Visiting the Bai Dinh Pagoda - a testament to cultural bewilderment.

Today, we decided to go country again, but this time to the south east of  Hanoi.  I am not sure of the name of the tour company but the bus we used was one of the Golden Lotus Junk group, and our very nice driver was Hai.  In spite of him being very nice, this tour reminded us why we tend to prefer finding our own way round and not relying just on a guide.

We woke up early for the 8 am start, but it took about an hour to pick up all the other members of the 28 tour members who were mostly from Vietnam,  with some Koreans and two Brazilians.  This offered us a different experience of touring since us foreigners were the minority.  I was interested to see what would happen and what occurred was that a) it was a bit cramped b) the last on ( Vietnamese ) had to sit on dicky seats, which were the only ones with seat belts and c) except for one man, just as in the trip to the villages two days ago, the Vietnamese were very reluctant to interact with the foreigners - even to the extent of not greeting us as they arrived.  It also meant that the locals got very long run downs of what was happening, complete with jokes, while the Brazilians, Aussies and Koreans got a very brief, confusing, summing up.  A bit frustrating since we had to ask questions to learn anything and even then, what we were told and  what we read were often contradictory.  So, what you read here is my "understanding" of the tour, and the "facts" may not, in, fact be true.

The trip on the bus this time passed through some new residential areas which were very groomed, gated communities of large apartment blocks, mostly empty.  Turns out that there was a building boom with much fanfare, then the GFC happened, a lot of potential customers wouldn't buy homes far from schools, shops, hospitals and other amenities, and  a lot of people were scammed.

We stopped at the usual " toilet stop" where people tried to sell us crafts.  Apparently one of these hand embroideries, about 600 cm square, would cost you about  US$220. I bet you very little of that goes to the embroiderer!

The trip took about 2 1/2 hours and covered about 98 kms, and the scenery was blocked from being clearly seen by the thickest air pollution ever.  You really wouldn't want to have asthma or respiratory problems in this country. The route was much more rural than the previous trip, though there were the usual billboards. And although we still saw vignettes of lives in villages, there were far fewer villages and lots more rice being harvested and left to dry on the sides of the roads, lots more water buffalo grazing, more crops, more fruit.  Bob can't get over how full of water Vietnam is .  We saw huge fish farms, but even when there isn't a fish farm or a duck pond, you get the impression of mud and water.  And this is the dry season!  

When we finally arrived at our destination,  we were a bit bemused.  It is billed as the biggest pagoda in South East Asia with hundreds of statues.  Turns out that that the government, and some private investors decided to build this huge tourist attraction in an area where the main industry seemed to be ripping down the beautiful limestone mountains which are so revered in Halong Bay, and turning them into cement.  As a result, lots of people lost their jobs, but more were hired to build the pagoda, which covers around  400 hectares.  We arrived at a market ( we were instructed not to buy anything) and then installed under some huge wooden buildings.  It is clear that in the future, there will be shops, hotels and other tourist drawing amenities dotted around the property which, incongruously for a pagoda, is surrounded by walls complete with razor wire and glass.

We were told to wait to be taken in electric buses up to the main pavilion area.  This added another 60000 dong to the price and it wasn't really negotiable. Some attempt has been made to start planting up the area but the plants are suffering, the added rocks look lost, and the jungle seems to be taking over.  We passed  an inexplicable sign on the security wall with pictures of wild boars and porcupines - was this a  food, a warning to beware of them or an advertisement for a sanctuary?  By now, we were beginning to make up our own stories about this excursion.  The original pagoda is nestled in this property but we weren't taken to see it.  Instead, through the smog, we saw this tower and assumed that was where we were going

But no, it was a work in progress.  No idea the name because we were being rushed so fast we couldn't ask.  Instead, we arrived at the entrance to the Bai Dinh Pagoda complex and were hurried along to start the tour.

  We galloped into the entrance and then were told that we had to hurry because we had climb 300 steps and cover 70 hectares of walled area.  The emphasis was on big.  We had to pass 500 stone statues and 10000 gold ones.

You can see here that there are still a few gaps in the alcoves, so if you want to buy a gold statue to install, you still can.

The ornamentation and craftsmanship was incredible, but was already beginning to show signs of wear and damage.

Because of this, the guide asked us not to rub the statues.  All the Vietnamese ignored him and I quite like the way the rubbing added interest, tone and colour to the statues

On the way up, we passed small pagodas/ bell towers/ ?????  who knows!

 

But we finally reached a large pagoda which was very imposing and devoted to the female buddha with 1000 hands and 1000 eyes:

It also contained the familiar Vietnamese image of the phoenix on the turtle

and two imposing wooden statues, each carved from a single tree.

Hurrying on, we passed a painting

 
which had been diligently covered in graffiti signatures.  Was this part of the original?  We hurried on

 galloping towards the objective of this excursion and passing a giant portals, a giant bell and a giant turtle

I am afraid that from now on, it all became a blur with occasional facts being flung at us and no cohesion or real understanding from our point of view.  The Vietnamese all seemed to know what was going on but we were totally bewildered and took photos of  three enormous buddhas made of bronze and coated with gold wearing 50 tonnes each, representing past, present and future

 and their accompanying guardians

  

 

and other sights

 

After taking in the smoggy view

 We were gathered in the Vietnamese garden, which was greatly admired by the Vietnamese members of the contingent

and then ushered down the mountain to the bus.  Phew!  the Brazilians plaintively pleaded for lunch and off we went.

I think you can tell that this was not our most favourite part of our trip to Vietnam.  Usually, I quite enjoy visits to Buddhist pagodas, but to me, and I have to say, to some of the Vietnamese, there was nothing spiritual about this place.  Not a monk or nun in sight either!  To be fair, it is  a testament to local craftsmen, a lot of Vietnamese are very proud of it, and it is clearly a place of great importance for many buddhists.  Perhaps, with a different tour, we would have had more understanding and felt less like we were in  the middle of some vast, incomprehensible, theme park.