Museums & Galleries in Quy Nhon
Quy Nhon, a city nestled along Vietnam’s coast, is admired for its stunning beaches and rich cultural heritage. To experience the latter you should definitely pay a visit to any number of its museums. Although there are quite a few, two that come highly recommended are the Binh Dinh and Quang Trung Museums.
It won’t set you back too much to rent a motorcycle to get there. Taxis can cost around 400,000 to 500,000 dong for a one-way trip which can be quite expensive! There isn’t really any kind of bus service either. If you’re planning on spending the entire day exploring then I’d suggest visiting a museum as well as going down to the Duong Long Cham Towers (located roughly 10 km east).
They may not be perfect but these two places will provide anyone with an ample opportunity to delve into the history and culture of Quy Nhon. Additionally they help visitors appreciate what this part of Vietnam has gone through over time — so visiting them wouldn’t be a bad idea by any means!
Bình Định Museum
Located between Le Loi and Le Thanh Tong streets at 26 Nguyen Hue, the Binh Dinh Museum is a small yet important historical storehouse. It is open on Tuesdays to Saturdays with visiting hours separated into morning (07:00-11:30) and afternoon (13:30-17:00). This museum has an astonishingly voluminous array of Cham artifacts that leave visitors in awe, which resulted from contributions made by international archaeological groups over the last two decades.
By interesting coincidence, remnants of American armament from 1975 such as a tank and howitzer artillery cannons are exhibited along side the Cham relics. In addition to that, the numismatic collections inside this museum’s premises still remains attractive since it keeps on expanding with inputs from historians and Chinese scholars doing their ongoing research thus making this section not to be so monotonous. The museum however despite its rich materials faces underfunding, poor maintenance and lack of comprehensive English descriptions. Tickets into the museum only costs 5000 dong hence anyone can be able to afford them.
Quang Trung Museum
Quang Trung Museum is 44 kilometers to the northeast of Quy Nhon, Highway 19/19B Phú Phong, Tây Sơn District. It operates on a daily basis with similar visiting hours as the Binh Dinh Museum. This museum is dedicated to Emperor Quang Trung (Nguyễn Huệ), a highly respected individual in Vietnamese history. In the 18th century, he and his brothers led a peasant uprising that united Vietnam and made him loved by all Vietnamese.
The national importance of this museum is upheld by politicians who have visited it since its inception in 1978; A lot of politicians go there for homage paying. It is home to war memorabilia, Tay Son art pieces, clothes and manuscripts. But like Bình Định Museum, it is not well-displayed nor does it provide much information in English. Although set up in an isolated area that only attracts certain individuals, the place should be visited by those that are interested in knowing more about Vietnam or maybe investigating adjacent Cham sites. The museum grounds sometimes host martial arts competitions and special events on January 5th which commemoration Quang Trung’s triumph at Ngoc Hoi fight.Being admitted to quang trung museum will cost you ten thousand dong each time you visit.
