A trip highlight - ancient ruins in the jungle

A definite highlight of this trip was a morning at the My Son temple ruins. An hour inland from Hoi An lies a long abandoned Hindu temple complex that was constructed between the 4th and 14th centuries by the ruling Champa peoples. Dedicated to the god Shiva, the temple is similar to Ankor Wat in Cambodia and the over 1,000 ruined temples scattered across the plains in Bagan in Myanmar.

Sadly, much of My Son was destroyed by American bombs during the war in 1969 as they targeted local camps of the People's Army of Vietnam. About 70 temples and tombs remain, some still covered by jungle and not yet fully excavated. The surrounding area still has unexploded mines and ordinance so is quite dangerous if one goes off in to the jungle.

Several years ago I was fortunate to spend a few days exploring the ruins in Bagan, Myanmar, and the similarities between the sites are obvious, right down to the use of red brick and various figures. I had no idea that Hindu temples were spread so far across SE Asia.

We were fortunate to arrive early morning and largely have the place to ourselves before the tour buses began to arrive. The visit was made all the more interesting by having Fletcher, our own local guide.