Jan 24 – Danang

It’s a slow rainy day in Danang but luckily the Museum of Cham Sculpture is not too far from us so that’s where we headed after breakfast. The museum contains the world’s largest collection of Cham artifacts. This includes two floors of sculptures, carvings and stonework unearthed from the 1700’s and as recently as this century. Photos of remaining ruins show impressive architectures.

Some history… Champa presence in this area evolved from seafaring Austronesian cultures off the coast of what is now Vietnam starting around 200 AD. The Cham people established and maintained a vast system of lucrative trade networks and cities/towns across Southeast Asia. They had a common language and heritage (DNA stuff) different from that of the Vietnamese. Pushed to the western areas of Vietnam by Vietnamese kingdoms starting in the 15th century, there are still some Cham speaking villages in western Vietnam. 

Some of the sculptures…

I took a few photos of the hotel – the lobby contains antiques, including an a Whippet, likely made around 1929. Ver unusual!