On Feb 5th, we headed to Chua Huong (Perfume Pagoda) - a Buddhist temple situated high in a grotto (cave) dating back 1000 years. Every year the Vietnamese people whom reside around this region and places beyond make the pilgrimage to pray at the temple. The journey consists of traveling by bus, then by boat, then a 5 km hike up the treacherous mountain path. Thousands upon thousands of people make the journey every year just after the TET celebration. It is quite the experience to see people of every generation make the expedition.
Our journey started at 7:00 am from Ha Noi where we were picked up from our hotel by a mini-bus and dropped off at the touring office where we met a woman from New Zealand. The three of us then walked to another touring office to pick up more people. Then we met our tour guide, a young soft spoken Vietnamese woman with good English (an Aussie couple, two young men from Chile, and a mother and daughter from Korea were also a part of our tour group). She then walked the 9 of us to the larger 30 seater bus, where we joined the remaining group. Rav must have seen more of the scenery then I did as I was fast asleep on the way to Chua Huong. We arrived at a parking lot some 2 hours later only to board several mini vans to head into town which was 1km away to catch one of a million small boats that would take us another 1 km to the foot of the mountain. There was some confusion at the boat dock as our guide was busy getting tickets and setting up for a boat. Since our group only had 9 people we were grouped with another group to make the 18 needed to rent a boat for the day’s adventure. After some delay, we finally made the journey towards the temple. The actual journey was quite moving and majestic once we left the hecticness of the hustle and bustle of the dock.. The depth of the river varied from 2m to about 20 m deep and is surrounded by rice patty fields on either side. A sense of calmness and serenity overcomes you as the mist in the distance hid the limestone mountains.
However, all of that serenity was lost once the boat docked at the foot of the mountain, the calmness was replaced with the chaos of thousands and thousand of people making the journey up the mountain. We stopped for lunch at a local food stand before trying to make the hike.
There was only one way up the mountain and after lunch thousands and thousands of people were coming down the mountain and the path looked more like a water fall and the two of us looked like two salmon trying to swim upstream. There was so much resistance as waves and waves of people kept on pushing us back down the mountain. Of the nine people in our group only 4 managed to get through the mayhem. We fought our way through the crowd and climbed past trees and shrubs to avoid the people going the other way. We struggled, but never gave up as it was something that we were both looking forward to doing in Vietnam. It was now 10 after 1 pm and we had to be back at the 1st check point by 3:30 pm to catch the boat back to town, which did not leave much time to climb up 5 km and down again. We were a bit concerned but did not hesitate as a moment spent thinking about the fact that we could not be done was a moment wasted. Our feet kept moving as the light rain came down from the sky, making the path slippery and treacherous. We stopped only a couple of times to look around and to take some photos, but never thought of turning around. It took us about 1:10 min to get to the top making it 20 past 2 pm. Not exactly enough time to get down the mountain to meet the group. We entered the cave and saw hundreds and hundreds of people praying and offering money and food to the gods and their ancestors, it was quite the sight. We too said a few prayers and looked around and then headed down the mountain. The time actually spent in the temple cave was not as long as we had hoped and a bit too chaotic as people were pushing their way through to get a closer glimpse.
There was no way we could have made id down the mountain to meet the group at the first check point, but we tried our hardest to make it back to the boat by 4:00pm. As the light rain continued to fall we made our way down the mountain; Slipping and sliding on occasion as the mud and rocks became wedged within the grooves of our shoes. The traction became negligible, and every step was taken with great care. Hand in hand we briskly walked down. I occasionally peeked at my watch only to see the time dwindle by faster and faster. There were no markers on the path so we could not really judge just how much longer it would be. As we passed people along the way, I kept on overhearing the locals say just how pretty Rav was and wondered what she was doing up there. Rav kept on saying that the tour group would not be there and that they would leave without us and I started to believe her after a while, but kept on assuring her that they would not.
By the time we got to the first meeting point it was 10 to 4:00 and there was no sign of any of the other tourists in our group or the tour guide. We looked at each other and sprinted for the docks. The path was filled with people all heading back to their boats so there was very little room to maneuver. As we weaved our way through the crowd, a sense of urgency started to brew in my stomach as my heart started to beat faster. (I could not have been out of shape from eating all that food and drinking all that beer… Naaahhh!!! not with the body that I have now… even Buddha himself would be envious). So we made it back to the boat as members of the group started to board the small vessel only 10 minutes late. We were sure glad to see the boat there. We were not the only ones late, as it turned out the other group was 1 hour late. I was put in charge of our group, while the tour guide looked for the other group. We waited for about an hour and saw no signs of the other group. As the sun was slowly sinking behind the mountains we headed back to town without the other group or guide. As hundreds of boats headed for home the river became clogged like the Lion’s Gate Bridge during a bad rush hour.
We finally came into port and the boat driver practically begged for tips. Even after all members of the tour group gave them some they complained that we should give them more, because the other tour group will not give them any. I got mad and told him off. We waited about 40 min until the tour leader met up with us and boarded our bus heading for Ha Noi.
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