by We woke early as today we went to the perfume pagoda. After getting some bread for 1000 dong each piece, we set off on a two-hour bus trip. From there we had to catch a boat to the pagodas. The perfume pagoda is not only one pagoda but a series of big pagodas among the mountains. The boat was long and thin, we had eight people on board plus the two lady paddlers. Others were fitting 29 on their boat (17 feet long and 4 feet wide) they were not far above the waterline.
After about 15 minutes we stopped at the first big pagoda then it was back in the boat until we reached the main area, approximately one hour. We walked along the stony paths past many stalls selling food, drink, and trinkets until we reached the pagoda area. After having a look around we began to climb to the top of the mountain. Up 400 very uneven stone stairs to the cave pagoda. There were people everywhere as March and April is festival time. It is questionable whether this was worth all the effort however it was interesting to see everyone worshipping their stalagmites and stalactites and poking money into them. Unfortunately all the touching means they won’t continue to grow. We went back down the hill and had lunch, then it was off to the boats for rowing back. When we got off the boat the girl was asking for a tip from everyone. Then we caught the bus back to Hanoi. After a free drink at the red River cafe with Sean, Magella, Signe, and Alexandra, we headed out in search of water puppets and our silk pillowcases. Only one shop made silk pillowcases. We also purchased some water puppets 3 for 6US dollars then home to pack and bed.
