One day during our stay in Hoi An we traveled to My Son, Vietnam's most impressive archaeological site. From the 4th to the 13th centuries, it was the religious and political capital of the Champa Kingdom. The Champa people based their religious beliefs on Indian Hinduism, and many of the temples on this site were built to honor Shiva and other Hindu divinities like Krisna and Vishnu.
A shuttle picks visitors up inside the gate and drops them off about 1/2 mile from the main site. We walked across a bridge over the Thu Bon River and back into the valley. It reminded me a bit of Waimea Falls Park on Oahu.
Along the way, we paused to admire Mhadravata Mountain which was sacred to the Cham people.
Eight groups of 71 standing monuments still exist on the site. We glimpsed this one through the trees.
At the main monument site, a troupe of performers stood around waiting for some tourism officials to make their appearance. It took awhile for the officials to arrive, but the performance was worth the wait.
After watching their impressive performance, we wandered among the monuments.
The Sanctuary exists today largely because of the efforts of Kazimierz Kwiatkowski, a Polish architect. He made it his mission to restore the site after it suffered extensive bombing by American troops during the Vietnam War.
That evening, most of the tour group went into Hoi An for dinner, but we just wanted to relax so we stayed at the hotel where we enjoyed club sandwiches. I admired the little dish of ketchup decorated with mayonnaise.
The visit to My Son was one of our favorite days of the Vietnam tour.