My Son - Angkor en Miniature

My Son was the religious center of the Hindu Champa people, who inhabited the central coast of Vietnam from the end of the 4th century to the 14th century.

During this period, a total of eight temple complexes were built there. Throughout this entire period, the area was continuously inhabited. No other cultural site in Southeast Asia had a longer development time.

The area is located in a graceful valley about 40 km west of Hoi An at the foot of the Central Vietnamese Highlands.

As people withdrew from the care and maintenance of the temples - the majority of the Cham people converted to Islam from 1471 onwards - the buildings slowly decayed due to the jungle and the climate.

My Son has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1999.

Today, the individual complexes vary greatly in terms of their preservation and restoration status.

However, the destruction of some temple complexes was not only caused by nature and climate, but also largely by humans. More on this later.

On the advice of the travel agency where we booked our tour, we decided at short notice not to take a guided tour in a group and booked a 'private car' just for us. It was only slightly more expensive, but it had the advantage that we could set our own pace during the visit and we drove directly from the hotel to My Son without picking up any other participants.

We started at six o'clock so that we could start our visit at the opening time of 7 a.m. But that also meant getting up at 5:30 a.m. and leaving without breakfast.

We arrived on time, and as hoped, we were among the first visitors. At the entrance, we boarded a small electric shuttle bus that drove us a short distance into the valley.

The air was still very damp from the night humidity when we started our exploration on foot along a well-paved circular path to the various temples. Around us, a peaceful silence and mystical atmosphere, interrupted only by birdsong and cricket chirping.

The early wake-up to avoid crowds was worth it. Besides us, there were only a few tourists around, so we could visit the temples mostly alone and undisturbed.

During the Vietnam War, the Viet Cong used this area as a base, resulting in it being bombed by the Americans. Out of the 70 buildings in My Son, 50 (!) were destroyed.

Here you can still see the bomb craters in the foreground and the remains of a building in the background.

It looks completely different at this temple complex.

This was the tallest and most important temple in My Son, standing at 28 m in height. It largely withstood the air attacks. Only after the end of the fighting, it was deliberately destroyed by a demolition team from a helicopter for no reason at all.

Unfortunately, this temple will no longer be able to be restored.