How I Discovered an Ancient Cham Temple Complex Lost and Buried in the Jungle

Adam Bray inside “Thap Po A’dam-Hung”
Yesterday amidst the wind and rain of the typhoon currently pounding the Vietnam coast, a friend and I made an amazing discovery in central Vietnam’s Binh Thuan Province. On the way home from a long trip through the countryside, we stopped in a remote forested area for a break, and stumbled upon an unusual mound, camouflaged by trees and vines. Noticing a few old red bricks scattered on the ground, they climbed to the top of the mound for a better look. Wading through tall shrubs and thorny vines, they discovered a series of four shafts, 15 to 20 feet deep, lined with brick walls, descending into the ground.




Looking down the tower shafts from above.

The ancient red-brick walls of the buried towers were tell-tale signs that we had discovered a previously unknown temple complex, attributed to the ancient Champa Empire. The Cham once dominated most of south and central Vietnam, and were contemporary adversaries of the Kingdom of Angkor in Cambodia. Today the Cham now heavily populate Binh Thuan and Ninh Thuan Provinces of south-central Vietnam, with a thriving matriarchal, Hindu-descended culture. They are known for their beautiful hand-woven textiles, pottery made on a stationary wheel (the craftswomen circles the table, walking backwards as they work) , the white robes, turban and red tassels worn by Cham men, and bizarre burial rituals that include exhuming a corpse on the anniversary of death.



Inside a tower entrance.
The location and arrangement of the temples is highly unusual. Rather than being located on a hilltop facing the sea or a river, the towers are buried underground, in a remote area that is currently difficult to access. The towers are also packed tightly together, and may even form a single structure with multiple chambers. It’s not possible yet to know precisely how old the towers are. However, if comparing the other temples here in Binh Thuan Province, including those found at Phu Hai (8th Century), Lien Huong (8th-9th Century) and the newly discovered temple at Thuan Hoa (9th Century), an age of 1100-1300 years is plausible. To unlock the temples secrets, and discern which god-king or goddess they were built to worship, the temples will need to be fully excavated and researched. For now, we’ve decided to nickname them “Thap Po A’dam-Hung.”

Adam Bray first arrived in Vietnam in 2003 and bases himself in Phan Thiet, Vietnam. He is fluent in Vietnamese and speaks basic Cham. He is also one of only a small group of foreigners who can read Cham script, based on ancient Sanskrit. Adam has contributed to more than 15 guidebooks to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand, for publishers including DK Eyewitness, Insight Guides, Thomas Cook, ThingsAsian, Berlitz and Time Out.

Bag Snatching in Mui Ne

Uhg. I just heard a report that last night some thieves drove up on a motorbike and tried to steal bags from someone arriving on the 1am bus in front of Saigon-Mui Ne Resort. Thank God the victim fought back and knocked the motorbike over. Someone then ran the thieves off, who abandoned the motorbike and ran away on foot. The motorbike was turned over to police today. The question is, will the police actually do anything about the crime?

What is Mui Ne becoming? Why do we have to become like the very worst of Saigon and Nha Trang? Why don't people care?

Sankara's Soft Opening

Sankara, Mui Ne's hottest new nightspot, had a soft opening this weekend, in preparation for the big date, at the beginning of tourist season. Sankara has more floor space than any venue on the beach, with numerous indoor and outdoor seating environments. Likewise there is also an indoor and outdoor beachside bar. A lit swimming pool sits at the middle of the outdoor patio, with a stage inside at the entrance for live music. DJ Nic Ford mixes the tunes till the wee hours, with lighting that synchronizes to the music. This new million-dollar bar is set to become a destination in-and-of itself and is sure to lead the wave of new upscale establishments and the next stage of evolution in Mui Ne's growing nightlife.


Indoor bar at the front


DJ Nic Ford


Outside Pool Area


Beachside Bar


Beachside Bar


Friendly Locals

Mid-Autumn Festival Preparations in Phan Thiet

Below are photos around town today, in preparation for the Mid-Autumn Festival (Trung Thu) on the evening of October 3. Phan Thiet has received numerous national awards for their celebration of the festival, and is noted as one of the best cities in Vietnam to observe the festivities.


Moon cakes are the favorite treat during the Mid-Autumn Festival. They come in many flavors--Green Tea, Lotus Seed, Green Bean, Red Bean, Candied pork, Roasted pork, Roasted duck, Coconut and sweetened milk... with one or two dried, salted egg yolks in the center.


Local ad companies are preparing lantern floats for the parade on the night of the festival.


The festival will be led by school children, with a different theme for the floats and lanterns of each school.


A typical shop selling moon cakes, lanterns and holiday toys for Trung Thu.


Most schools had sea creature themes for their lanterns and floats last year. This year folks seem to be building a wide range of animals, like this golden water buffalo.

Click here to read explanations of all the major local festivals in Binh Thuan Province.

Click here to see all posts and photos on the Mid-Autumn Festival.

Socialist Art

Saigon Zoo and Botanical Gardens

I had a nice stroll through the Botanical Gardens last weekend. I was very disappointed to learn from a friend that the gardens will be demolished to make way for a new bridge and highway extension. The gardens are historic--a gift from the French--and one of the only viable walking parks in the city.

Bia Hoi

Read the Wall Street Journal Article Here

Very informative article about Bia Hoi vs the onslaught of foreign beers. Bia Hoi is definitely a very good bargain, although vendors are caught from time to time, and noted in the Vietnamese "state-run" media (as opposed to the American "state-run" media) adding formaldehyde in small quantities as a preservative. I'm afraid the prime beer-drinking age extends far beyond the 20-40 range mentioned in the article--in fact I'd wager teenagers and 50-somethings consume much more than the latter group in Vietnam.

I just saw an amusing ad for Miller Beer here (as well as some banner ads at a shopping center), declaring that "Miller is American Time." I guess this is a twist on their old slogan, "It's Miller Time," and trying to play on the idea that Vietnamese often think anything American always has to be better... Oddly though, alcohol can't be mentioned on cable TV in Vietnam. Every time Discovery Travel and Living has a segment on alcohol for example (whether it be an episode of Globe Trekker, Samantha Brown, Hanoi's own Bobby Chinn, or Anthony Bourdain) there's suddenly 10 minutes of rainbow bars on the screen.

Old Time Phan Thiet

Staff at a fish sauce factory in Phan Thiet during French Colonial days. Note that the staff are all wearing traditional Cham cloths--suggesting the possibility that Cham have been much more populous in Phan Thiet during the last century than commonly thought.

Movie "Editing" in Vietnam

Brining the subject back to Vietnam...

I'm in Saigon at the moment to, among other things, making a movie run at the cinema. The cinemas in Vietnam have vastly improved over the last 5 years. We now have screens with audio systems and seating that rival those in the USA. We have access to movies at the same time as the USA too (most of the time), although distribution has been delayed a few times (Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith being a good examples) due to silly Vietnamese ideas about lucky and "auspicious dates."

I'm almost embarrassed to admit I did go see GI Joe. The juvenility of the movie was just a little above Power Rangers, I'm sorry to say... but it still was entertaining. The poorly-translated Vietnamese subtitles aside (as well as overlooking the fact that the censors didn't allow certain catch-words to be translated into Vietnamese, regardless of context). It was annoying to see all hatchet-job editing the local censors did to remove "objectionable" violence. I remember at least 3 scenes that jumped awkwardly in the middle of dialogue and action, to a resolution which no longer made sense. Further surprising was the next movie I saw, "The Proposal" with Sandra Bullock. I enjoyed the movie quite a bit, but was rather surprised to see so much skin in a couple of scenes--and more-so that the local censors apparently found it unobjectionable and declined to edit. I'm really curious what the standard is in using to edit films.

I suppose it's not as bad as the way Discovery Travel and Living gets "edited" in Vietnam. Every time there is a travel or cuisine show with a segment on alcohol, the screen immediately switches to rainbow bars until it is over.

Matinicus Lobster Wars

Oh how I hate to go so totally off-topic on my Asia-themed blog, but I can't resist not commenting on the stories in the LA Times and across the USA about the developments on Matinicus Island, Maine--one of several childhood homes.

Read the LA Time Article on Matinicus Here.

Matinicus has always been a haven for lawlessness back to the first settler, Ebenezer Hall, who murdered 2 indians trapping beavers on the island, then buried them in his garden to hide the evidence. In retaliation, the indians returned, killed and scalped Ebenezer, burned down the house, and carried off his wife and children. And thus such naughty behavior has continued to this day.

The island is in the midst of a "lobster war," or more colloquially as a "pot war." Lobster traps are known as "pots" in Maine. When a lobstermen (those who professionally catch lobsters) engage in a pot war, thy cut the buoys from the ropes on their competitor's traps. Without a buoy to mark them, they are lost forever. Such wars have been going on for centuries perhaps, and are financially devastating to all involved.

As these wars escalate, sometimes hostilities move off the water, and onto land. On Matinicus, these wars have gotten quite brutal at times--houses have been burned down, and most recently, fishermen shot.

My family moved to the island when I was a teenager. It was a beautiful island set 25 miles out to sea. Roughly two square miles in size, there were only about 50 year-round residents, though there could be as many as 150 people on the island at any given time during the summer.

I attended the one-room schoolhouse for a year, and then opted for correspondence school from home the following years, rather than being shipped to boarding school for highschool, as was the custom. Summers were lovely--walks in the woods, picking wild apples and strawberries, hunting for snakes and salamanders, camping on the island's two sandy beaches, and all sorts of outdoor activities. Winters were cold and lonely--blasted by freezing winds for nearly 9 months. Though we received a lot of snow, much of it was blown off by the ocean winds, leaving only frozen soil and patches of ice.

My father was the first and the last deputy sherif on the island. Some of the islanders didn't take kindly to the presence of the law. My family was threatened, our home and property vandalized. Pets were found dead and our house had a rather suspicious fire. After 3 years we were driven from the island, and the locals were left to resume their old lawless ways. It's no surprise to me that they wound up in the news eventually, and I must admit its amusing.

One day very soon I intend to turn this into a book... in case any of you, my publishers, are listening...

New Book on the Shelves

One of my latest books to hit the shelves this week is the new "World's Greatest Cities," published by Time Out in the UK. I wrote the Hanoi entry. Click on the image above to order your copy from Amazon.

I'm currently negotiating book #15. More details in the future...

Another Dead?

In Phan Thiet today I watched the aftermath of yet another gruesome accident. People rushed as a young women lay face-down, motionless under her motorbike, blood gushing all over the road. Two men carefully scraped her off the road and carried her limp body, bleeding profusely from her face, to the nearby hospital. Lucky for her, if she lived, that she was so close to the hospital.

I've heard some frightening statistics about accidents in Vietnam--that the Vietnamese manage to kill themselves on their own roads, faster than people die from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan combined, even at their height of conflict. I don't know if it's true, but I can believe it.

I've seen so much blood, guts and death in the last month here in Phan Thiet, that it really turns my stomach. It bothers me a lot. It's like living in the middle of a war!

Stolen Macbook Pro

A Macbook Pro was stolen one week ago from De Ja Vu Restaurant in Mui Ne.
17 inch screen
silver case
English-Russian keyboard
case is slightly damaged and does not close properly (misaligned)
At the time it was stolen it is believed to have had the Tiger OS.
substantial reward offered
If you see this laptop or would like to return for a reward, please contact De Ja Vu, Joe's Cafe, or me via this blog.

Binh Thuan Province Tour Day 1: K'ho Territory

This week a friend and I took a 3-day, 2-night trip around Binh Thuan Province, Vietnam. These were largely all places that I had been before, but I took the opportunity to dig a little deeper and learn more about the terrain and the ethnic minorities that inhabit the area. The photos below, in no particular area, highlight out time with the K'ho people. I've labeled this as a "tour" in the title--but don't get the wrong idea... There was no tour guide (unless the tour guide is me). This was all self-guided, off-the-map, adventure in the tradition of great exploration.



K'ho traditional stilt house with woven mat walls and thatched roof.


Inside roof of K'ho house. The frame is made from bamboo. All the cooking is done inside the house but their is no chimney. Thus everything is black from smoke--but the advantage is that it keeps the insects away.


Kitchen inside the corner of the house. Note the cooking (with hot coals) is done on the floor, yet miraculously they don't burn their house down.


K'ho family inside the house.


Sometimes roads just don't seem to go anywhere at all.


Rice Paddies Leading Off Into the Mountains


For those who mistakenly think Malaria is no longer a problem in Vietnam, this clinic, like many around the mountains, specializes in it.


A very difficult-to-reach but glorious waterfall.

Binh Thuan Province Tour Day 2: Cham Territory

Below are photos from day 2 of my 3-day, 2-night trip around Binh Thuan Province this week. These photos highlight areas of the province dominated by the Cham ethnic minority.






Bani Cham celebrating Ramawan, or Ramadan, though any muslim origins are lost in the retention of Hindu an Taoist traditions. Here a Cham Shaman baptizes lingas in front of each of the matriarchs.





Thap Po Dam, and ancient Cham tower-temple complex





A previously undescribed species of Gecko. I've decided to call him "Bray's Champa Gecko" or "Gekko champai."





The geckos are guarding clutches of eggs.





Hand-made, hand-woven, traditional Cham clothing





Loom for making traditional Cham textiles





Cham Pottery Maker




Any of these hand-made, Binh Thuan Province crafts can be purchased through Binh Thuan Authentic.

Binh Thuan Province Tour Day 3: Kinh Territory

These are the highlights from day 3 of my 3-day 2-night trip around Binh Thuan Province (presented in reverse order of normal blog posting, for easier reading). These photos come from a region dominated by Kinh, or ethnic Vietnamese, and are presented in no particular order.


The Dead Lands, Binh Thuan Desert


Ancient Burial Mound bordering the Dead Lands


The Phan Ri Harbor. I'm sorry to see the folks here are really unseemly and behave like a bunch of rabid monkeys fighting over a prize. Some of the worst behavior I've seen in Vietnam is exhibited right here.


Binh An Temple, originally built in 1700 and re-constructed in 1832.