Sun, sand and Cham

Ninh Thuan is home to a rich Cham culture and spectacular beaches. As the driest province in the country, the weather is bound to be perfect for sun-lovers.

The sun and sand of Ninh Thuan Province is only 350 km northeast of HCMC, but it doesn’t get any where near the number of beach-goers that visit Nha Trang (150 km further north) or Phan Thiet (150 km toward south).

It boasts some of the most beautiful beaches in Vietnam, including the crescent shaped 10-km long Ninh Chu Beach, 80 km from the provincial capital Phan Rang which has two new resorts. With a rainfall of less than 700 mm a year the sun is usually shining.

The Den Gion resort and four star Saigon-Ninh Chu are attracting international tourists from France, the UK and Japan who come to enjoy the sunshine and the ocean.

For more seclusion the province has Ca Na and Binh Tien beaches.

Forty-two kilometers northeast of Phan Rang is Vinh Hy Bay. From the mainland town of Vinh Hy visitors can take a boat trip to the Hon Do coral beach. Hon Do is a gorgeous beach that contains 307 varieties of coral.

Only a few kilometers south of Phan Rang, near the Lu River, the Nam Cuong Sand dunes stand above the shoreline.

At Nam Cuong visitors can watch the colors of the sand changing as the sun sets. The local children often invite foreigners to play games with them.

Ninh Chu is considered one of Vietnam’s nine most beautiful beaches. The Ninh Thuan authorities are hoping that it will become a popular tourist spot.

The white sandy beach backed by clumps of red cactus, rows of poplar trees humming in the wind and Cham women in traditional clothes carrying pots of water on their heads conjure up images of the African desert.

Many tours have a one or two-day stopover in Ninh Thuan to spend a night at the beach and take in the province’s tourist attractions, including the Po Klong Garai Towers, the salt fields in Phuong Cuu and Tri Hai, and the gardens in the villages of Van Hai and Van Son.
Cham Culture

Handy to Phan Thiet, Da Lat or Nha Trang, Ninh Thuan is rich in Cham culture - unforgettable art, music and dancing that originated in India.

The culture of Ninh Thuan is deeply influenced by the 50,000 or so ethnic Cham who are descendants of the erstwhile great kingdom of Champa in the province.

Popular Cham festivals, such as Cham New Year Raja N’gar, or Kate, when the Cham Ahier people commemorate their ancestors and masculine Cham Gods, are provincial public holidays.
Something unique to the Cham is their matriarchal society, in which women inherit all the property.

It is said that Cham women possess mysterious powers and can hex men to marry them and give away their property.

The Cham are also well-known for their traditional handicrafts. In the village of My Nghiep, 12 km southeast of Phan Rang, visitors can see the weaving techniques of the Cham as they make decorative cloth.

For a display of ceramic production, head to the village of Bau Truc about 10 km south from Phan Rang. The composition of the clay from the Quao River is one of the secrets behind the beautiful Bau Truc ceramics.

If you want to try your own hand at it, you can even dig your own clay in Quao River to turn into pots or bowls at one of the ceramics factories.

The history of the Champa Dynasty is brought to life when you visit any of the three-tower sites of Hoa Lai, Po Klong Garai or Porome.

The Hoa Lai Towers, dating back to the ninth century, is 15 km north of Phan Rang on Highway 1A. This three-tower site is the oldest in Vietnam.

Po Klong Garai Tower, 6 km west of Phan Rang, sits atop Trau Hill. Po Klong Garai was built by King Simhavarman III at the end of the 13th century.

The towers were dedicated to King Po Klong Garai, a king legendary for defending the Champa Kingdom. The main tower faces the east and is a good representation of Cham architectural and decorative style.

Porome Tower, about 17 km south of Phan Rang, dates back to the end of the 15th century.
The site includes an 8-meter high main tower dedicated to King Porome, the last king of the Champa Kingdom.

Reported by Le Thanh