Danang

As the bus drives into Danang, the first impression is - concrete blocks of flats streaked with black mildew scattered about in a litter-strewn wasteland - depressing.

But the centre of Danang is chic. Riverside bars and cafes where well-heeled Vietnamese gather in noisy groups, streets illuminated by multicoloured Christmas decorative lights and lanterns hanging from trees.
When I reached my guesthouse, the owner offered me rice wine, which we drank in tiny glasses "My sister made this" he said "It's very good"

Today I went to visit the Cham Museum - the reason for coming to Danang. Yesterday I did not see one Westerner in Danang. But today the museum was crawling with them. The rooms echoed with the shouted explanations of the many guides, all competing with each other. Thank goodness I had half an hour to myself before they all arrived.

Cham sculpture is sinuous and sexy, somewhat reminiscent of ancient Indian temple sculptures.
The Kingdom of Champa was an Indianised kingdom of Malayo-Polynesian origins. It controlled southern and cental Vietnam from the seventh century until 1832. The finest works of art were created between the ninth and eleventh centuries. Cham culture was influenced over the centuries by China, India, Cambodia and Java. The scholars used Sanskrit. Hinduism was the state religion. There are a few ruined temples left, but the American bombs destroyed a lot. Their temples were tall, built of brick and highly decorative.