Vietnam: A Day Trip to My Son Ruins

One interesting thing about a lot of the local people that we interacted with was their blunt and this-is-the-way-it-is attitude. We experienced this when we decided to go to My Son Ruins. We had done a little research and learned that there isn't much shade there and to beat the sun and crowds, it is recommended to go right when it opens at 8:00. We told the front desk that we wanted to go to My Son and if they could arrange a driver. They tell us that the driver would be here at 10:00 the next morning. It takes about an hour and half to get there, so we told them that we would like to leave at 7:00. That lady at the front desk then proceeds to tell us what we have to do, and we have to go at 10:00. We have a little discussion with her, then finally we all just tell her that we need the car at 7:00 and walk away.

This same thing happened the night before at dinner. I had ordered a dish that desperately needed salt, and Holly had ordered french fries that needed salt, so we ask for salt. The waitress then said no and tells us that we don’t need salt and then brings a weird red sauce over and said this is what you need. No, we need salt, but she wouldn’t hear of it.

This same type of situation happened over and over multiple times, sometimes they won the conversation and rarely did we win the conversation, but My Son Ruins was one we won and the next morning we were ready at 7:00 and the driver was there to pick us up.

We arrived at My Son and there wasn’t a soul in site. We bought our tickets and a shuttle was waiting for us right there to take us to the Ruins. We started down the path at the end.  We didn’t know this until we were done, but we started at the Exit and went through the Ruins backwards. I’m actually super glad we did because the main temples were the last thing we saw, so we saved the best for last, but if we had gone the other way we wouldn’t have appreciated cluster K and spent so much time enjoying it. There wasn’t anyone there, so we were able to take our time and walk around and take pictures before moving on.

We came to the larger Cluster E, where a lot of the temples are crumbling or already a pile of ruble. There was one in the far right that was still intact and we walked around and in it. A lot of the Ruins here reminded me of the Ruins of Cambodia.

These Ruins in Vietnam are clusters of abandoned and ruined Hindu temples. The statue of the god Shiva could be found through the Ruins.

We didn’t want to walk up stairs, so we passed Group G and went across a bridge towards Group C and B where the main intact temples lie. The bridge was surrounded by so many trees and connected the two clusters of temples. It almost looked like they were two cities attached by a road.

The temples in this area were very much like the temples and Ruins I saw in Cambodia. The temples had that raw natural look to them, and looked as if they were one with their surroundings. We took about an hour in this area admiring the buildings and the architecture.

We were able to walk in a few of the temples, but not very many. Since the Ruins were abandoned for a while, a lot of the temples collapsed in on themselves. The main temple had moss and seedlings growing all over it and I just thought it was so gorgeous. There were beautiful sculptures and statues all around the area too.

The sun was up and it was beginning to get hot, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the car. We got back in a shuttle and made our way to the front of My Son Ruins. We had to walk further this time since there were many people, and the shuttles were constantly being used, but we didn’t mind because we were able to walk across an elaborate bridge that we missed coming into the Ruins. I enjoyed My Son and enjoyed walking around the beautiful grounds and seeing all the ancient temples. It’s pretty crazy how similar it was to Cambodia, yet so far from it. But the raw beauty can be seen in both places.