Hidden away in the tropical forest near the port city of Da Nang and the very popular World Heritage town of Hoi An is the Champa civilization’s sacred valley of My Son, or “Beautiful Mountain”. I joined the full day package tour from Hoi An, which was quite very convenient as it included all transportation, ticket fee, lunch and guide. I arrived in My Son around 10 o’clock. After walking for a while, I found the complex of tourist facilities, and one of them is the performance hall. Our guide insisted us keeping going into the forest. Within few minutes, I started to see the complex of ancient Hindu temples made from brick.
At first, the dilapidated state of the complex was quite shocking, and almost nothing was left to see. I decided to discover the site by myself, and I started to be impressed by the amazing quality of brick carving details. The image of Hinduism guardians and angels are truly beautiful and reminded me about Angkor in Cambodia. For me, My Son is the great evidence of how Southern Indian art expanded to Southeast Asia since ancient Cham people came from Java where Indian art flourished, and later expand to modem day Viet Nam and later Cambodia and Thailand. The construction method of My Son is also very unique: Cham people built a whole block of bricks then burned them to make the whole brick block very solid and strong, then chiseled into the temple. I walked around the complex many times to enjoy its intricate motifs until the guide informed that there are more complex to see.
I went to see another complex, this one is located on the hill and recently partial rebuilt by a group of Italian archaeologists, and they are planning to rebuild more, which is a very good news for My Son preservation. The rebuilt complex is very lovely and illustrates the original layout very well even though the new brick really contrasts with the old ones. After that, the guide took me back to the bus and back to Hoi An, it was exactly 3 hours inside My Son. Despite the bad state of preservation, I really enjoyed my visit to My Son, the place has exceeded my expectation and even small complex can clearly show its value as a bridge of cultural exchange between India - Java and mainland Southeast Asia.
Task 1. Answer the following questions.
1. Why was the writer’s tour from Hoi An to My Son very convenient?
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2. What was his first impression of My Son? Why?
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3. What first made him change his opinion about My Son?
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4. Which feature does he find unique about My Son?
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5. Why is the writer optimistic about the preservation of My Son in the near future?
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6. Why did he enjoy his visit to My Son?
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6. UNIT 6. Preserving our heritage
