The Perfume Pagoda

Based on the advise of friends who had previously traveled to Vietnam, we signed up for a trip to the Perfume Pagoda. 

Our adventure began in Hanoi with a ride on a bus.  After much shuffling between buses to get everyone to fit.  We headed off to a small town that was about an hour outside of Hanoi.  On this trip we met more Americans than we had seen in one location outside of going to Osan (the location of a US military installment).  There were eighteen out of forty Americans on this particular trip.  When we reached the small town they tried to pack all of us into two boats.  As they shuffled around the people on the boats to get people to fit it became apparently clear to most that we were all not going to fit in the two boats.  I say most because the Vietnamese were really trying to pack us in and even commented on another boat that passed us with 25 Vietnamese people on board.  But there was no way we would have fit.  There were still thirteen people standing on the shore as they tried to squeeze us on.  Finally an American family said get another boat to the guides after some reluctance they did. This was a good thing because the third boat ended up having to stop anyways and shifted the weight around so that the boat would stop taking on water.  Nothing makes you feel better than being in the middle of a foreign country on a river of an unknown depth wondering whether you are going to have to swim for it.  All kidding aside.  Once they got the load portioned out it was a nice boat ride up the river to the base of the mountain where the temple was located.  Everything was lush and green.  It was a peaceful ride.  Once we reached the base of the mountain, we passed the rows of taxi boats that lined the shore to start our hike up the mountain.  The guide book stated that the climb consisted of 1229 steps to the top.  I think "steps" is a term used loosely; the so called "steps" were pieces of rock that had been smoothed in places because of years of wear and tear.  On top of that they were coated in a layer of slick mud because of the mist.  This was one set of steps where going up was the easy part, the coming down would prove to be a bigger challenge.  When we reached the top, we descended into a valley to see the pagoda. Although it sounds exotic and mysterious it really equated to a cave with a bunch of Buddhas packed into it.  Granted, the cave had some nice stalactites and stalagmites, I question as to whether the  walk up the steep so called steps was worth the trip.  The word "perfume" was also used loosely in this case since it defined the burning incense and papers to the Buddhas.  I lost Chris again in all the "perfume"  The guide kept trying to get me to leave but I said no I don't have my husband.  Finally, Chris and I found each other and headed down the mountain.  After three slips by me, Chris had the worst one.  I watched him go up and completely parallel to the ground and down on his back.  Thankfully, he had on a backpack with sweatshirts stuffed in it and his head hit a sand bag.  Off went his glasses and his hat.  He got up a lot muddier but was ok except for a minor scratch on his elbow.  About two thirds of the way down the mountain we stopped at one of the restaurants and had lunch with everyone in our group.     After lunch we checked out the temple that was located near the restaurants.  This temple was what we had expected to see at the top.  It was very pretty and had many pagodas.  The whole setting on this mountain.  After our brief tour of the temple we headed back with the group to the boats and back on the bus to Hanoi.

All in all the boat trip was nice.  I think I would have gone with a different tour agency and at least the temple was nice.  I don't know if I would have chosen that again.  I think I would have preferred the trip to Sapa to see the villages if we would have had two days time.

The military museum and the Hanoi Hilton

On our last day in Hanoi, we wondered around the city in search of mementos to take home and visited the Vietnamese military museum.   The museum was interesting but painted a view of the whole Vietnamese war in a totally different way.  Somewhere I read or heard that history is told through the eye of the teller.  This is so true here.  I never thought of the US as puppet masters who tried to persuade the south to oust communism but this is how it is depicted.  Much of the rioting of the anti-war in the US is depicted in photos and Jane Fonda is given much prevalence in at least one display which includes the complete speech she made on the radio. Although I was not alive for this period in our history, the whole view from both sides is just saddening.  I can understand some of the Vietnamese view as they are a small country who has been invaded by the Chinese and the French in the past and overruled as though they are second rate.   After fighting these kinds of battles for centuries, any country that comes in to help with a battle could be viewed as a beast.  I don't know the US side well enough to comment on it. I just left feeling a little disappointed that this is how we are viewed in a prominent museum that gets a lot of visitors from around the globe.  I am sure we do the same in our museums too for things but I have never seen us call anyone a puppet master. 

We also managed to make it to the "Hanoi Hilton".  The prison camp that was used for POWs during the war.  The camp was originally built by the French and was used to house Vietnamese prisoners during French occupation.  Man oh mighty, the torture tools the French left were pretty bad. It amazes me that human beings can be so cruel to each other. There were many pictures of how US soldiers lived in the Hanoi Hilton.  Each of the pictures depicted civility and kindness. After reading an article about McCain's visit in 2000 this is just more propaganda.   Most of the prison has been destroyed and is now the site of two large modern buildings only a small portion of the original buildings remain.   

At the end of the trip I left Vietnam thinking that it was an interesting country that could have much more potential for exploration than we had time for but that it was not a country for everyone to visit.  One has to be able to look past the history of the Vietnam war, the madness of the motor bikes, and the sanitation practices to enjoy the hidden beauty, the amazing food, and the friendly people of Vietnam.  I imagine that if I were born prior to the Vietnam War and could remember it my sentiments may be different.