Waterway at the Perfume Mountain Pagodas

We left early by care to drive south-west to HaDong and then south on a narrow road on top of a dike for some 2 hours to My Duc. The destination is the Perfume Pagoda Mountain. On the way, Nga talks a lot about the life of the rural rice growers, over 80% of the total population. She calls them peasants. She also talks about citizens, and soon it became clear to me that she is making a definite distinction. No matter how much they talk about the overthrow of what they call "feudalism", we have a new Mandarin class being formed and empowered in this country. It is a very classicist society.

The Perfume Pagoda is actually a system of a dozen sites in the mountains in one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen. Buddhists from all over VietNam go there for pilgrimage in March of each year. It is not a place visited by westerners, so off we went. Arriving at the end of the road on the dike, we walked a couple of kilometers to a waterway, where we boarded a small boat rowed by a woman. For an hour and a half we moved slowly and silently up the water way, surrounded by beautiful mountains towering out of greenness. This approach is designed to invite one into the harmony and serenity of this incredibly lovely place. It is a water trail to a magical site. Hundreds of boats are being rowed silently up the water way as we make out way.

Once there, we climbed up part of the mountian, visiting some temples and pagodas as well as several caverns. Nga had a picnic lunch for us on the side of the mountain. Descending the Perfume Mountain, we re-boarded our little boat for the quiet ride back. One thing broke the silence. We passed many little boats loaded down to the water with 25 or 30 people. People would pretend not to notice us until we waved or smiled, then, all of a sudden, they would smile and wave back with great pleasure. "They are all secretly looking at you," said our guide. We passed one boat and said, "Sin Chow."

That brought much response. Nga laughed and translated, "American speaks VietNamese?" they said. One man called over 20 ft. of water asking that I take their picture, so I did. He then wanted to see it. Another called out, "American Soldier?" I nodded, and he asked Ngh if it would be all right if he sang me a song. I said yes, and he began. Nga seemed troubled. "He is a former NVA Soldier," she said, "And he is singing an Army song about killing Americans. I said to tell him that his song was all right, and that the war was over many years ago. She translated, and all 28 people in the other boat cheered.

Soldier sings me a song, to the amusement of all