November 14,

Today we awoke to some blue sky!! We readied and had our Javas in our room, then went to breakfast. I had Pho and Jeff had the Cao Lau. They both hit our spot! I had an iced tea and Jeff had a lemon juice. We also turned in some laundry for cleaning. Bodies fueled and feeling good we went up to our room and sorted out our plan.

Jeff tried to find the guy to see about scooter rental, but our host could not found. So plan B, Jeff found one online that would deliver, and he booked a rental for four days. Now, I have to digress, the road right out of our villa is being resurfaced… as the old jackhammered up and being redone. Sound familiar?? This is exactly what happened to us in Bangkok! The only difference, this road is not very long until the main road. So we may have issues with a rental, we will see.

Time came to meet the scooter at the corner, our host walked us down there. (I think he wanted to see what we were getting – there is a communication gap, as in he doesn't understand as readily as some host do.) Once he did understand that we were getting a rental but not his, he wanted to know how nuch. Anyway, the scooter arrived, Jeff was briefed, and money was exchanged. That was it, no checking for licensing no signing of paperwork. Easy – peasy! We loaded up after putting on our helmets and set off. It was around 1130.

On the scooter we drove around an hour. Along the way, pass over many bridges as there are quite a few waterways of a river, streams, and canals. We arrive at our destination, My Son Sanctuary. It is a UNESCO World Cultural Heritage Site, since 1999. Jeff bought our tickets – 150K Dong each ($5.91). We next went into a museum and looked about. Having an overall view of the site, we proceeded on over a bridge, to the electric shuttle station. We board and have the car to our selves. According to our tickets…

“… at My Son Valley, there is still a most important complex of Hindu Temple-Towers which is a symbol of Champa art and continuously developed from the 4th to 13th Centuries. The ancient Champa people were raised to be the 'the masters of art in building brick.' So far the technique in building the ancient temple-towers of Champa people remains controversial. The bricks were smoothed and laid closely and securely without mortar. My son's value is also reflected in the art of lively and fine sculpture and carving on brick, stone from the images of deities, priests, animals, and sacrifices.”
We travel maybe a kilometer (0.6 miles) and are let off. Now we set off exploring along a meandering stone pathway that leads to the various sites. We are “in a small valley with a natural spring connecting to Thy Bon River and surrounded by mountains” and this “was integral to the spiritual significance of this site.”

We came to the first site – Group K from 11th century. What remains here are two walls without a roof, that has caused them to be at odds with each other – leaning away from each other. But on one side is an inset stone carved three headed goddess in remarkable shape considering it is open the elements. Next is Group F from 8-10th century, which involved two temples that were bombed in the Vietnam War. Now we flow into Group E from mid 12th century. This site has a restored(?) temple, as the bricks seem very new, but if it is a representation… it is pretty amazing. There is a second story with the curving arch roof. Also here are a linga and a stele from 657/658 AD.

Next is Group G from the 12th century. These temples are built 'on small hills indictating “temples-mountains” concept which reflects the connection between architectural style in My Son and that of Khmer (Cambodia) at the time.', according to the placard. We saw an assembly hall, which you can climb up the steps into a temple from the hall. It is not roped off, that surprised me. The remaining walls of various buildings still have decent stone carvings. Other buildings here have more carvings and figures of creatures all around the outside. The sun was dappling all the ruins… it was great to behold, these ancient works. Some have leaves or lichen of sorts trying to overtake them, adding to the appeal.
Then Group A from the late 9th to 10th century. This group has been restored some in 2020. One temple building had a huge linga, supposedly a unique one to Cham culture. It had some good carvings in its pedestal. We could also walk around it, again shocking, but it is out in the elements… Questions???

Then we flow into a Group B, C, D. Which involves a lot more buildings of which a couple have museum-like set up inside. They house various carvings from around the whole complex. The carvings were great displays. We were both getting a bit overwhelmed by now and rushing some due to a 1400 Cham Culture Show.

We went to this next – it was right next door so to speak. We saw women dancers portraying the gathering of water or herbs. Then had a Vietnamese trumpet being played by a noted artist. The “trumpet” was quite shrill, but the musician could sustain a very long note! It was actually impressive, and he was noticably relieved it was accomplished. The show ended with the women dancers in a goddess type dress and demonstrating poses of various gods.

When the show ended we went to Group H from the 13th century. This group had been bombed during the war and was not impressive to me. Now our complex walkabout was complete and we had great view of the “holy mountain” reflecting in the water. It seemed a fitting way to end. We boarded the shuttle and were heading out, but stopped at My Son Restaurant Thuy Trang. We had a fried rice with veg and meat, & fried noodle with meat. I had a Coke and Jeff a 7up. It came to 140K Dong ($5.51). We went and got our scooter, paying 5,000 Dong (20 cents).

Loaded up we start back, but stop at Museum of Sa Huynh-Champa Culture. It was free! We perused and were semi-escorted/guided through. It basically had placards explaining the Sa Huynh and Champa cultures converged in this area with ancient Indian and Chinese cultures as well. There was some artifacts of pottery, jewelry, and burial jars, as well as Champa carvings. It was a good little museum.

Now we did go back to our place, and had a siesta. We had a light supper – apple, salami, bread and blue cheese. Then chilled out the evening til exhausted, bed by 2100.