Temple - Lunar New Year Celebration

Every year a festival will be held in Chua Huong Pagoda ( Perfume Pagoda ) from February to March. Chua Huong Pagoda is actually not a temple but a cluster of temples located in the vicinity of Huong Son also known as Perfume Mountain. Huong Son is located about 70km southwest of Hanoi.

This year the festival officialy starts on the 6th day of the lunar new year but few days before that visitors are already flocking to the pagoda to pray.

Though the temple can be reached by road but many visitors opt to go by boat to enjoy the cool air and the scenic beauty of the place.


















No life-vest for passengers ? If i were there, i wouldn't want to take such boat ride



















The place does look nice



















After the boat ride, it's time to ascend to the "summit"

... and for some, it's time to descend to the pier to catch the boats


















Visitors can also reach the temple ground by cable car. People queueing up to purchase tickets for cable car ride.


















Impatient visitors attempt to "jump" queue. It was reported that sale of tickets had to be halted from time to time to clear the "backlog" of passengers before new passengers were allowed in.


















Thousand of visitors thronged the pagoda ground




















Incense smoke permeates the air. I believe burning insense do raise the temperature a bit, a respite for the visitors there.


















This is the more popular temple here. It is called Thien Tru Temple meaning Heavenly Kitchen Temple. According to folk legend, the temple got its name from the formation of rocks there that looks like a chef busy cooking away in a kitchen


















A food stall selling meat. The animal seen hanging up there ( on the left ) is a goat but at a glance it could look like a dog, a favorite delicacy in Vietnam.