Quảng Nam, Vietnam Photography

Photographing Quảng Nam

Quảng Nam is the Vietnamese province around Hoi An, home to the My Son Sanctuary — the brick temple complex of the Champa kingdom — and a countryside of rice fields and pottery villages.

Where to shoot

My Son Sanctuary — the Champa kingdom's brick temple complex, 4th to 13th century, in a jungle valley about 40 km from Hoi An.
The Cham brickwork — towers built without mortar using a firing technique that has never been successfully reproduced.
The bomb craters — visible damage from the 1960s and 70s still marks the site and some structures remain propped.
The road out from Hoi An — villages along the way still making pottery and rice paper by hand.

When to go

February to April, at the end of the dry season and before the summer heat — the valley is green and the site is comfortable to walk.

What to eat

Eat cao lầu or white rose dumplings back in Hoi An — both are dishes claimed specifically by this province and difficult to find made properly anywhere else.

Where to stay

Base yourself in Hoi An and treat My Son as a half-day, rather than staying out near the ruins where there is very little.

Go at opening, around 6am if you can manage it. The main tower group sits in a hollow with no shade, and by mid-morning it is both hot and crowded with tour groups from Hoi An.