My Son Sanctuary is situated in a small valley in Duy Phu Commune, Duy Xuyen District, Quang Nam Province, about 70km southwest of Danang City and 40km from Hoi An City. Of the 225 Cham vestiges that are founded in Viet Nam, My Son possesses 71 monuments and 32 epitaphs, the content of which is still being studied.
My Son is perhaps the longest inhabited archaeological site in Indochina, but a large majority of its architecture was destroyed by US carpet bombing during a single week of the Vietnam War.
The My Son temple complex is regarded one of the foremost Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia and is the foremost heritage site of this nature in Vietnam. It is often compared with other historical temple complexes in Southeast Asia, such as Borobudur of Java in Indonesia, Angkor Wat of Cambodia, Bagan of Myanmar and Ayutthaya of Thailand. As of 1999, My Son has been recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage site.
The management board of My Son Sanctuary has officially inaugurated a 2km road connecting the Khe The Bridge to the central group of Cham towers. The road is one of the first trekking routes in the UNESCO-recognised world heritage site. Tourists have differing tastes, some might prefer walking under a canopy of trees, and so different paths will be developed.
The management board also provided 10 battery-powered cars to transport tourists from the entrance to the towers. According to Ho, more dinning, shopping and guesthouse services will be available this July to keep tourists at the site for longer.
The world heritage site hosted 102,000 tourists in the past four months this year.
Source: VNA