The Peaceful Perfume Pagoda

Today we went to Perfume Pagoda. This is an incredibly beautiful spot that takes a few mediums of transportation to get to. First, we went by van from Ha Noi for just under 2 hrs. Next, we were rowed in a little boat along the river (overlooking mountains) to the pagodas. We took short walk next and arrived at the tram. It was really something! Yanic, of course just loved that part. Coming from Maine, we have never seen these used anyplace other than at Sugarloaf or another big ski mountain. It was a beautiful ride up as we overlooked the mountains, taro farms, pagodas, and people working in the field way down below. The Perfume Pagoda was in a large cave that you had to take stairs into. Yes, there were bats! The pagoda itself was also very unique as it was literally in the mountain. We walked along and found all of the different altars, lit inscense for those loved ones that have passed, and made wishes on a the "tree of gold." This was just a lightly colored cave formation. The kids really enjoyed it. Little Brother really likes jumping down stairs and he didn't really care much about anything else. The little guy actually yelled for a taxi a couple of times while in the tram. This was really funny because there were no motorbikes, no taxis, no HORNS! Such a peaceful day with out the horns.

On the way back, while paddling down the river, we saw some people working. One group of fishermen really caught our eyes. They had small metal fishing nets on a long pole that was connected to a battery in their boat. The were shocking the fish to catch them! It brought Jody back to her childhood of catching night crawlers in the garden at night with her father and grandfather with an electric pitch fork! Jody will tell you for sure that there is a sharp electric current that comes out of there!!

We have our last item of official business tomorrow afternoon. We have to then wait for the processing before we can leave. New departure date for us is next Tuesday the 19th. We are still debating on what to do for the weekend. We are still thinking of taking the train to Sa Pa. it is a long journey that will need to include spending a night on the train in to get there and another on the return end. We will keep you posted as to how our meeting goes and what we decide to do for the weekend. Until next time... the Boulet 5!