Perfume Pagoda 2
We stopped at a little pagoda on the river bank half way to the Perfume Pagoda. A nice little one with monks watching TV and chewing seeds. I'm strolling around in the courtyard when a little man takes a big stick and starts dancing furiously and gracefully, his expression as severe as that of a warrior. I realize that he is heading toward me and start taking pictures. Swinging his wooden stick he quickly approaches. Through the viewfinder I couldn't quite realize how close he was, until his performance ended with the wooden stick stopping just millimeters away from my jewelery... I was so glad he knew his dance well.
We were in the area in February, during the Chinese New Year. This is when families gather to Perfume Pagoda and climb up to the top of the hill and down in the cave to leave their offers and burn incense. It is also a moment of celebration, performance and music.
Perfume Pagoda is a great place for relaxation. If you can appreciate solitude and silence this is the right place. You might believe that you're the only one around as the silence is nearly total and then realize that rooms are full of prayers, their shoes all lined up outside closed doors. You might think that no one lives there and suddenly see a plate of fresh fruit on a table, overhear whispering behind a wall. I felt the presence of people and met almost no one. Magic.
The area is very poor, expect a very simple Vietnamese meal. It is not advisable for air-con-all-included turism but it's very charming and just a day trip away from Hanoi. During the days before the Chinese New Year you could see lots of people setting up their little business and bringing their goods for the big event, that includes tables and chairs brought by boat and on shoulders on the steep climb. I would avoid the week-long celebration itself as the place gets ten times as many people as it can accomodate and the hygienic level drops dangerously - at the least for weak Angmohs like us.
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