Thap Banh It

Banh It was the highlight of what we found in the area. A series of four elegant Cham towers on a high hill just outside Binh Dinh. Very easy to visit en-route or with a guide from Qui Nhon.

The four towers are what remains of a larger group -- the main tower is 22 metres high, and it looks like a bit of restoration work might have been done on it. All the towers have become home to a wide variety of plants growing through the cracks which, while they give the towers a picturesque look, might just be slowly tearing them apart. The largest tower is also home to a number of bats. You can see the bat guano covering the bottom of the tower's inner floor, and if you listen, you can here the bats cheeping and flying around up inside it. Some of the better bas-reliefs from this site have been carried away and are on display in Danang.

To get here, head out of Qui Nhon on Tran Hung Dao St. After about 9 km it meets up with Highway 1A, there you turn right to head north for another 9 km. You'll hit an intersection and you'll see the towers on a high hill on the right. The extreme right turn leads 17 km back to Qui Nhon, so take the next right at the crossroads across a bridge, heading to the north side of the tower hill. Just past the bridge, there's a field on your right -- you should see some small blue signs pointing towards Thap Banh It. Take another right, backtracking a bit along the river. A kilometre further on, you'll reach a conspicuous left turn that leads to the back of the tower hill. 200 metres along on the left is a small entrance -- it doesn't look like much, but they seem to be building a more impressive gate for the entrance as of this writing. Park anywhere and walk up the road, to the left as you enter. No one was charging admission when we visited.