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The most complete experience exploring My Son Sanctuary, Quang Nam

My Son Sanctuary was discovered in 1885 and recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage in 1999. This is a particularly important national relic, a famous, sacred, and attractive tourist destination, most prominently in Quang Nam. Let's learn about this unique destination with HoaBinh Tourist right now.

Directions to My Son Sanctuary

The relic is located in a valley about 2km in diameter, surrounded by rolling mountains, and is 69km from Da Nang city and 45km from Hoi An ancient town. To travel to My Son Sanctuary, you can choose to depart from Hoi An or Da Nang by means of transport such as a car, bus, or motorbike.

1. Departing from Hoi An

The road from Hoi An to My Son Sanctuary is about 40 kilometers. If traveling by car or personal motorbike, you follow Tran Hung Dao Street - Cam Kim bridge - Duy Phuoc bridge - Truong Sa street - Hung Vuong Street - Provincial Road 610. When you get to Duy Phu, you will see the turn to America. Paint. Travel time is about more than an hour.

2. Departing from Da Nang

If you depart from Da Nang to My Son, you move along Nguyen Huu Tho street - Le Dai Hanh street, - Truong Chinh street - Turn right onto street 605 - Hung Vuong street - Do Dang Tuyen street - DT. 610. Turn left at the Tuong Vi grocery store to get on the road to My Son. From here, you drive about 3.9 kilometers to reach your destination. This road is 42.4km long with a travel time of 1 hour and 8 minutes.

In addition, you can also choose to take the bus from Da Nang to My Son along route number 06, departing from the central bus station of Da Nang city. The bus operates from 5:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. every day with a frequency of 30 minutes per trip. Ticket prices range from 8,000 VND to 30,000 VND per trip.

What's interesting about exploring My Son Sanctuary?

My Son Sanctuary in Quang Nam is known as one of the top 10 most beautiful and famous temples in Southeast Asia. This is a sacred destination, attracting many tourists to visit. So what is good about My Son Sanctuary? Let's immediately explore the highlights of this destination.

1. The history of My Son Sanctuary has a long history

My Son Sanctuary was built in the 4th century by King Bhadravarman and finished in the late 13th and early 14th centuries under the reign of King Jaya Simhavarman III. This is a complex with more than 70 temple towers with unique architecture, symbolizing each historical period of the Champa kingdom. This complex was built with the purpose of worshiping the gods Linga and Shiva.

However, the temples were abandoned due to the invasion of the Ancient Kingdom - Dai Viet. Until 1889, a group of French explorers visited Vietnam and "awakened" this place.

Due to the destruction of the war, by 1975, the temple complex had only 32 structures left. Of these, 20 works are still intact as they were originally. Having gone through many historical events, My Son Sanctuary is still a relic imbued with artistic and cultural values that crystallize the wisdom and quintessence of many generations. On December 1, 1999, the relic was officially recognized by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage.

2. The architecture of My Son Sanctuary is mysterious and unique

In general, the architecture of My Son Sanctuary is heavily influenced by Hinduism. The temples and towers are built of bricks and stones, mainly facing the East - the direction of the rising sun—and also the residence of the gods. The temple and tower structure is divided into three parts, including: tower base, tower body, and tower top.

A temple or tower will worship a different god or dynasty of kings. That's why each project is like a piece of the puzzle, recreating the historical flow of the Champa Kingdom. The relic site is divided into areas, including:

  • Area A: This is where visitors can see the entire temple complex. Most of the buildings in this area are in the process of restoration.
  • Area B: This is where there is one main tower and three auxiliary towers. This area is located in the western hills.
  • Area C: This place gathers many temples, towers, inscriptions, reliefs, and the most impressive and unique sculptures in My Son Sanctuary. Area C is located in the southern hills and is a place that you definitely should not miss when visiting this relic complex.

3. Kate Festival - a unique traditional festival of the Cham people

Coming here, visitors can not only admire architectural works of high artistic value and learn the meaning of My Son Sanctuary, but also have the opportunity to explore the cultural beauty of the Cham people. One of them is the Kate Festival.

This is a traditional festival that is extremely important to the Cham ethnic people. The festival is held in July every year, according to the Cham calendar. It is an opportunity for Cham people to remember their ancestors and grandparents and pray for the proliferation of all things.

Besides, the Kate Festival is also the crystallization of cultural values in the community life of the Cham people. Participating in the festival, visitors will have the opportunity to explore many traditional rituals of the people here, such as: praying for peace, water procession, palanquin procession, etc., and enjoy extremely attractive traditional musical instrument performances. guide.

4. The Apsara dance "soul of stone" is flexible and attractive

When talking about the Cham people, it is certainly impossible not to mention the Apsara dance. The dance is inspired by Apsara stone sculptures, which are one of the unique features of Champa music.

It can be said that Apsara is a harmonious combination between each move, skillful and flexible hand movements, and the elegant beauty of Cham dancers with the sound of Paranung drums and Saranai flute. All create a mesmerizing performance that makes visitors unable to take their eyes off.

5. The ancient road leading to the sanctuary is up to 8 meters wide

During the process of restoring and restoring temples, an Indian expert discovered this road. This is an ancient road leading straight to the center of My Son Sanctuary with a width of 8m, on both sides are two parallel walls delicately carved and buried in the ground at a depth of 1m.

According to historical documents, only kings, royal family members or dignitaries can travel on this road. This is also the road leading to the large tower often used to organize sacrifices of the ancient Cham people.

Other attractive tourist destinations around My Son Sanctuary

During your journey to explore My Son Sanctuary, you can also combine visiting some attractive tourist attractions around this destination. Below are some famous destinations, within a radius of 50km from My Son Sanctuary that you can refer to:

1. VinWonders Nam Hoi An

  • Address: Vo Chi Cong Street, Binh Minh, Thang Binh, Quang Nam
  • Opening hours for reference: 09:00 - 19:40

VinWonders Nam Hoi An is located 15km from the center of Hoi An ancient town. This is one of the most attractive Hoi An tourist destinations you should not miss. This place is a combination of an entertainment area and a combination of unique cultural, architectural, and artistic experiences of Vietnam and the world that are very impressive.

VinWonders Nam Hoi An includes 5 subdivisions for you to freely explore:

  • Intersection port: is a place that recreates the scenery and bustling atmosphere of bustling commercial ports of the 16th - 17th centuries, helping visitors feel like they have gone back in time to history.
  • Folklore Island: this is the convergence of cultural architectural spaces from North to South and is also where visitors have the opportunity to experience many unique art forms of Vietnam.
  • River Safari: known as one of the largest wildlife conservation parks in Vietnam with more than 530 individuals of more than 50 animal species. Some activities you should not miss when coming here are: taking a boat tour of the park, taking pictures with parrots, feeding elephants and giraffes.
  • Land of adventure: with more than 20 thrilling games and nearly 100 indoor games, this is an entertainment paradise - a place that brings visitors the most memorable moments and experiences. The most popular games include: the highest 85m free fall tower in Vietnam, desert tornado, super speed vortex,...
  • Water World: is a collection of 11 exciting and passionate water games for children, families, and groups of friends such as: Than Long slide, Super basin slide, Boomerang slide,...

2. Sa Huynh Cultural Museum - Champa

  • Address: No. 149 Tran Phu Street, Hoi An City

Sa Huynh Cultural Museum was established in 1994. This is the place to display 946 artifacts related to ancient inhabitants of the Sa Huynh cultural system, some artifacts at the Bai Ong site - Cu Lao Cham. Coming here, visitors will have the opportunity to learn more about the life and customs of the ancient people of the Sa Huynh cultural system such as: aesthetic awareness, burial customs, concepts of life and death,...

3. Tra Kieu Church

  • Address: Kieu Chau village, Duy Son commune, Duy Xuyen district, Quang Nam province

Tra Kieu used to be the place where the Champa capital was located. This is also the living area of many Catholics with famous buildings, notably Tra Kieu church.

The church was built in European architectural style with 2 floors: the upper floor is the Cathedral, the lower floor is the religious place. Next to the church is the grave of Bishop Peter Maria Pham Ngoc Chi. This is also a place that attracts many tourists.

4. Hoi An

  • Address: downstream of Thu Bon River, in the coastal plain of Quang Nam province

Hoi An Ancient Town is a famous tourist destination of Quang Nam that you should visit on your journey. This place attracts tourists because of its ancient beauty, traditional architectural works imbued with history and culture, and peaceful, gentle space.

Coming here, you can visit some famous Hoi An tourist attractions such as: Covered Bridge, Tan Ky Ancient House, Quan Thang Ancient House, Phuc Kien Assembly Hall,...

What to eat at My Son Sanctuary?

And to make your trip more complete, don't forget to enjoy the specialties of Quang Nam. Quang cuisine with many delicious and unique dishes will definitely make you "eat and remember", the most prominent of which are:

1. Cau Mong calves

Cau Mong calves are selected from calves weighing about 25kg - 35kg. Veal at this level is not too old, not too young and is guaranteed to be firm and sweet. When stewing, veal is always stirred until the inside is just cooked and the skin is golden on the outside. After that, the meat is sliced thinly and served with rice paper and seasoning sauce.

2. To cake

This is a traditional cake of Hoi An people, very popular during Tet holidays. Hoi An Banh To is made from premium sugar and glutinous rice flour. However, the point that makes the difference in the flavor of the cake is the brown or dark brown sugar cooked from molasses. All blend together to create a fragrant, rich, and sweet cake.

3. Tam Ky chicken rice

Unlike regular chicken rice dishes, Tam Ky chicken rice makes visitors fascinated by its greasy, delicious flavor that is hard to resist. The rice will be cooked from new rice with chicken broth, creating a sticky and golden texture. The chicken must be chicken from the Tam Ky region. When boiled, the meat is fragrant and fatty, firm, thin-skinned, and tastes sweet.

4. Quang noodles

This is a simple, familiar dish of Central people. Quang noodles are made from finely ground rice flour mixed with eggs and water from gardenia seeds, creating a different flavor compared to vermicelli and pho. A bowl of noodles will have pork, chicken, snakehead fish, boiled quail eggs, add some roasted peanuts, herbs, onions and chili,... served with a mildly sweet broth stewed from pork bones.

5. Quang Nam green eel porridge

The last dish you should not miss when coming here is green eel porridge. Porridge is usually cooked thinly, adding a little salt for flavor. As for eels, people often choose big and strong ones, then clean them, cut them into pieces, marinate with pepper, onions, chili, lemongrass and then braise them to eat with porridge.

Some notes when traveling to My Son Sanctuary

In addition to planning fun and eating properly, to make your trip go as smoothly as possible, you should also note the following points:

  • The best time to visit My Son Sanctuary is from February to April.
  • Ticket price to visit the relic site is 100,000 VND/Vietnamese visitor and 150,000 VND/foreign visitor. This ticket price includes: sightseeing tickets, trams, and cultural performances. You can buy tickets directly at the entrance gate of the relic.
  • My Son Sanctuary does not support worshiping and incense burning activities. Therefore, tourists should avoid these activities.
  • If you plan to visit other destinations around the relic site, you should book entrance tickets in advance to avoid sold out tickets, affecting your trip schedule.

With the above sharing about My Son Sanctuary, HoaBinh Tourist hopes you will have a complete and meaningful journey of discovery at this mysterious, masterpiece ancient architectural complex. If you need any information, please contact our hotline at 0939.311.911 - 0913.311.911 for 24/7 support.