By train the journey from Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Rang – Thap Cham is scheduled to take from 6 to 7 hours depending upon which train you take.
Train Times from Ho Chi Minh City to Phan Rang – Thap Cham
There are currently 6 trains a day from Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) to Phan Rang – Thap Cham.
| Train | HCMC | Phan Rang – Thap Cham |
| SE8 | 06:00 | 12:06 |
| SE22 | 10:15 | 16:29 |
| SE10 | 13:15 | 19:23 |
| SE12 | 21:00 | 03:19 |
| SNT2 | 21:45 | 03:50 |
| SNT4 | 22:15 | 04:54 |
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Phan Rang – Thap Cham is an excellent place to stop over to break up the journey from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang and a location with sites of historical significance and a good beach.
Location of Ho Chi Minh City Train Station
See more information about Saigon Railway Station in Ho Chi Minh City.
Location of Thap Cham Railway Station
About Travel to Phan Rang – Thap Cham
Phan Rang – Thap Cham is a small coastal city with a population of around 160,000 people.
History of Phan Rang – Thap Cham
Phan Rang – Thap Cham is best known as the last capital of the Champa Empire. The Kingdom of Champa occupied much of Southern Vietnam during a period which may date from as far back as the 4th Century BC until the 15th Century AD, when the Vietnam defeated the Cham people many of whom fled from Vietnam after the war or were killed or enslaved by the victorious Vietnamese.
The Cham remain a significant and distinct ethnic group, albeit one without their own home land, and have spread out in small groups across Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaysia, Thailand and China.
Po Klong Garai temple near Tap ChamPo Klong Garai temple
There are two main sites associated with the Champa Empire near Phan Rang – Thap Cham. The most visited, and easily accessible, of the two sites is Po Klong Garai temple which is 1.3 km walking distance from Thap Cham Railway Station. Indeed if you time your trains well, you can stop off on route from Ho Chi Minh City to Nha Trang to visit the temple and still have time to get back on a train to complete the journey to Nha Trang in the same day.
Po Klong Garai temple was constructed in the late 13th Century and features three ‘Cham Towers’, which are brick towers with inscriptions in the Cham language and Hindu reliefs set into the walls. Po Klong Garai temple bears similarities to the more famous Po Nagar Temple in Nha Trang which was also built by the Cham peoples.
Po Ro Me Cham Tower
The other major Cham historical site near Phan Rang – Thap Cham is the Po Ro Me Cham Tower which is located 16.8 km south east of Thap Cham Railway Station. You need to hire a taxi or rent a motorbike to get here from the train station. Po Ro Me Cham Tower is a single tower located in flat desert area surrounded by hills.
The location is very picturesque and one you are likely to enjoy in peace and quiet as this site gets relatively few visitors. A long flight of stairs leads up to the door way of the tower and inside you will find a black and red relief of King Po Ro Me (the last king of an independent Empire) with the many arms of Shiva emerging from his back. A poignant last reminder of a extinct Empire.