A friend on Con Dao Island who knew we were heading to Hoi An advised us to use Xuan Tu Tours if we wanted a good experience around Danang.
Interested in seeing the temple sanctuary at My Son, we checked out the website and decided to book a private half day tour with Xuân Tu. It was a good decision.
The tour started in the late morning to ensure we arrived at the site after most of the numbers of tourists had been and gone. There was also some heavy rain on the day so we didn’t have to deal with crowds at all which was excellent.
For all the unfortunate events that have left a significant scar on the temples at My Son, it is still a site very worthy of visiting. The valley it sits in is also a beautiful location in its own right and a great backdrop to the ruins.
There is an extensive history to the site including the architecture itself and building methods, the background to the people who built it and their religious beliefs, who came after them and what impact they had on the site in the past and into the future. Even though a lot has certainly been destroyed over the years there is still much going on to preserve and understand the legacy of the Champa people. A private tour with Xuân Tú’s company ensured we got as much out of our visit as possible.
I expect the company has many excellent guides, however we felt very lucky to have Hieu as our partner for the trip. Hieu is passionate about his country and its history. We realised very early in the trip that we would get a lot more out of the trip than just what there was to see and understand about the sanctuary.
We returned for our second visit to Vietnam last month after our first visit 2 years ago. The people of Vietnam are a large part of why we wanted to return. Hieu is a fine example of the warm welcome you can expect in Vietnam. He is also willing to share an opinion and we spent some time covering many topics aside from the ruins during the travel to and from the site. We enjoyed his company and his insights immensely.
A thank you also to our driver, Mr Lieu (?). He did an excellent job.
—
Traveller: galapagaswhaler from Tripadvisor 