Mỹ Sơn

The ruins of Mỹ Sơn (pronounced Mee Sun), are often sold as the "Angkor Wat" of Cambodia. In reality, the ruins are pretty small, and if they were transported to Angkor Wat, you'd probably just drive by to go and see a "proper" temple.

Sadly, part of the reason for this is that it was badly bombed during the American War. The story goes that the Viet Cong used the place as a base, so the Americans bombed it, and when the main temple didn't collapse, sent a team of people in a helicopter to blow it up.

One of the top archeologists in Paris wrote to Nixon condemning the action, and it's claimed that Nixon put an embargo on any further destruction of the temple.

It's 55km from Hoi An, so makes a good side trip from their. Sadly, the journey there was not with out incident. The tour was split into two groups - one on a full size coach, and the other (which I was part of) in a smaller minibus.

As we turned around a corner, the coach was slightly off the road and there was a crowd of people. The coach had hit a moto, and a lady was lying on the ground. She looked in terrible condition.

I mentioned this to the people at the hotel when we got back, and they told me there had been three people on the bike. Two had, sadly, died at the scene, and the third was in hospital. If there is anything good about the incident, it is that the coach stopped where it did. Another few feet and it would have rolled down a steep bank into a sunken rice field, which would have caused even further injuries.

With a few delays, we were still able to see the ruins.

For me - one of the great things about Mỹ Sơn is the setting. There are beautiful mountains in the background, and the jungle really encroaches into the temple area. We had some time to look around, and here are some pictures:



There are many bomb craters around the ruins. This one is just in front of the tower in the picture above - incredibly - it's still standing:



The main temple - which was destroyed by the American Army - with mountains in the background:



Here's one final picture of Hoi An. I took this while eating breakfast on my way to catch the coach to Danang. For me this picture sums up Hoi An - and I was a little sad to be leaving so soon: