Visiting the Cham Ruins and a Secluded Waterfal Outside of Nha Trang‏

After spending the morning on Monkey Island, we hopped back on the motorcycles and were off to a secluded waterfall. It took us awhile to reach the destination located way up in the mountainous jungle. We scooted past rural farms and its people on the way. We traveled quite a ways off the main highway, before getting off the motorcycles and hiking the rest of the way. A long slender black snake slithered out from the path to the excitement of our guide. He reassured us that it was a sign of good luck... Lucky Us!

We broke through a clearing in the forest and were in awe of the flowing turquoise falls. The guide left after telling us to hike back down in a few hours. Deep in the forest it was quite hot, much hotter than the costal temperature and with this little paradise to ourselves we spent the next few hours swimming and climbing about in the waters. Actually, we were quite lucky indeed as no tourist seemed to make their way to our privet falls. Hours later we managed to narrowly avert a charge of public indecency, as we were almost caught changing out of our swimwear! Close call!

After a few hours at the falls we got dropped off at the Cham Ruins in Nha Trang. The architecture of these structures was markedly different than anything we had encountered thus far in Vietnam. Even today these grounds are still used by the Cham minority in Vietnam. We managed to first take in a few modest Cham traditional dances such as the jar dance pictured here. The beauty and mystery of these dances were only augmented by the backdrop of the crumbling, but still active, brick temples and the sound of live Cham music played by rugged men on instruments much older than them. The spectacle seemed to bring one back to the rule of the Champa empire.

The temples were as active as ever as old Cham ladies in traditional garb mumbled chats and recited verses that reverberated an undeniable peacefulness among all those within earshot. As the scent of incense consumed us, we walked into the main hall where cult gods of Yan Po Nagar, idols of the female and male genitalia, and the Hindu God Shiva were given their respects. The faithful's prayers echoed deep within the high brick interior of the main hall and their rhythmic, wavy hand motions and bowing was an experience we will soon not forget.