Mỹ Sơn UNESCO World Heritage Site is the leftovers of the Champa Kingdom's capital. The Chams ruled what is now sort of central and central southern Vietnam for, I don't know, a long time - some multiple of the timespan my own country has been around. It is a fascinating place, in spite of the fact that ruins are all that remain. Compared to Angkor Wat it is very small (and ruined) but there are similarities. Vietnamese culture, particularly in the north anyway, is closely related to Chinese culture - Confucianism, Buddhist traditions similar to China's - but the Cham Kingdom was Hindu, taking cultural inspiration from India. And you can see that in the ruins, with engraved Shivas and Apsaras still visible all over the place.
Aside from that, the place has 'grown' since I was there four years ago. At least the road to the site has grown, with a great deal more hoopla in terms of tourist villages and tour buses and parking lots and exhibition halls. Fortunately, all that is limited to the way there, once you run the gauntlet to get there the actual site is mostly free of distractions.
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