Mỹ Sơn

Today was day one of our adventurous grand excursion– we went to the Hindu temples of My Son. I had a difficult time following our tour guide but this is what I gathered: My Son is a site of the ancient kingdom of the Champa. The temples, dedicated to worship the god Shiva, were constructed by the Champa between the 4th and 14th centuries. Champa kings were crowned and buried at My Son. My Son is a UNESCO world heritage site. Unfortunately, in 1969 Americans bombed My Son destroying a majority of the temples. There were originally 70 temples and I think now there are only 20 or so. Oh also fun fact: There is no mortar between the bricks and no one really knows how they are stuck together. Tricky tricky.

Gorgeous writing... I don't know what it says.

the boys

Sacred cow. um bò (Vietnamese for moo, but actually)

Okay the rest of my day I biked around and bought lots of very nice gifts. I also bought myself two new pairs of shoes and two skirts– everything custom made (I am rewarding myself for finishing my "intensive" Vietnamese class).  It is actually extremely difficult to pick out a design, fabric, material, length, etc. I was overwhelmed while shopping but I am really happy with what I picked out. I am getting a little concerned with how I am going to transport everything back to the states. I am going to need a new suitcase. I am not kidding I really am.

Whistles at the Thanh Ha ceramic village.

Just casually biking around.

Fishing.

Can't stop, won't stop WINNING. This is Alex and Erika decided on shoes.
The three of us bought six pairs total.

More lanterns.

Tomorrow we are going to the island Cu Lao Cham to go snorkeling and lounge on the beach. We were supposed to do that on Tuesday but a typhoon is coming in so we are switching our schedule around so the rain doesn't ruin our beach days! We will spend one night on the island. I am very, very excited.