Just sixty kilometers southwest of Hanoi, Hong Chua, The Perfume Pagoda, is a sacred place, amidst a splendid nature, full of magic and enchantment. Each year attracts thousands of Buddhist pilgrims who flock during major festivals of spring, between March and April, and all weekends.
Almost without realizing it, passes a morass of traffic in Hanoi to the ocean of rice fields stretching to the horizon in any direction. Is a rest stop that is lost sight of the endless endless rice paddies, green and yellow, dotted with colorful human figures, in that little Volcano straw to protect from the sun (and rain) the Vietnamese. The fields around us are only interrupted, but rather matches the endless line of the road.
In the distance, a long chain of whimsical forms a backdrop sets the landscape. At the foot of the hills, a town choked by the sea that surrounds rice, pressed home defensively as if he feared being swallowed up by the stems to lick the walls. Horizontal cloud, mysteriously suspended in the air, sets the brightness of the whiteness of the polychrome parched rice paddies.
Sorolla is as if he had added the magic of his birth to a painting of Van Gogh. I say the town is called Van Son ('Cloud Mountain'). No objection, except that the road passing through it are completely covered with sheaves of rice drying in the sun like an era. Needless to say, the driver left his vehicle rolled on the mound as if such a thing, reminding me of my childhood in the tracks of Castile.
did not even need to ask. Seeing my astonished face, the driver was quick to explain that in Vietnam all the space available for growing rice. The streets of towns and roads are the only place where you can put out the harvest to loosen the grain. As we move forward, I'll understanding. Until the markets have to be in bridges with the vendors sitting dangerously on the railings.
Feeding seventy million people should not be easy. Finally, we reached the important town of My Duc, where the river port. From here, many pilgrims continue to walk along the river, but others prefer to come to the Pagoda by boat. Tourists are encouraged to make this trip, inevitably do in the light iron boats crowd on the pier. The ride over an hour in the calm waters of the river that run partially between the limestone walls of the Huong Tich Mountain is a true delight.
The shirts are all women, whose husbands, children or parents were martyrs who died or were maimed during the war in Vietnam. They get a salary but not to transport passengers, while other members of his family farm the land or are engaged in beekeeping.
The Perfume Pagoda is actually a complex of pagodas, which include Thien Chu (Pagoda that leads to heaven), Oan Ciaia Chu (Pagoda of Purgatory), where devotees believe that the deities purify their souls, heal their suffering and ensure offspring to childless households. The heart of the resort, however, is the Huong Tich cave, with signs of having been inhabited for more than two thousand years. The downside is that it is on top of a hill, whose ascent is strenuous, especially if the floor is wet from the frequent rains.
Once aloft, you find yourself with lots of vendor booths with souvenirs, stamps, food and water, and in all places of pilgrimage in the world, Buddhist or not. Having passed this test, one must descend a long stairway to the mouth of the cave, inside which is the sanctum sanctorum, a simple altar where the faithful kneel and pray with unction, resulting in highly emotional scenes.
Up the stairs back to what one takes up almost inevitably forced to pause to regain strength in any of the tables that offer food and beverages. But that's where vendors await you to harass your resting with his indefatigable persistence. Patience, brother. After declining by mechanical means and cross over a number of courtyards and pagodas and sellers, the smile of my barquera to reach the river I found the meeting with the seraphic angel welcomes you to the gates of paradise.
much I can count the return journey, except it was a peaceful journey down the river (upstream Or was it? The truth is that the power failure plunged into doubt me), really enjoying the scenic beauty and tranquility of the surroundings, and no pilgrims. Then another two hours threshing rice by the people and roads of the granary of Vietnam.
The tour is very pleasing to the leg. Things are constantly being discovered, through interesting villages, enjoying the field work, etc. The back usually gets a bit tired because there is little energy. But it's worth the effort.
not required but highly recommended is to give a tip to the boatmen. They are very friendly and do work very hard.
Text: Francisco Lopez-Seivane in eight leagues
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