We were even provided with breakfast in the bus: Vietnamese baguette! Apparently, the Vietnamese learned how to make baguettes during French colonization, and now the most prevalent type of bread in Vietnam is baguette. They didn't stop at reproducing French baguettes, however: they made them their own by filling them with Vietnamese-style meat and herbs and sauce. Definitely a culinary experience worth repeating :-)
When we arrived at the ruins, the timing was pretty much perfect, as you can see in this picture:
My Son was the biggest Hindu temple complex in Vietnam. Unfortunately, US carpet bombing during the Vietnam war has destroyed much. This is the best preserved part of My Son - isn't it a shame?
In addition to US bombings, the site has also suffered because many of the more portable relics found there have been shipped off to museums elsewhere in the country. One of the few statues remaining in My Son is this Shiva statue:
Looking at the quality and detail of the carvings that can be seen on building blocks scattered around the site, the temples must once have been a stunning site.
Today, however, the jungle is threatening to retake its territory and cover everything in green fluff.
In some parts of the ruins, a big restoration project was in progress where the destroyed temples were being rebuilt with intact fragments and new bricks, using the same building technology as in the olden days. So who knows, maybe in ten years My Son will have regained its former glory?
