Int'l tourists return to UNESCO-recognized My Son Sanctuary

UNESCO heritage site My Son Sanctuary in central Quang Nam Province welcomed its first batch of over 40 foreign tourists Monday after nearly two years due to Covid.

The tourists were among 159 visiting Quang Nam under a vaccine passport trial program, the first international visitors to touch down in Vietnam after the country closed its borders in March last year due to Covid-19.

They had their body temperature checked at the entrance gate and were required to submit health declarations and wear face masks during their trip.

Then, they were taken to the core zone of the sanctuary by electric shuttle bus where they enjoyed art performances featuring Cham culture and participated in folk games.

They were also treated to traditional dishes.

Aleksei Fanberow, a tourist from Israel, said after a two-year pandemic hiatus, he felt happy to return to Vietnam with its beautiful landscapes and friendly and hospitable people.

"I believe that after Vietnam reopened to international tourism, many foreigners would come to visit this heritage site. I will definitely return to My Son," he said, as cited by Vietnam News Agency.

My Son Sanctuary in Duy Xuyen District, around a one-hour drive from Hoi An ancient town, is a complex of abandoned and partly ruined Hindu temples constructed between the 4th and 14th centuries by the Champa, a united kingdom of various groups of the ethnic Cham.

The My Son cluster is regarded as one of the foremost Hindu temple complexes in Southeast Asia.

Last Saturday, a group of 50 international tourists visited the ancient town Hoi An.

Quang Nam is one of five localities to get the green light from the government to welcome back fully immunized tourists from November, along with Kien Giang, Khanh Hoa, Quang Ninh, and Da Nang.

Quang Nam received over 4.6 million foreign tourists in 2019, the last full year of normal travel before Covid broke out.