Travels in Da Nang: Museums

We had a month in Da Nang, so were in no real hurry to do anything. We often would pick one thing to do and see where the day would take us; after our morning beach walk, of course. When I was growing up, my grandparents would go to Florida every few years for a vacation. There they would do beach walks and relax with friends, and when Jessica and I would walk on the beach in the mornings in Da Nang, I often thought of them.

Anyway, there are some good museums in Da Nang that are definitely worthwhile. Most importantly, however, is knowing which ones have A/C and which ones do not. The first one we visited was the Da Nang Art Museum, which, thankfully, had powerful A/C and provided a respite from the heat.

The museum is three stories, with modern oil paintings on the first floor. Here are some of my favorites.

We also saw an art style for the first time, Vietnamese Lacquer paintings (known as son mai in Vietnamese). The art form is actually hundreds of years old, and became a distinct form of painting in the 1930s, and is quite unique and beautiful. “This intricate process involves layering natural lacquer, embedding organic materials like eggshell and mother-of-pearl, and polishing the surface to achieve a deep, radiant finish” (c/o phanlinggallery.com). Here are some favorites we saw at the museum (many are much more recent):

There were many other paintings, sculptures, carvings, and drawings on the other two floors of the museum:

We really liked the oil paintings on silk, that often gave the impression of a dream.

(above left: “Young Girl” (1990) by To Lien. above right: “Young Girls playing Musical Instrument” by Tu Duyen)

The Da Nang Art Museum was definitely worth visiting. Afterward, we walked on to our teeth cleaning appointment, which was not too far away. We had a great teeth cleaning for less than $20 each! As a day, very successful.

Another day we visited the Da Nang Museum, which was new and very nice. We enjoyed walking through it, though it was a bit busy; there were a lot of people inside the lobby taking full advantage of the air conditioning. The museum had many descriptions of events from Da Nang’s history: the French Occupation, the Vietnam-America War, the local tribes, theatrical performances, Chinese vases, lacquer furniture, Indochina currency, and so on. It was all presented very well, but there was a lot of reading involved, which took away a bit from the experience. Not a must see while in Da Nang.

The Ho Chi Minh Museum mainly centered around the Vietnam-American War; in front are many military vehicles: planes, tanks, helicopters, missile launchers, and artillery weapons are all kept in good shape in front of the museum.

The entrance hall:

Once inside the museum itself, we found there was no air conditioning. There were ancient fans, covered in dust, that kept the air moving, but did not do much to cool it off. We were glad we had our personal, hand held, fans, as they are necessary when traveling in Vietnam, especially in the summer.

The tile floors in the museum were very cool with their 1970s tile designs; but they had not been cleaned in years it seemed. Everything had a layer of dust, and the building hallways and courtyard were not in good shape from lack of care. It was odd. We did learn a lot about the history of Vietnam and more about their war for Independence from the French, and the Vietnam-American war, with some not suitable for sharing pictures.

Women fighters played a large role in the history of war in Vietnam:

There were some pretty Bonsai on the grounds as well.

Although very hot, we did enjoy our trip through the museum and there was a lot to see; just do not forget to bring a fan when visiting. Overall, we had a fun time visiting the museums in Da Nang and definitely do not miss the Art Museum. More to come from Da Nang!