My Son Sanctuary, some 65km southwest of Tien Sa port, is a microcosm of Vietnam’s past. Xuan Tu’s Private Shore Excursion of this historic site encompasses much of Vietnamese history; The Champa Kingdom, Hinduism, Chinese Invasion, the rise of the Viet’s, the French colonial period, the Vietnam War, UNESCO recognition of Vietnam’s culture & history, plus more recent links between our government and countries such as Poland, Germany, Italy and Japan who helped to save many statutes & relics and provided maintenance of the site.
We start your private 6½ hour excursion by meeting you shipside at Tien Sa port where our modern air conditioned vehicle and professional driver will take us to the entrance of this amazing site.
During our journey we catch glimpses of Da Nang, the most modern of Vietnam’s cities – wealthy and at ease with itself, yet also see farming practices unchanged for hundreds of years in stunning verdant countryside. We can make comfort stops to freshen-up if required.
“It was very easy to arrange this tour via email, and Quan was waiting for us at the port at the promised time, holding up a sign with our names on. The driver was excellent and the car was clean, comfortable and safe”
– client TripAdvisor review
My Son is Vietnam’s most extensive Champa kingdom’s architectural remains, dating from the 4th to 13th centuries – although recent investigation suggests the site may have been active even earlier. Located in a hidden valley the sumptuous jungle setting is overlooked by Cat’s Tooth Mountain (My Son in Vietnamese is ‘beautiful mountain’). The Champa ruled central & southern Vietnam from around the 2nd century until the first conquest by the Dai Viet emperor in 1471 and their final absorption into the Vietnamese state in 1832. My Son went into steady decline until rediscovery by the French in the late 1800’s who for many years restored parts of the complex. After the unification of Vietnam in 1975 conservation work began again in earnest and now the conservation of the property is of a high standard with both national and international teams working on site
In addition to its natural decline, Indo-China Wars and WW2 saw damage to the site. But it was three days of carpet bombing in August 1968 that saw substantial destruction of the site and its jungle surrounds, reducing the number of upright tower-temples to around 23 and this is the site you see today.
Arriving at My Son sanctuary we take a short land-train ride to the site itself before being treated to a short cultural show of Champa song & dance – thankfully the Champa people still remain in Vietnam, albeit as a minority. We guide you around the site – look especially at the carved brick built structures which appears to have no mortar holding them together!
We are often asked what happened to artefacts, statutes etc found on-site. Many were taken to France during their 100 year colonization of our country, whilst locally others are well preserved in My Son’s own small museum and displayed in the Museum of Cham Sculpture in Da Nang. This fine museum (founded in 1915 by the École Française d’Extrême Orient) is our next destination as we leave My Son and travel into the very centre of Da Nang city on our way back to port. Your guide will point out highlights of Da Nang whilst you travel through, including our famous Dragon Bridge! We spend about an hour at this interesting place with its extensive display of Cham artefacts
We must eventually retrace our steps at the end of your memorable day and return you safely to port in plenty of time for your ship’s departure.
My ‘My Son Sanctuary Private Shore Excursion’ fee includes;
‘Meet & Greet’ at Tien Sa port
a full 6.5 hour private guided tour in English
all entry fees
cold, bottled mineral water
moist towelettes
use of a modern air conditioned vehicle & my professional driver
My fee excludes;
any meals & drinks etc taken during the tour (bottled water is free of charge)
