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On sunday we took an organised tour to the Perfume Pagoda, a complex of Buddhist shrines inside a cave near the summit of Huong Tich Mountain. We were picked up from our hostel by our tour guide, a lovely man called 'Number One'! The other people on the tour were really nice, and we had a good laugh together. There was an Austrian couple, two Vietnamese girls, a Malaysian family, and us!
The perfume pagoda is about 60km southwest of Hanoi, so we had a two hour bus journey, but number 1 kept us entertained with his commentary- his English pronunciation was very funny, it seemed like he was speaking a language halfway between English and Vietnamese! The bus broke down halfway, and a tyre had to be replaced, but we didn't have to wait too long. Number 1 pointed out some dog meat shops on the journey- yes the Vietnamese eat dog! The dogs are cured whole and laid out on the counter, it was a horrible sight.
We soon arrived at Yen Warf, from which we take a boat ride to the mountain. Everyone in the group first bought a Vietnamese conical hat to give us some shade during the hour journey, I felt so silly! The boat ride was amazing; the group were split between two wooden boats (similar to the picture above), and each boat was rowed by a Vietnamese lady at the back. The landscape was beautiful, we travelled along the river past paddy fields and lush forest. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the foot of the bottom, we discovered that the cable car was being repaired, so we had to embark on a steep 3km hike. I have never sweated so much in my life!! The humidity was incredible and the climb was really tough going.
We made it in the end, just! The shrines were built inside a giant cave; it was interesting to watch the Vietnamese people praying in front of them. I touched the 'money mountain', a huge stalagmite said to have the power to bring great riches- here's hoping!
We were absolutely exhausted by the time we returned to Hanoi, so I'm only a little ashamed to admit we found a place to have pizza for dinner! We then headed back to Peace House.
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