What to Expect from My Son Sanctuary: Is it Worth it?

Woke up at 5am to catch My Son early (it’s called sunrise tour but lol the sun was well up by the time we left the hotel). Still, very happy we started early because that meant we avoided the crowds AND the piercing heat. We chose to just book a tour via our hotel (driver + tour guide), because the price was decent anyway. Also, since we wanted to enter My Son as soon as it opened, we weren’t sure if there would be tour guides available at that time. And as far as I was concerned, no guide at My Son would essentially mean it was a useless trip because without a guide, it’d simply be ruins.

My Son is the worship grounds of the Champa people, essentially the aboriginals of Vietnam (said to have originated from India since they’re darker skinned, language used was old Indian – around 4 iterations ago, and were Hindus), before the Viets drove them away. Today theyre a minority ethnic group and number around ~150k people.

There used to be around ~70+ structures here in its heyday but after the Americans bombed the place during the Vietnam War (thinking guerrillas were hiding here), less than 20% remain. What a shame, because they used this really interesting brick technique wherein the bricks to this day still retain its lustrous color without being affected by water or sun damage. Pretty cool actually because they’d create the bricks, place sap-like substance in between as glue then burn the place so as to cement the bricks! V cool, and the structure is SUPER seamless.

Alas, today, majority is restored and the new brick quality just ain’t the same. How very sad.

Interesting to hear of the process of worship – wherein the priests and kings are the only ones allowed to enter, whole common folk remain outside. To this day, Buddhists caretakers still light incense etc, to show their respect for the Hindu gods. Well I suppose that’s nice of them.

Overall, Angkor Wat was a lot more impressive (because there’s more structures left standing!), Borobodur was more spiritually impressive (because it’s still a worship sight), and Ayutthaya was rather better maintained; but My Son pre-dates them all!

So to answer the question, is it worth it? If you’re a history enthusiast and you want to see ruins and learn more about civilizations gone by, definitely! If you think ruins are a big pile of rocks, and you don’t really care much about things that don’t really have an impact to you today, then maybe not.

Planning out the rest of your Central Vietnam itinerary? Check out the rest of my itinerary blogs here:

• Tips and Tricks for planning a trip to Central Vietnam from Manila
• Top Things to Eat and Do in Hue: Citadel, Imperial Tombs (Khai Dinh), Perfume River, Walking Street
• What to Expect from Hai Van Pass: Is it Worth It?
• Top Things to Eat and Do in Hoi An: Hoi An Food Tour, Ancient Town, Night Market, Central Market
• What to Expect from My Son Sanctuary: Is it Worth it?
• Ba Na Hills Resort: Best Route to Take to Maximize Time Here
• Where to Eat in Da Nang and Ho Chi Minh