned an excursion to a few interesting places south of the city. Taking along two other travellers from our group, we hired a cab for the day and headed to Từ Vân Pagoda in Cam Ranh. Built in 1968, the pagoda is a supremely kitschy complex, starring giant dragons of all colours, statues of Buddhist holy figures, and a whole temple built from corals and seashells. Most interesting, perhaps, is its “Road to Hell,” a long and narrow tunnel built of corals and winding its way past various allegorical depictions of Buddhist moral philosophy. The tunnels are hot, stuffy, and dark, so it is quite difficult to walk their whole length without sustaining an injury of some kind. From the entrance to the exit through the mouth of a huge dragon-like beast, the walk and crawl took us over half an hour.

Our second stop for the day was a Cham temple called Tháp Pô Klông-Garai. Standing atop a hill in the midst of blooming bougainvilleas, it was a beautiful sight. We were glad, however, that we could buy a ticket for an electric cart to ferry us all the way to the top, as the sky was clear and the sun was hot. We arrived at a perfect time: several men clad in white clothes were just finishing a ceremony in front of the temple, bowing towards the building. We conjectured (correctly, as we learned later at the museum) that this was a group of Cham Hindus. Besides them, there was only one other group of visitors, who had clearly also come from abroad.

Our driver was very perceptive, and on our way back, we did not even have to ask him to stop by a site we had spotted on our way over: another Cham temple called Hòa Lai. Despite its location right by the highway, the site was practically deserted and unaccustomed to receiving tourists: the gate was closed but not locked and the man in the booth behind it had clearly been tasked with keeping a watch on the site rather than selling tickets. He seemed as surprised by our visit as we were by the fact that our visit should be so unusual.

Buddhist statues at Từ Vân Pagoda
A long dragon arch structure
A pagoda model
Another view of the dragon arch
Another dragon
Từ Vân Pagoda
Từ Vân Pagoda again
The mouth of Hell
Sea shell decorations in Từ Vân Pagoda
The pathway through Hell
The mouth of Hell from the inside
Tháp Pô Klông-Garai from afar
Tháp Pô Klông-Garai from right below
Details on the outside of the temple
The inside of the temple
Cham worshippers at the temple
The central temple tower
A deity in a niche
The second tower
Another temple at the complex
The main tower of Tháp Pô Klông-Garai
The entire temple complex
One of the towers of Hòa Lai Temple
The second tower
Both of the towers

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