Column: Abroad in Vietnam, Marble Mountains and My Son

One of the ancient temples at My Son.

We finished our second week in Da Nang with lots of new literature, a day trip hike to the Marble Mountains and a visit to the ancient temples at My Son. We spent our time reading, seeing sights and getting in our exercise. It was so nice to enjoy the sunny weather while also having the opportunity to learn about some of the city’s unique history. 

The group began the week with reading short stories focused on addressing different perspectives after the war. The reading we have been engaging with has helped us work through so many aspects of Vietnamese culture, like gender norms, societal ideals and even geography. I am really looking forward to using our classroom education to help us with our real-life education. It’s not often you get to read about a subject and then see it for yourself in some way. Sometimes, it doesn’t even feel real.

Speaking of, this weekend, we took a day trip to My Son to see the ancient temples located there. Nearly 1,000 years old, the temples are dedicated to worship and were constructed out of what I am going to call “impossible” bricks. These bricks are fused together rather than stuck together with mortar, which is completely unique. To this day, they do not know exactly how they were constructed or how they have survived this long. It was surreal to walk through buildings with that sort of legacy.

What really struck me about our time in My Son was the very obvious impact of the war. Before the war, there were dozens of temples and structures that made up the historic landmark. However, after bombings and the effects of warfare, a majority of the original buildings were destroyed, leaving a fraction of that number behind, along with several bomb craters that are now small ponds near the ruins.

A bomb crater near the ancient temples is now a small pond.

Although it was hard to think about what was lost during the war, it was incredible to just spend the day surrounded by so much history. It is such a cool feeling to surrender your perspective of life and step into another world for a moment. One of the buildings itself was designed as a sort of cleansing gateway. When you entered, you were renewed. Our time in My Son felt very much like that renewal in some ways. With every new experience we have here in Vietnam, we are in some ways stepping through a door to see our world with new eyes.

After our amazing day at My Son, we also had the opportunity to hike the Marble Mountains in Da Nang. These mountains are also known as the “five elements mountains,” named after fire, water, metal, wood and earth. They appear as if they just spontaneously erupted from the earth itself. They spring up out of nowhere — very different from the Wasatch Range we are used to in Logan. However, they are just as beautiful in their own way.

The Marble Mountains as seen from the top of the main route. 

The hike itself is a very long series of stairs that lead us up to various temples and caves, mostly dedicated to worship and remembrance. Statues and pedestals are filled with offerings and sticks of incense, and there are even little places to sit and enjoy a coconut after you have hiked up many, many stairs to get to the top of the mountain. There is so much history along the entire hike, beginning to end. We also saw a bat, which wasn’t everyone’s favorite aspect of our trip but made it memorable, nonetheless.

A large statue is surrounded by flowers and bonsai trees along the Marble Mountains hike.

Thank you for joining me in this installment of the blog. I had such a wonderful time recounting my fun week in Da Nang, and I can’t wait to keep you updated on our future adventures. We travel to Hue next week, and I am looking forward to telling you all about it. Who knows — maybe next week will even include a food review.

I hear the crepes in Hue are to die for.