Pagodas, a boat ride and stairs!

We got picked up at our hotel this morning by a limo bus for a long day tour. We drove south for just over 2 hours to the Bai Dinh pagoda, which is actually a few different pagodas with various statues and altars in each. We found out that the difference between a pagoda and a temple is that pagodas are for worshipping Buddha, whereas temples are to worship Vietnamese national heroes, such as a king, a queen, a general, a successful Confucian scholar, or a national liberator (Ho Chi Minh). There are 1000 stone statues around all of the buildings and these are in honour of students of Buddha. There are also small glass encased gold Buddha statues everywhere - we learned that for a donation of 10,000,000 Vietnamese Dong (about 600 Canadian) people can purchase these to put on display and have their name etched underneath the statue! We saw the amazing altar with the golden Lady Buddha (also known as Goddess of Mercy) who has 1000 hands (😳 couldn’t we all use that around the house! 🤣🤣), and the statue of Buddha and his 2 Disciples. Our guide told us they are all made of copper but covered with gold leaf. The tall Pagoda behind the main ones is the tallest in Vietnam- we didn’t get to go in that one, but it was pretty impressive!

After leaving Bai Dinh, we went for lunch at a little Vietnamese resort - it was a “boo-fay” as our tour guide called it, and as usual, amazing food! We left the restaurant and headed to Trang An, where we boarded a small rowing boat and spent the next hour and 40 minutes navigating the waters of this area, which is also known as “mini Ha Long Bay” due to the limestone rocks jutting out of the water, the emerald colour of the water, and the many caves we went through. The weather was a little cloudy, but the rain stayed off and it was an awesome tour!

Next we went to an Eco Village in the Ninh Bin area. There are some lovely water features in the park, as well as stores, restaurants and the usual touristy stuff. Then there are the stairs.... our guide told us there were 500 stairs to get to the top of “the dragon” to enjoy the amazing view over 2 valleys - seemed more like 800! I made it about 3/4 of the way up, but then the the transition of each stair was knee high, and no rails to hold on to, so I erred on the side of caution and waited for Dave to get to the top to take his photos! Even at the level I got to, the view was amazing! We descended the stairs, got back on the bus, and began our long ride back to Hanoi. We arrived back at the hotel around 7:30, had dinner and are ready to fall into bed after a long but interesting day!Read more