About 60km southwest of Hanoi lies this striking complex of pagodas and Buddhist shrines built into the karst cliffs of Huong Tich Mountain (Mountain of the Fragrant Traces). Among the better-known sites here are Thien Chu (Pagoda Leading to Heaven); Giai Oan Chu (Purgatorial Pagoda), where the faithful believe deities purify souls, cure sufferings and grant offspring to childless families; and Huong Tich Chu (Pagoda of the Perfumed Vestige). It's extremely popular with Vietnamese tourists from February to April, but remarkably peaceful during other times.
Getting to the pagodas requires a journey first by road, then by river, then on foot or by cable car. The journey is half the fun, but don't try and do it without a guide: most tour operators offer day-return trips here from US$20 to US$30.
Travel from Hanoi by car for two hours to My Duc, then take a small boat, rowed by women from the local village, for one hour to the foot of the mountain. This entertaining boat trip travels along scenic waterways between limestone cliffs. Allow a couple more hours to climb to the top and return. The path to the summit is steep in places and if it’s raining the ground can get very slippery. There's also a cable car to the summit (one way/return 80,000/120,000d), and a smart combination is to catch the cable car up and then walk down.
