My Son is a pleasant 55 km drive into the hinterlands of Hoi An. Starting early at 7am to beat the heat of the day and the tourist buses, we got to the World cultural heritage site before the crowds. This place was established as a sanctuary for the religious elite and (its thought) a burial ground for kings.
Chosen for its secluded location in a lush jungle basin surrounded on all sides by mountains, you get the feeling you're approaching something special as you drive the last few kilometres along an 'avenue' sidling a densely grown gorge.
Most temples are dedicated to the Hindu God of Shiva, but are in essence shrines to the ancestor kings of the Cham. Annual pilgrimages for ceremonial purposes were the only time 'ordinary' Cham people could visit the site. We were more fortunate in choosing the time of our visit, but needless to say the site is no longer tended by its minders and is in a poor state of repair.
The standing brickwork structures look magnificent and our guide helped interpret the many sculptures, images and meanings of the towers. The many lingas and headless statues of Shiva proved of great fascination (both were a bit of a challenge to explain to Harper). Unfortunately many of the sculptures and architectural detail have been stolen, destroyed or removed to various museums or collections. Harper said he recalled seeing a Cham piece at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York (I think he's right but I'm still checking on this!).
Harper counted 48 towers out of a total of 72 towers documented on the site. Many are now nothing more than foundations and a few are being reconstructed through various UNESCO projects. Although this site was left to the ravages of time and looting for many hundreds of yeards before being redicovered by the French, unfortunately the most serious damage was done by the Americans in the Vietnam war when they bombed the site many times. Bomb craters and bullet pock marks can still be seen in quie a few places.
Harper was again a source of fascination to locals - this time Vietnamese tourists. A Vietnamese general in full military regalia took a special liking to him and insisted in getting lots of photos...which only encouraged the other 10 members of his party to do the same. Hilarious, if you're not Harper!
The rest of the afternoon we spent sleeping, swimming, eating and getting the final fittings done for our clothes. I wonder what the My Son attendants did for leisure on a lazy April afternoon a thousand years ago?
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