10/13 Hoi An: Day Trip to My Son, Boat Trip, Kim Bong Carpentry Village

Yesterday while visiting Hoi An's Old Town, we arranged a day trip for today through one of the many, many travel agencies there to My Son (pronounced mee sun) located about 25 miles from Hoi An. My Son is one of the most important historical vestiges of the Cham people, a once powerful Hindu empire. The temples at My Son were constructed as a religious center from the 7th to the 12th centuries during the height of Cham supremacy.

Breakfast fit for a king (and queen) at Hoang Trinh on the roof top terrace:

Loved these fruits - no idea their name though.

Photos en route to My Son:

Our guide explained that it’s the beginning of the rainy season now and it will continue for 2-3 more months. 

The rice was harvested about a month ago. A lot of sweet potatoes are also grown in this area; they were a staple during the war as there was no water irrigation system to grow rice then.

Photos from My Son:

My Son is known as the Holy Land for the Cham people. The area was discovered in 1885 by French soldiers who helped to excavate the site’s many temples and towers. Unfortunately many of them were destroyed in the Vietnam War. The area was designated an UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1999.

To enter My Son, we had to walk on a path alongside incredibly dense jungle. We wondered how the US could ever have hoped to win the war.

Kut Suk Mountain is the highest mountain in the area at 700m and was considered as the Holy Mountain for the Cham people. 

My Son is comprised of many temple 'Groups' each set in its own distinct area and built by successive Cham kings. Originally there were more than 70 towers and monuments at the site but bombings during the war (when the Viet Cong used My Son as a base) sadly reduced most buildings to a rubble. Many of the smaller structures and decorations were removed to the Cham Museum in Da Nang which I'll write about in a future post.

Architecturally the temple group shows Indian influence with each group showing a microcosm of the world. The foundations are Earth, the square bases are the temple itself and the pointed roofs symbolize the heavens. The entrance to the main tower, above and below, faces east and surrounding smaller towers represent each continent.

1000 year old bricks above that contained no mortar compared to the new bricks below; tree resin mixed with leaves, sand and water were cooked til the mixture resembled super glue.

The earliest temple constructions are from the 4th C. but much of what remains today are structures built or renovated during the 10th C. when the cult of Shiva, the founder and protector of the kingdom, was central to the Cham court.

Shiva’s Altar – Very important to the Cham people as they asked for more children to be born so they could be more productive.

At the east facing entrance to the main temple.

Shiva's Temple

The above photos were all from Group C.

Original pillars: Normally there are 2 lions at the entrance of all Vietnamese temples. The lion’s open mouth protects people who enter the temple.

Photos now from Group B.

Lotus Design - our guide joked that a Vietnamese man would never give his girlfriend lotus flowers as they are popular in Buddhism and are reserved for monks!

Hindu offering of incense burning. Our guide explained that God is represented by yellow flowers and the king by red flowers.

Same spot showing the Shiva Altar but without all the people from our tour!

Before only the men went to the temple, they would go to the Mediation Chamber below. Our guide explained that in Cham culture, women had/(ve?)) all the power except at the temple.


Photos from the Meditation Chamber:

 Group A complex of structures came from the early 9^th C. and was also discovered by the French in the early 20^th C. Trenches like the one above represented the oceans to the Cham people.

Photos from Group G Complex dating from the 12th C:

There had been 3 doors and 52 lion masks here to protect the temple.

Got a lot warmer in the last few minutes so heard nonstop cicadas here.

Shiva Body with tiger skin around necklace. The neck would have been painted blue, our guide explained.

Walked through jungle back to bus:

Our guide said that the Vietnamese Army came to this area in the 90’s to clear it of any remaining bombs left over from the war – phew.

While touring My Son, it was hard not to think of the incredible Angkor Wat temple complex in Siem Reap, Cambodia that we visited two years ago. Even though so little remains here now at My Son, it was a very serene and spiritual setting and what does remain is very powerful and evocative. It wasn't hard to imagine what My Son must once have been.

Many people with us on the tour chose to return to Hoi An the entire way by bus but we had decided to go back part way by boat.

The bus dropped us off at 12:30 and our guide told us to walk 5 minutes down this lane. We passed by very poor homes on the way to the dock where he met up with us again. 

I feel I have erroneously overly whitewashed our travels through Indonesia and Vietnam by not having stated previously that photos of the homes like the ones below are the NORM, and by no means the exception. These areas of the world are in large part desperately poor and these photos will give you a real sense of that at last.

Photos of boat ride back to Hoi An:

Bailing water to stay afloat!

Saw clumps of plants growing in water throughout our 45 minute boat ride.

New construction going up along the river.

Local ferry for people working in rice fields, our guide said.

On the way back to Hoi An the tour stopped at Kim Bong, a 15^th C. carpentry village where we got off the boat and walked around. There are over 200 carpentry wood shops and 10 boat building enterprises here.

Photos of Kim Bong:

Our fantastic guide for the day!

This area of Vietnam is very famous for its handcrafted lacquer work and furniture inlaid with mother-of-pearl. We felt very fortunate to see some it being made first hand.

Next we toured the boat building section of the village. Our guide said the Cham people taught the Vietnamese how to build boats.

Back in the boat for the final part of our journey, to Hoi An.

Common to see one blue eye painted on each side of boats.

Back in  Hoi An at the restaurant dock below and time for a very late lunch.

The cost of the 8 hour bus and boat trip to My Son including lunch back in Hoi An was only 360VND for both of us, about $17! We had to pay a separate admission fee to My Son. You can see how phenomenally cheap it is for us to travel in Asia!

Photos of Hoi An Market area:

Saw a movie being filmed in front of the market. too bad they didn't need any extras!

Stopped in a shop where we saw ceramic pottery that had been made by differently abled people in Bat Trang, near Hanoi. Metal working teams in this shop in Hoi An and other cities add the brass border to complete the bowls, tea sets, etc.

Dinner by the riverfront.

On the way back to the guesthouse we stopped at a shrine where a celebration of some sort was occurring.

Kay: I have to agree with you that this was rather a long day. Hope you didn't get too tired reading about it!

Posted on 10/22 from Hanoi, Vietnam.