Mỹ Sơn Sanctuary

Took a 90 minute shuttle out into the wilderness to visit the Mỹ Sơn sanctuary. Basically, this is a heap of Indian Hindu temple ruins back from the 4th century that were built and occupied by the Champa Kingdom from the 4th Century until the 15th Century when the Vietnamese overthrew this group. They then got lost in the jungle for hundreds of years and were rediscovered by a Frenchman. Then, during the Vietnam war, the Americans bombed the shit out of them. Today are the remaining ruins.

The ruins are fascinating, and we enjoyed wandering through the jungle. We took the clockwise pathway, which is the opposite direction to all the tours, so we had heaps of ruins and moments to ourselves to explore in peace and quiet. Because we went this direction, we also started from the smaller ruins and moved around the circle as the ruins got grander and grander. Smart way to do it.

Michael needed to re energise as the heat and direct sun takes the life out of him (poor boy really is a vampire) so we went through pretty quickly taking his heat battery in mind, and spent a decent chunk of time relaxing at a cafe by one of the ruins with a peach smoothie for Michael and a virgin Mojito for me! Very soothing and Michael is back to his energised self.

Basically, Michael is drained by the heat and sun, and I am drained the second I get hungry. Too long in the sun and not enough food and we start to malfunction and get stroppy. So as long as we accommodate this by having shaded downtime breaks and snacks on hand, we are good to explore! Funny the things you learn when travelling!

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