Perfume Pagoda (Chùa Hương) - Hanoi, Vietnam

Perfume Pagoda (Chùa Hương), A Scenic Day Trip

Highlight of the day-Hung Tich Cave at the top of Perfume Pagoda

 Located in Ha Tay province, 70 km southwest of Hanoi, Chùa Hương (Perfume Pagoda) is one of the most popular religious sites in Vietnam, famous for being an annual pilgrim site for Buddhists. The perfume pagoda is actually not one single pagoda but the name of a cluster of temples, shrines and religious sites built in the mountainous limestone area of Huong Son. 

NT and I took this day trip on the second day of our Hanoi vacation, which was pre-booked with Mr. Ahn at US$32/ per person. The price included all transportation to and fro Hanoi, lunch and a two-way cable car up and down the hill.

At around 8.15am after our sumptous buffet breakfast at the hotel, we were picked up by our English speaking guide from AST Travel. The bus picked up some other tourists from various hotels before leaving the Hanoi City by the highway. Along the way, the bus stopped by a local handicraft factory for a short shopping & toilet break. Here's some of the unique handmade items that caught our eyes, mainly handicrafts that requires a good level of artisan skills.

Traditional Vietnamese Art- Pictures crafted from real Gemstones

A garden full of white marble statues, all available for sale.

Handsewn silk tread paintings- Traditional Vietnamese Handicrafts

A few kilometers later, the bus turned into smaller roads passing through villages and small towns. En-route the drive from Hanoi to the Ben Duc pier, we saw lush paddy fields that stretch endlessly across the vast flat terrains, farm animals and a glimpse of the country side living. It is the harvest season during our visit, so we were lucky to see the farmers reaping their fruits of labour for the season.

Farmers harvesting in the fields

Endless fields of rice padi

Farmers sunning the harvested grains on their front porch

Duckies near the Ben Duc Pier

Upon reaching the Ben Duc pier, we went on to board a metal row boats for a scenic and enjoyable 45min river cruise along the Yen Vi River. The guide took care of the tickets so there wasn't any hassle. We realised that only women row these boats, carrying about six to eight people on board each time. Given their petite size, we were amazed by their stamina and arm strength. 

During this peaceful ride, we chatted with a fellow travellor and saw some interesting sights along the way. There were locals catching fish using small traps and folks trying to push their way through on their mini boats using slipper like paddles.

Boarding the metal boats at the Ben Duc Pier 

Scenic View along the Yen River, 45mins Boat Ride

A local vietnamese family on the same day trip as us

He can actually move very fast in the water using that pair of small wooden paddles

Fisherman on Yen River

The peak season for the site visit would be the spring months, during the annual Perfume Pagoda Festival (Hoi Chua Huong) which is between the first and the third lunar month of the year (February to March), just after the Tết festival (Lunar New Year). 

The locals believe that a pilgrimage there during this period brings them greater prosperity and more luck for the coming New Year. Spring flowers are also in full bloom, which is what attributes to another saying of how the “fragrance” element came about for the perfume pagoda. 

During the summer months, the period that we visited, on the other hand, is quite peaceful with only a bunch of 40-50 odd people in the entire area. The heat is not that tolerable though, despite the fact that we are already quite used to the climate back on our sunny tropical island- Singapore.  So you might want to take along some water, sun-protection and a bottle of insect repellent with you during the day trip.

Our guide recommended that the Hanoi’s Autumn Period would be perfect season with less humidity and a more comfortable temperature. Moreover, the local tree – “cay hoa sua” with flowers that has a very distinct smell, would bloom during this time too.

Stone flagged path  that leads to the Thiên Trù pagoda, base of the Huong Tich Mountain 

Upon reaching the foot of the Huong Tich Mountain or otherwise known as the 'Mountain of Fragrant Traces", we were greeted by the a stone flagged path  that leads to the Thiên Trù pagoda.  According to our itinerary. we would be having our lunch first before the visit up to the Hương Tích Cave at the top of the mountain.  

After a short 5 mins uphill climb, we reached the Thien Tru Pagoda area. Our simple Chinese style lunch, which is included in our package was at a open air restaurant outside the pagoda.  The lunch is pretty decent, with a total of 5 dishes comprising of vegetables, toufu, fish and meat. 

We had loads of fun during lunch sharing a table with a very nice Vietnamese family of 4 and  3 other Caucasians, whom we try to impart “the art of using chopsticks to eat” within the short span of 30mins.
 The local vietamese family was very friendly and even offered all of us some local white wine. NT took a small sip and realised that it was too much for the day, so he gave it a miss. Even our friend from Czech Republic who's quite used to drinking Vodka, deemed it too potent for mealtime. So with lots of laughter, flying vegetables, and a dose of alcohol, we completed our lunch "mission".

With some time to spare, we ventured around the area and saw some interesting stuff sold at the nearby stores..

Are these food or pets?

Lizards & Red Mountain Crabs ( Yes its their natural colour & they are alive)

Thiên Trù Pagoda

After passing through a Chinese Style Grand Gate, we have to walk up another fleet of stairs to get to the Thien Tru Pagoda, also known as the "Pagoda leading to Heaven". The place was originally built in the 17^th century and had a lot of Chinese/Tibetan influences in the architecture. During war, some of the structures were damaged but were eventually restored. Along the way up the stairs within the compound, you would be able to spot the Vien Cong Bao Stupa ,which is a brick structure where Ch’an Master Vien Quang, who led the reconstruction of the pagoda, is buried.

Thien Tru is also home to a bell tower and Hall of the Triple Gem 
The Three Gems are often refered to as Buddha 佛陀-The Enlightened, Dharma 法-The Teaching and Sangha The Community-僧) To enter the pagoda and main hall, ladies have to cover their shoulders. I’m glad I brought along my jacket for the trip.

The Gate at the Entrace of Thien Tru Pagoda ( Front View) , with Chinese Characters on both sides

The Gate at the Entrace to the Thien Tru Pagoda ( view from Behind)

Stairs leading to the Thien Tru Pagoda

The Thien Tru Pagoda (Main Hall)

Cable Car Ride vs a Walk Up On Foot

There's two way to go to the top of the mountain, by foot or by cable car. 
The locals, seeing it as a religious pilgrimage, usually take time to walk up the 1000 odd steps of stairs which is fully lined with shops selling souvenirs, food and offering items during the peak periods. Alternatively, you can choose to skip this 1 hour uphill climb and just take the cable car. In our case, due to the heat, we opted for cable cars both ways. 

As we went during the low season,  the cable car was not in  full operation. We had to wait for a certain critical mass of people to gather, mainly from the different tour groups to arrive before it will power up again to take us to the top. While waiting, we took time to snap up some pictures and bought ourselves a cooling drink, so we didn’t mind the 20 min lapse.

Entrance of the Cable Car Station

Beautiful View from the Cable Car Station on Top

Huong Tich Cave

At the top is the location's highlight: The Huong Tich Chu, 'Pagoda of Perfumes Vestige". It is actually a large, naturally formed cave with numerous shrines within, or otherwise known as th inner temple, Chua Trong . According to the guide, the Huong Tich Cave was discovered 2000 years ago by a monk who is seeking enlightment in the area, and has since became one of the most important pagodas for the Mahayana Buddhists of Vietnam.

After passing through the gate, we were greeted by a flight of stone stairs. As we walk the 200+ steps downwards, the grand entrance of the Hung Tich Cave, which resembles the appearance of an open dragon’s mouth , came into view. 

There are some Chinese characters carved in a wall at the mouth of the cave. The characters (Nam thien de nhat dong) are translated as “first grade cave of the South World” and the carving is dated all the way back to 1770.  There is also a large bell at the left entrance of the cave, which we believed is made from bronze.

The Gate at the Entrance of the Tuong Tich Cave

Stone steps down after you pass through the gate, spot the old granny in the picture?

The Grand entrance of the Tuong Tich Cave, resembling that of a dragon's mouth

The Large bell towards the left side of the Tuong Tich Cave entrance

During the peak spring periods, the pagoda receives as many as 7,000 visitors a day. You can image the crowd. Inside the cave there are many statues of deities, but many pilgrims also come to get blessings from the naturally formed stalactites and stalagmites, many of which are named and have special purposes. It's very slippery inside the cavern so care has to be taken. We recommend  footwears with a proper grip for sure.

 

 We were told by our guide that one can seek blessings for fertility by praying to the diety of fertility. Depending on gender of the baby that you wish to seek blessing for, one can pray to Nui Co on the right (the girl ) or Nui Cau on the left (the boy). NT was very cheeky and asked, “ what if someone wants both?” The guide simply answered with a smile, “Well, then pray to both sides?”

 

Deeper into the cave, there is a larger shrine with a  statue of Lord Buddha, as well as one of Quan Am. There are also statues of Arhats and various other figures arranged according to hierachy. We manage to see a group of buddhist chanting during the time of our visit.

The Shrine located deep inside the Tuong Tich Cave

On the other side of the cavern on our way out, there is a stalactite that resembles a breast, where you should catch drops of water in hopes of being blessed with health from the ‘milk’ of the 'breast'. It is also believed to bring you wisdom by allowing you to see more “clearly” if you rub some of the water collected onto your eyes. 

Other stalactites and stalagmites include the Heap of Coins (Dun Tien), the Gold Tree and the Silver Tree, which are believed to offer prosperity.  We spent about 40 mins in the area and went back down the hill via the cable car. 

The different stalactites and stalagmites insde the cave, this one is for Wealth if I remembered correctly

View from within theTuong Tich Cave, looking out.

Journey Back to Hanoi City

Back at the pier, we boarded the same boat that we took 4 hours ago and the guide reminded us to get ready our tips of 20000 VND (1 USD) per pax for the lady rowing the boat. We decided to give a little more as we feel that it's certainly not an easy job to row the boat along the river both ways under the scorching sun and heat.

This is hard work

On our way back we saw the same man with the small wooden paddles

The little boy from the friendly vietnam family in the group

Sumptuous Vietnamese Fare at Quan An Ngon

 We had an enjoyable day trip and decided to ask our tour guide for some recommendation for dinner on our way back to Hanoi City.

'Quan An Ngon in Phan Boi Chau Street. It's a short walk from your hotel. Good food and very popular among the locals” He replied without hesitation.

Well, it was indeed quite a good gourmet experience without all the fuss. The friendly manager sat us down and recommended their signature dishes for us. With great efficiency, our food started arriving within the next 5 mins.The Sparrow Salad ( Nom Chim Se) was a unique experience for us, but I guess we would prefer an less exotic starter next round. The best dish of the night would be the Traditional Vietnamese Wrap dipped in sweet and spicy sauce, which the restaurant manager patiently taught us the right way to roll and eat it.

The two other mains, Wild Duck & Fresh Bamboo Rice Noodle Soup ( Bun Ngan) and  BBQ Squid were all delectably good. 

Still feeling the heat from the day, we decide to finish off our sumptuous dinner with a cooling Vietnamese dessert made from corn, coconut milk and red bean. Truly satisfied, we now know why the restaurant is so crowded. Would definitely come back to this place if we were to visit Hanoi again  :)

The very popular Quan An Ngon Restaurant

Our Sumptous & Yummy dinner at Quan An Ngon

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