Perfume Pagoda

Weekend before last, we went on a school field trip to the Perfume Pagoda (Chua Huong Pagoda). Early on Saturday morning, teachers, students, and several host siblings (mostly older—my brother and sister did not attend) boarded a large bus for a scenic two hour drive through the countryside. Upon arrival, despite some light rain and fog, we hopped into small boats rowed by local Vietnamese men and women. After a pleasant hour of rowing down a river between the beautiful mountains of Vietnam, we landed and the tour guide showed us the Temple of First Presenting (Den Trinh temple) and the Pagoda Leading to Heaven (Chua Thien Chu) and we stopped to eat our packed lunches (bread and condensed milk for me) before beginning the long trek up the mountain. Or at least some of us (the “tough cookies”) made the trek up the mountain while the wimpy ones took the cable car :)

What a beautiful hike though! The mountains of Vietnam are so gorgeous—gently sloping peaks swathed in dark green foliage rise from yellow-green rice paddies and patchwork farms. Stone stairs pave the way as we hike by shacks with corrugated tin roofs and walkways sheltered by blue tarps. Some people shout out, advertising cold water and ice cream while others just follow us with their eyes. We saw a small building with the floor covered in the yellow and white flowers that are so abundant here, and found out that people leave the flowers out to dry for making tea!

On the way up we took a brief detour to visit a small cave with altars inside. Pagodas are plentiful in and around Hanoi, and I have already visited many. When you walk in to the main room, there is usually a large altar in the center elaborately decorated in gold, red, and green with statues of Buddha presiding on top. The altar will be piled high with offerings of Choco-Pies, crackers, or fruit. Sometimes there are additional secondary altars to the right and left of the main one.

After around an hour or so of hiking, we finally reached the Perfume Pagoda itself. We climbed down a steep staircase into a huge cave, its lower walls covered in lush green moss, its ceiling soaring hundreds of feet above us, prayer flags draped like banners across it. Picking our way over the cave floor, we descended into the depths of the cave. Famous cave formations stand up in the middle of the floor as altars stand in the corners.

We take the cable car back down the mountain, and I can just see the distant flat farmlands through a break in the mountains. In the boat on the way back, I ask our rower lady if I can take a shot at rowing the boat. Although I managed to move us a few meters, it’s harder than you might think!

On the way home, we took a brief stop to chat with some friendly rice farmers and saw how they harvest rice- it’s tough work!