The Indochina Adventure: Mỹ Sơn

While I was in Hội An, I arranged for a day trip to Mỹ Sơn. This is an archaeological complex, consisting of ruins of Hindu temples. These temples were constructed between the 4th and 13th centuries, by the Kings of Champa. I knew nothing about this place, aside from the fact that it exists. It was slightly hard to get to independently, so I joined a tour to get there.

As is most things in Vietnam, one's hotel can arrange this. So I just told my villa that I was interested in doing a day trip to Mỹ Sơn, and she arranged it perfectly. A van picked me up, and together with a bunch of other people, we formed a small group, and we headed to Mỹ Sơn.

I suppose the fact that earlier I was in Angkor Wat helped a lot in understanding what was going on in Mỹ Sơn. Similar to Angkor Wat, Mỹ Sơn was a Hindu temple. There were numerous Hindi symbols all over the place, such as the lingams. The tour guide was explaining all these to us, and somehow, it resembled Angkor Wat in my opinion, just with slightly different building materials. It was definitely an interesting place to check out.

Our tour guide was very knowledgeable in the site, and was explaining to us the various buildings and their functions. At the same time, she didn't overwhelm us with technical academic facts, and she budgeted appropriate time for us to just wander around on our own and explore the site. After all, if one's interest is all about just taking photos, then listening to an academic lecture might be boring. I felt I took advantage of both scenarios, and I definitely would say I learned a lot.

Overall, it was a very interesting trip, and is something I would recommend. After returning to Hội An, it was time to pack my bags, as it was time to move on and venture forward. My next destination was Da Nang.