Programme «Sắc màu di sản» and «Âm vang Mỹ Sơn» (Cham heritage day)

   In a valley of thousand-year-old brick towers, the Paranưng drum and the Saranai reed start up early in the morning. On 2 September the oldest Cham sanctuary in Vietnam does more than open its gates to tower-gazers — it restages a Cham festival day at the foot of the towers themselves.

   The programme runs all day in two clear halves. From 09:00, «Sắc màu di sản» (Colours of Heritage) spreads across the forecourt by the Indian experts' house and the hands-on points around the temple groups. At 14:45 the focus moves to the tower group G for «Âm vang Mỹ Sơn» (Echoes of My Son).

   What the day holds:
the numbers «Tiếng trống hội Katê», «Mùa xuân bên tháp cổ» and «Vui đón Katê», built on the rhythms of Katê, the biggest festival in the Cham year
performances on the Paranưng and Ghi-năng drums and the Saranai reed pipe, the three instruments that give Cham music its colour
the water-jar dance and the Apsara dance at the Cham culture performance house
traditional weaving and pottery you are invited to try yourself
«Âm vang Mỹ Sơn» staged in three movements: «Dòng chảy thời gian» – «Dân ca Chăm Ponai» – «Trẩy hội»

   Show slots are dense through the day: 09:00, 09:45, 10:30 and 11:15 in the morning; 14:00, 14:45 and 16:00 in the afternoon. You do not need to plan tightly around them — move at your own pace and you will land on one.

   The place alone justifies the trip. My Son is the temple complex of the kingdom of Champa, built and added to more or less continuously from around the fourth to the thirteenth century, dedicated to Shiva and serving as the sanctuary of the Cham kings. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 1999. The Cham technique of laying brick without visible mortar has still not been fully explained.

   It suits anyone who wants central Vietnam below the beach-and-old-town layer, families with children at the curious age, and anybody based in Hội An or Da Nang with a clear day. The valley lies about forty kilometres west of Hội An, comfortably there and back in a day.

   Go in the morning. Midday sun in the valley is fierce, and early light is when the brick groups take their best colour.

   This 2 September, the several-thousand-year-old part of Vietnam comes with music, dance and someone to tell you the story.