We visited the My Son Cham Temples in Da Nang a couple months earlier and were excited to visit Po Nagar Temple, which is located within the city of Nha Trang, right over the bridge below.
This complex was originally dedicated to Po Nagar, the Mother of the Land of the Cham people. The Cham, or Champa, were the original inhabitants of central Vietnam and Cambodia, and still exist to this day (they are now Muslim). The height of their empire was the 8th-13th centuries, and these are when the structures at Po Nagar were built.
There are four temples, or houses of worship at Po Nagar: one dedicated to Po Nagar and the other three to Hindu deities, Shiva, Skanda, and Ganesha. Made of fired bricks with no exposed mortar, they also show no moss growth on them. How exactly the Cham people constructed them is a mystery to this day. There are also a dozen or so huge pillars that stood behind an altar, but their exact purpose was unknown.
Of course, some Bonsai trees and multi-color bougainvillea.
It was super hot and sunny, and the grounds aren’t huge, so we hopped in a taxi and took a ride over to the Long Son Pagoda. The temple complex is large, with a road leading up to the main temple and a shop selling souvenirs, cold drinks and ice cream right outside, and a huge incense urn in front of the temple, The massive Buddha sat up the hill, in the distance.
We started by visiting the main temple, with the Four Heavenly Kings in bronze guarding a gold Buddha.
Long Son Pagoda dates back to 1900, when it was built on the current location. It has undergone many updates since, with the temple being renovated in 1970. I especially liked the two Lady Buddha statues (standing on the lotus flower) on either side of the Buddha in the main hall.
From the Temple steps looking out it appeared like we were in a forest, but were less than a block far from the busyness of the city. Long Son is located well within Nha Trang proper, on quite a busy street.
Behind the temple were the stairs leading to the sitting Buddha, but after the first flight, there was an archway to the left. We went left, and saw this massive reclining Buddha. We were shocked, as it was kind of hidden back here. We saw many fellow tourists walk right by it on their way up or down from the sitting Buddha (can you see Jessica in the lower right?).
We lingered for a bit, then made the trek to the sitting Buddha, which was not too far, up only a few more flights of stairs.
24 meters (nearly 80 feet) tall, the sitting Buddha was built in 1964 to promote world peace. There is a small shrine inside the Buddha where we found a monk lighting incense.
The breeze was not much cooler up on the hill, so we made our way back down to the souvenir shop and bought some much needed ice cream. We ate it so fast it didn’t even have time to melt.
The taxi driver who dropped us at Po Nagar had given us his card, to use if we wanted to explore more of Nha Trang. Another day we took him up on the offer, choosing a few temples that were in the area, but far enough away that we could not take a taxi to (mainly because we couldn’t be assured of a ride back). Our hotel view was of the mountains, and on top of the biggest mountain was a tall, yellow structure that we could see every day, and lit up at night.
It was the Truc Lam Phung Thuy Son Pagoda, and we wanted to see it. We chose two other temples and the taxi driver quoted us a price for a half day trip to visit all three. We started heading up the mountain, at a 15% incline in some places, driving on roads that were new and smooth. We reached Truc Lam Phung Thuy Son Pagoda a little before 10am. The sun was shining brightly, and there were some other tourists when we arrived, but no buses. The gold pagoda was in view.
We climbed the stairs through the entrance gate and arrived at the first pagoda with a large bell in the center. That was a good time for a break and to take in the city view and bougainvilleas.
We carried on, up more steps, to reach the base of the golden pagoda. There were workers cleaning the base, so scaffolding was all over that level. It still looked pretty cool up close.
The two temples that flank the golden pagoda are twins, with the same altars in both.
Truc Lam Phung Thuy Son Pagoda was built only last year, in 2025, and they are still completing some parts (we saw other workers moving some huge Bonsai trees at the back temple). There are a half dozen structures on the grounds, which are meticulously maintained with signs to not walk on the grass. The whole place is very peaceful and serene and it was nice strolling around.
The city on one side, and the green mountains on the other were a beautiful contrast.
As you can see, the dark clouds began moving in, and a light drizzle started; we took that as our sign to move on, though it was hard to leave this pretty place.
A trip back down the mountain and soon we reached the Nghia Son Pagoda. We basically had the Pagoda to ourselves, and we meandered the grounds, enjoying the quiet and listening to the nature, while appreciating the beauty, both natural and man-made. We first encountered the Lady Buddha, standing in front of the main temple. Bonsai trees lined one side.
To the right of the main temple was a smaller one, that had an interesting altar (note the smiling horsey on the left side of it).
To the right of the main temple, the stone pagoda and columns were very cool.
This small pagoda was closed but situated so perfectly amongst the mountains.
The Japan-inspired house on the pond was also closed, however was so picturesque in this setting.
The Thanh Son Monastery was the last place on our day trip, and it was the most remote. We drove past green fields and down gravel roads until we reached it, seeing it from the road and parking lot first.
It looked so cool, but alas, it was closed. The taxi driver even went to the front gate with us and tried to find one of the monks, but to no avail. It was not meant for us this day. We took some pictures outside the main gate.
When we read further googlemaps reviews, it appeared about 50% of the time it was closed to visitors. The drive itself was pretty stunning, and we really enjoyed it, so while we were a bit disappointed, it was not all a waste.
Our tax driver was nice and said he knew of another temple in the city, that he and his family would visit on holidays, that we could see. Our final stop was to see the Chua Vinh Tho Temple. The main gate was closed, so he took us to the side entrance, and we walked around the grounds by ourselves. The temple was adorned in the white sheets below for a recent holiday, he told us.
They had two Lady Buddhas, one in plaster outside the main temple and the other of bronze with her own pagoda. It was a nice temple complex and a good place to end our day of temples trip.
We had a lot of fun in Nha Trang and it was a great place to spend time at the beach as well as explore a lot of Temples, while eating well and enjoying so many massages. We were a bit sad to leave and end our 75-day trip to Vietnam. It was such a fun country and distinctly different than the countries we had visited before. The next stop on our SE Asia tour is Malaysia and the city of Penang!
Phil's WayPastCool 