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For details of the places I visited in Vietnam along the Ho Chi Minh Trail, with GPS Coordinates, see my book Vietnam Caves.

For details on motorbiking in Vietnam and Cambodia, from buying and selling a motorbike, to border crossing, see my book Motorbiking Cambodia & Vietnam.

 

My last day in Hanoi today, and the last day of my 3 day tour. Today I go to the Perfumed Pagoda, the tour I have been looking forward to the most.

Information from wikipedia.
“The Huong Pagoda (English: Perfume Pagoda) is a vast complex of Buddhist temples and shrines built into the limestone Huong Tich mountains. It draws large numbers of pilgrims each year, and can be seen as the Vietnamese Mecca. The centre of the Huong Temple lies in Huong Son Commune, Mỹ Đức District, former Hà Tây Province (now Hanoi). The centre of this complex is the Perfume Temple, also known as Chua Trong (Inner Temple), located in Huong Tich Cave.

It is thought that the first temple was a small structure on the current site of Thien Tru which existed during the reign of Lê Thánh Tông in the 15th century. Legend claims that the site was discovered over 2000 years ago by a monk meditating in the area, who named the site after a Tibetan mountain where Lord Buddha practiced asceticism.”

Today, again there is no bath water. But no worries, as today is Ho Chi Min’s birthday. I do the wash basin shower again. Go down, get breakfast, then checkout. Then wait, and wait and wait. I ask the reception when the bus is coming as now it is 8:30. They assure me that the bus is coming. By this time, every other tourist in the lounge have been picked up already.

By 8:40 a guy strolls in and says he is here to pick me up, phew. We get on a small 16 seater transit van. Man, dive operators should get a van like this.

 

Nice van

We are only 7 people on the tour, thus the tour company is using a small van. So like normal as we drive along, the tour guide tells is the daily schedule, and he is telling me we are going were I went yesterday.

I am like, crap, I am in the wrong bus. So I go, are we going to the Perfume Pagoda, or Ha Long Bay? The guide stops for a moment, grabs his schedule, finds my name on the list, looks around for other papers, now a bit confused. Then he goes, “o, sorry, you not on this tour.” (Him struggling to speak english does not help). Then he goes, “you go other bus. 6 people on tour, but you only one go Perfume Pagoda, so we stop half way, you get on other bus follow other tour guide.” Mmmm, interesting.

The miles fly by, and then we arrive at out half way point. This is the same place with the western toilet. As soon as I step off the bus, I am informed that my other bus is already waiting, so I have no time to grab a snack. I rush to the toilet, and thus time swing the door open with speed, almost knocking another guy where it counts. In nano seconds I am out again, (men are so proficient when it comes to going to the toilet), and I rush to my new guide and bus. This bus is not as nice as the one I had been on, being more like the normal dive bus. I sit and wonder if I got my tetanus shot. We are waiting for one more guest, and then and lady gets in the bus and sits on the seat opposite me at the back.

As she sits down I go, hello. She gives me a quick glance then nervously says hello. I grab the opportunity and go. Wow, you have been ignoring me the whole time, you have not even seen me here. Her only reply is a nervous laughter, and shifting further away from me, ha ha ha. I feel like one of those ninja traffic cops, I just appear out of thin air. 🙂

Not so nice van.

The ride is rough as we take small roads to get to the place. the busses suspension is also shot, so it is a bone rattling ride. Finally we arrive at a small stop. There are some toilets, and a small snack shop, but that is it. It is hard to imagine, that once a year, about 1 million people come here in the space of a week to pray at the temple. We walk over the road to steps that lead into the water, where we wait for boats to return from the temple complex to take us upriver.

In the van in the seats in front of me, was a young couple. During the trip I managed to get more and more agitated by them, and realized just why I like to avoid tour groups.

As we walk across the road, the girl opens a water bottle, and just throws the plastic seal wrapper on the ground. No care that she is in someone else’s country. The guy is a chain smoker, and cannot go 5 minutes without a cigarette. He also just throws the cigarette buts on the ground, no care in the world. It would only get worse. For as they walk and eat, things just gets thrown on the ground, even ice cream sticks. Neither of them can walk 20 steps to a trash can, nor does he care where he is or who is around him, he just lights up and smokes.

It takes balance to put an umbrella up in one of these boats.

Since there are only 6 of us in this tour, plus the guide, we all get into the same boat.

Now, these are low lying skiffs, and the boat’s rim is only a few inches above the water line. The slightest movement from anyone, and the thing threatens to tip over. No matter how many time the guide asks only one person move at a time, get in and out of the boat at a time, no, everyone wants to get in and out at the same time. Also, the couple care less about anyone else, and they guy insist on hanging over the edge of the boat at times to get a prize winning picture. I am forced to constantly counter his movements, to stop the boat taking on water or tipping over.

Anyone that have been in small aluminum skiffs will know, that once one side dips in the water, and water streams in, if you are no quick to throw your weight to the other side, the weight of the water rushing in will dip the edge even deeper in the water, and into the drink you go. I feared the whole trip there and back for my gear getting wet.

Then the guy sees boats selling stuff on the other side of him, and insist that he and his girlfriend switch places on the boat so that he can get a better shot. No, she cannot take a picture and no he cannot take a picture past her. If it was not for the fact that i threw my weight over the edge of the boat to counter their movement, we would have tipped over. Dumb twats.

The view however is nice, but not as nice as yesterday. This time the rowers use their arms and not their feet. A small skiff with one guy in, comes by, rowing short hand. Check out a video here.

Just in case your guide is lost, sign posts along the water to where what is.

The river was smaller years ago, and with its widening, craves that were dug along the river years ago, are now either in the water or washed away.

There are three ladies from Australia in the group, and I am sorry to say that they disgrace Australia by constantly complaining about the heat and sun. It really was not that hot. At one point one pulls out her smart phone and exclaims, aahh, there is no internet. O dear.

Finally we arrive at our end point. You can see the line of where boats would be moored up every year in the big festival. For about a month, things get busy, with the one week being the top time to avoid this place. Then most of the shops close down until next year.

Just imagine hundreds of boats moored along the shore, with thousands of people lining up.

This times hundreds

After mooring up, we pass a few shops that are still open. A lady wants to give me crabs.

After passing what is now a closed ticket office, we head past a few shops and eating places.

One of the ladies in our group says she cannot go further, and we leave her at a restaurant where we will come back to to have lunch.

Leaving one of the group behind to hold the Ford while we take the Chev :-).

We head up a few steps to were we find pagodas, some big, some small and build into the rock face. Check out the pictures.

Even monks have smart phones these days, da times are changing man.

After looking around a bit, we head back down to have lunch. This time there is no squid but there rest of the lunch is basically the same as the past two days. With a bowl of rice and heat seems like either goat of pork meat, that we all share from. I a not one for chopstick crossing with strangers, so I just grab a bowl you are supposed to put sauce in, and load it with rice and meat. I think I offended a number of people sitting around the table, but I could not care two hoots at that point. For people would lick and slurp they chopsticks, pick up a piece if meat, drop it by accident or decide the do not want it, then drop it back in the plate and fish for a better one.

Soon it is toilet time, and yes, these are those squatting ones. The ladies complain for how are they supposed to go. Same as the men, and the local ladies, squat baby squat. 🙂

We decide we are all going to fork out the 140K vnd for a return cable car ride that takes 6 minutes one way, as the alternative is a 2 hour walk up the mountain one way. The cable cars are small cars, that just slows down and you have to jump in or out at the ends it stay out. Check out a short video here.

On the way to the cable car station, we pass a number of shops selling all kinds of stuff, including fake guns, they love their guns here. Also, many herbs and spices that I have no idea what they are.

However, a few things got my blood boiling, see pictures below. Locals would catch small monkeys, lizards, and birds, then cage them. They then play on tourists feelings, and sell the animals to the tourist for the right to set the animal free. Once the tourist have paid to free the animal, and the animal is released, they are soon captured again and then placed in cages until the next tourist pays to set them free.

Catching animals, selling them to tourist to release, then catching them again. So wrong.

We make our way up some more stairs to the cable cars, where you have to jump in while they are moving. Get your butt moving moving baby. see a short video here.

Then we arrive at even more stairs, that apparently takes hours to move a flight of steps at festival times, then it is down to the caves and temples inside the cave.

Water is caught in bowls as it is sacred.

Then it is time to head back, and wait for the cable car operator to return from lunch. ha ha ha, no kidding, he only puts the system on when everyone from all the groups that wants to use the cars are there. Save on electricity.

Back down eventually we go, and pass the restaurant were we had lunch. Here we rest a bit, and i notice a tank with some strange stuff in.

On the boat ride back, we pass a guy with a makeshift hat.

And i get my ducks in a row.

The ride in the bus is bone rattling as there is no shocks and the roads are not the best. But, I survive. I am a survivor (song).

The hotel i am in have no restaurant so i go to a small restaurant, called Gecko. 🙂 They have tea for 15K, or a hole pot of tea for 20K. I decide i am going to be smart and order a whole pot. mmmm, not that big a pot, and the cup is actually used for rice wine.

it is now just after 8, and i make my way back to my hotel to pick up my bag i left there. Then it is off to the train station, to catch my train down to Saigon. 32 hours in a small 4 bed room, good practice for jail time ha ha ha.