It was March 2020, in those quiet days before the black swan of COVID‑19 swept across the world. I had just begun my first journey into Southeast Asia, choosing Vietnam almost instinctively. For years, I had read about India’s deep cultural connection with this region—the civilisational ties that travelled across the Bay of Bengal long before modern diplomacy existed. Vietnam felt like the right place to see those echoes for myself.
Vietnam: Ruins That Remember India
Nothing prepared me for the depth of the country’s heritage, but one site in particular stayed with me: the UNESCO World Heritage complex of Mỹ Sơn in central Vietnam. Set deep within a ring of mountains, the ruins reveal a world where Hinduism once flourished under the Cham people—a civilisation that absorbed Indian ideas and made them its own.