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"Chua
Huong" (the Perfume Pagoda).
Best combination of boat trip,
sightseeing, mountain climbing and
religious pilgrimage
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"Chua Huong" - the Perfume Pagoda is
the name of a collection of Buddhist
temples which are very sacred to
Vietnamese people of Buddhist faith,
and an annual visit up here in
springtime is a must to a lot of
believers
Located on the limestone rocks of
Huong Son Mountain in beautiful and
mystical surroundings, the pagodas
are 70 km or two-hour driving out of
Hanoi. Unlike other temples in
Vietnam, the only way to reach this
sanctuary is floating along a narrow
but extremely poetic stream by
rowing boats that takes 45 minutes.
An iron boat can carry 3-5 people
and a large wooden boat – up to 20
locals
The stream is edged by rice, grass,
small paths, and temples here and
there. A local pilgrim can spend
here traditionally three days to
visit entirely the area and pray at
all the temples. The first temple
they often stop is called Den Trinh
(i.e. The Shrine for First
Presenting), where Vietnamese burn
the first jossticks to inform the
local deities about their presence
and pray for a good trip and good
luck for the year ahead. If you are
anxious to reach the main Wharf of
Huong Son mountain to start the
uphill trip to see the Main Grotto
of Huong Tich, you may skip this
temple, especially in the peak
season between January and early
April
The uphill trip takes an hour
climbing on the ancient flat and
sometime slippery stones, which have
been here thousand years ago. The
road is "breathtaking" in all
aspects – you will have some
exercise, and at the same time have
chance to take some stops to
contemplate beautiful scenery and
daily life of local farmers, who
plant cassava and apricots in the
valleys, who run quickly on the
slippery stone with their burdens of
tapioca, apricots or medicinal herbs
whilst you are careful with your
steps. The main pagoda is set in a
huge grotto containing a highly
decorative shrine. Each stalactite
and stalagmite inside, which are
soaked by undercurrent, is combined
with a legend about its miracle and
good luck. Most of them became small
shrines by now. Remember that the
stone grotto is huge and very cool,
so stop for a while at the entrance
to dry your sweat before coming in.
The main festive days of Chua Huong
stretches from January to early
April, busy and exciting. Sometimes
it's drizzling and the Vietnamese
all believe that the real good
things will reach you if you catch
rainwater after praying in a sacred
pagoda. And among all the sacred
temples and pagodas in Northern
Vietnam, Chua Huong is even more
attractive and mysterious not only
for its spectacular scenery, but for
the painstaking road you passed over
to reach to the top
Thay & Tay
Phuong Pagodas
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TFrom
Hanoi tours to two different
pagodas, Thay and Tay Phuong are
very often combined in a day trip or
half-day trip from Hanoi since their
neighbouring locations. Thay pagoda,
located 40km west of Hanoi in a
tranquil and beautiful village, is
combination of Buddhist pagodas and
a Taoist Temple, which is dedicated
to Tu Dao Hanh, a Taoist hermit
lived in 12th century who
was considered one of the karmas of
king Ly Than Tong. The temple
preserve many precious worshipping
objects like the statues of Tu Dao
Hanh describe three "karmas" of this
figure, wooden and stone
bas-relieves and steles, lacquered
statues, thrones, bells. If you have
much time, take a walk surrounding
to reach the higher pagodas on the
mountainside or visit the cave where
they have found some skeletons and
ancient coins in early 20th
century.
Thay Pagoda is also known for a big
pavilion in the middle of a pond
facing the main temple. Water
puppetry performances take place
here at festival time, particularly
in the third lunar month where
pilgrims rush in. Two ancient roofed
bridges over the pond built in 1602
increase the natural beauty of the
combination
8km away from Thay
pagoda is the Tay Phuong pagoda,
sited on the hilltop. There are 239
laterite steps uphill to the pagoda,
and from this height opens a
wonderful aerial view of the
surrounded fields, laterite
mountains and villages. Most of the
structure was rebuilt in the 17th
and 18th century and has
a big significance of classic
architecture. Almost the tiles,
wooden relieves, rafters are
preserved well with their
traditional ornaments like
lotus-shape, marguerites, banyan
leaves, dragon, tiger which are
quite popular to Vietnamese
decoration style. Inside the pagoda
are 75 famous jackwood Arhat
statues, which are considered the
best of the plastic arts and
sculpture of Vietnam. The statues
either describe different legends of
Buddha and his disciples, or express
the meditation and will of the
people to release themselves from
ordinary pains and reach the
enlightenment. Both Thay and Tay
Phuong pagodas are easy to reach and
suitable for either visit by bus or
biking tours
Hoa Lu - Tam Coc – Bich Dong
most remarkable sights of Ninh Binh
Province
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Hoa Lu
used to be one of the many old
capitals of Vietnam before Thang
Long – presently Hanoi – take its
historical role. From an exciting
town and centre of cultural and
military activities of the Dai Co
Viet Kingdom in 10th
century, the area now is more
wellknown for its landscape since
almost relics of the urban
excitement had been collapsed,
except in the Temples of King Dinh
and King Le. A trip to Hoa Lu should
be started from Tam Coc ("three
caves"), which takes more than
two hours driving from Hanoi, and
visitors may say that distance is
not a matter after seating in a boat
rowed by one or two local persons in
Hoang Long river and see the first
limestone mountains, which will run
along their riverway for several
kilometers. The boat will run,
sorry, will be rowed, through three
caves on the river, all created by
wind and water from a legend time,
while the sea had occupied this
area. The tide-mark is still on the
rock about 2m above the water, and
in higher mountainwall the erosion
have carved some strange shapes that
now filled of green grass, delicious
foods of the goats that local people
breed everywhere. If you are lucky,
sometimes you can see mischievous
monkeys. The river trip is wonderful
for photo hunters, especially when
local people come to harvest the
water rice planted along the river,
or when they transplant some
seedling for the next crops. The
tourists often compare the place
with Guilin – China, or more
closely, to the limestone islets of
Halong Bay in the Tonkin Gulf for
their similar geological structures
and shapes. Thus Tam Coc is also
called Halong-Bay-On-Land
From the wharf of Tam Coc you can go
further till reaching Bich Dong
Pagoda, a combination of three
pagodas on the Lower, Middle and
Upper levels of a pretty mountain.
You will need to climb a little bit
till you get to the top of the Upper
pagoda and your eyes catch the
overall panorama of the paddy fields
between Truong Yen mountain. All the
pagodas, or lean upon a cliff, or
simply have some statues inside a
large grotto, deserve the name "Bich
Dong" (emerald-like grotto). A scene
of the popular French movie
"Indochine" had been completed here
in 1991, remarking a rush of the
French-speaking tourists to Vietnam,
who usually do not skip Halong Bay
and Tam Coc-Bich Dong where the
leading actress Catherine Deneuve
left her footprints
On the way back from Tam Coc – Bich
Dong to Hanoi you can pay a visit to
the last relics of the ancient
capital Hoa Lu – the Temples
dedicated to King Dinh and
King Le, the two heroes who
lived in 10th century and
chose Hoa Lu to build the citadel of
the capital city. From time to time,
archaeologists have excavated buried
parts of this citadel with rusty
weapons and ceramics. The temples
are said to be built on the old
foundation of their original palaces
in 11-12th centuries and
restored in 17th century.
Though the temples are not
maintained entirely some precious
antiques are still preserved well
like the whole-stone dragon thrones,
wooden bas-relieves and lacquered
statues of King Dinh, Kinh Le, Queen
Duong Van Nga who in turn got
married both of the kings, and the
princes of the two dynasties
Phat Diem
– amazing Catholic Church
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You may say a church is not your
interest in a Far East country and
thus you will be missing one of the
most remarkable religious
architectures in Vietnam. Phat Diem
Church, a group of different
churches of stone and wood, is the
centre of Catholicism in Northern
Vietnam and designed in Vietnamese
style mixed harmoniously with the
European Catholic traditions.
There's a grave on the ground of the
church of Mr. Tran Luc, a local
Catholic lived in late 19th
century who designed the whole
church without taking any official
course of architecture and
paintings. Phat Diem Church is
divided into two quarters: the
churches and the clergy's house,
which gradually completed in 1875
(the first Cavern built to test the
subsidence of the area foundation),
1889 (the church of Saint Mary's
Heart), 1891 (the Big Cathedral and
the Belfry), and the Saints' shrines
of Giuse, Phero and Rocco, all
finished about
1898.
The
traditional architecture of Vietnam
is recognized obviously in each
ornament: the Belfry has curly tiled
roof-tops with decoration of
Vietnamese temples, the shrine of
Jesus' Heart is made of jackwood,
the Big Cathedral is designed as a
grandiose
Communal House
with sophisticated multi-level
rafters, and all the churches are
decorated with lotus, lemon flowers,
birds, tropical trees like apricot
and bamboo, and matched inscriptions
in Chinese which are popular in
Vietnamese Lunar New Year. The
entire structure is admirable not
only for the beauty of each fabric
but for their amazingly unique
co-ordination and is considered a
pride of the contemporary folk works
Cuc Phuong National Park
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Cuc Phuong, the first National Park
of Vietnam which was established in
1962, is 140 km South of Hanoi, 55km
from Ninh Binh, roughly 25,000
hectares. The botanical richness of
the forest is impressive as it
supports a wide variety of flora
species and patches of primeval
forest, including ancient trees with
thick clusters of roots, and
parasitic plants and ligneous
creepers. Some tree species have
been introduced from Burma, India,
and Borneo. Clusters of orchards
grow near cave entrances, where the
moisture conditions and light are
ideal. Varieties include
thousand-year dracontomelum and
parashorea trees which can be
visited in a one or two hour hiking,
and coral, vanilla, snow-white, and
butterfly orchids everywhere. Large
mammals inhabit the park including
panthers and bears, but rarely
appear, so the most popular animals
you can see are monkeys, gibbons,
flying squirrels and pheasants.
There are also over 120 species of
birds and many varieties of beetles
living here, and April and May
arrive swarms of butterflies. At
night, million of cicadas create a
deafening din, and million of
fireflies flicker about
Lying in a limestone area, Cuc
Phuong includes numerous caves. At
"Nguoi Xua" (Cave of Early Man), two
ancient tombs have been discovered,
along with Neolithic remains and
evidence of stone implements; there
have been similar finds at Trang
Khuyet (Crescent Moon), Thanh Minh,
and Con Mong Caves. Hang Dan Cave is
known for its bat population. Hiking
in Cuc Phuong is following some
kilometers of trails and passing
through old-growth forest with long
vines wrapped around strangled
trees, visiting the caves,
waterfalls and streams in the forest
or stopping over at a Muong ethnic's
village. Since the location in
between three provinces, it's easy
to combine a trip to Cuc Phuong with
a trip to Hoa Binh or Ninh Binh
province, or you can depart from
Hanoi, spend the whole day exploring
the forest and overnight at the
Park's guest house |
