Hanoi,
Vietnam
Friday, October 5, 2007
We booked a trip to see the Perfume Pagoda 60km outside Hanoi. This is basically a series of pagoda's in one area. A typhoon had hit central Vietnam but the side effects had hit the North. We were up at 7 to get our bus (2 hour journey) south of Hanoi, the rain was belting so hard outside our hotel, I asked the guy on reception if the tour will be still going ahead. He rang the tour operator and assured me that the rain was only in Hanoi, so we headed off in good faith. On arrival we were hounded by Vietnamese women to buy everything from Oreo biscuits to Vietnamese hats. The weather was bucketing it down, but we kept to the schedule. Four people got into a boat (slightly larger than a canoe, or a currach in Ireland) plus one Vietnamese woman rowing. We were sitting in a boat in the middle of a river while the rain was teeming down on top of us sharing a box of cashew nets the American girl produced. If you did this of free will in Ireland they would sign you into the mental. This caper went on for an hour until we reached the bottom of a mountain. But the fun was only about to begin. The mountain had been flooded so basically a flash flood was gushing down towards us from the mountain. We had to climb this mountain to get to the Pagoda (and our restaurant in the village halfway up). Just picture it, we are all struggling up this mountain while a river of water is coming down against us...see the pictures to believe it. When we reached the middle area, where the little village was the day before, it had been completely flooded. The Vietnamese men carried some boats from the river up the mountain to transport us across the village to the restaurant. Our guide Kenny, who we liked before this, informed us we had to pay for the boat. The entire group ganged up and refused as we had paid for the trip. Long story short, we were transported to the restaurant (who's walls are just about withstanding the water trying to flow through it). Everyone's spirits were dampened (get the pun) as we were fed up, wet, miserable and again informed we needed to pay to get to the caves (also included in the tour). In the end we decided to stick to the pagoda only and then head back home.
While wondering around the pagoda we must have entered the monks quarters, he was really sound about it and invited us all in. He gave everyone a gift of a New Years magazine from 2002, sure what could we do but laugh, after all its the thought that counts!!
We returned to our boats, back down the mountain. Going down was much easier. There were wooden planks put down so that we could access the boat. Fiona was coming along the plank and a woman summonsed her to pay her for putting the planks down.
Another hour sitting in a boat, in a river, rain teeming down when we arrived at the mini-bus. While Fiona was getting off this other woman approached her tell her she must give the woman rowing money, like a tip. At that stage she could sing for it! We spent the next two hours sitting in a bus, in wet clothes waiting to get back to our hotel... what a day! It has to be said, the scenery in this area is beautiful and on any other day I would imagine it to be breath taking... this was lost on us as we battled with trying to stay as dry as possible!!!!
We never appreciated the power shower more that this evening... we met up with the American girl that evening at our faithful 69 restaurant to finish our day with a nice bottle(s) of wine!
