12 Nha Trang, Vietnam

First stop was a visit the Po Nagar Cham Towers, one of the few remaining testaments to the ancient Cham civilization. Had brief scare because the battery in the camera was running low and all my spares were in the bus which had pulled away since there was no parking spaces available. I managed to make it through this stop by constantly turning the camera off when not in use. These were built between the 7th and 12th centuries. Today, both Chinese and Vietnamese Buddhists come to Po Nagar to pray and make offerings according to their beliefs. Blue and red fishing boats are moored in the shallow Nha Trang Harbor along with a temple to the fishing god…whales. We continued on to Long Son Pagoda (with a fresh battery!), which was founded in the late 19th century and has been rebuilt several times since. It is now home to fewer than ten monks. The entrance and roofs are decorated with mosaic dragons made of glass and ceramic tile. From the pagoda, you have to climb the 152 stone steps up to the giant white Buddha seated on a lotus blossom. Around the base of the Buddha there are portraits of seven monks who set them on fire to protest mistreatment of Buddhists by the Ngo Dinh Diem regime in the 1960’s. Finally had a quick photo stop at the Nha Trang Gothic Cathedral which still had its Nativity scene on display.