Perfume Pagoda pilgrimage continues to attract visitors

Water taxis: Pilgrims and tourists boat along the Yen Stream to reach the entrance of the Perfume Pagoda. — VNA/VNS Photo Thanh Tung

(VNS)The boat is drifting softly along the Yen Stream under the blue sky, passing a landscape of peaceful rice paddies, lillies and limestone mountains.
Sitting in the boat, my friends and I feel as free as birds, enjoying the gentle wind and the peaceful scenery passing gently by. We are travelling to the entrance of Huong Pagoda, better known as the Perfume Pagoda, Viet Nam’s most famous pilgrimage site for Buddhists.
Built in the late 17th century, the pagoda is located in My Duc District, 70km southwest of Ha Noi. It spreads out among the limestone hills and tropical forests around the Huong Mountain where a cluster of Buddhist shrines are housed. These surround deep caverns filled with marvellous kinds of stalactites.