Rip-off prices and fake bush meats at Pagoda Fest

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Tens of thousands of pilgrims have flocked to the Huong Pagoda Festival in Hanoi to pray for good luck only to enjoy fake wild meats and be charged rip-off prices, sometimes 10 times higher than usual.

Parking cost goes up 10 times, from VND2,000 to VND10,000-20,000 (up to $1) for a motorbike, and VND40,000-60,000 per car.

To arrive at the pagoda where the 3-month festival kicked off yesterday, pilgrims have to take a boat to cross Day River.

The fixed price for a one-way boat trip is VND25,000 (US$1.2 ). However, each tourist needs to tip the boatman VND50,000-100,000 in order to arrive safe and sound.

Along the road, oriental doctors offer free pulse readings but then prescribe pricey medicines, which are just some normal herbs.

To fill up their stomach, visitors may need to think again as a meal could burn a hole in their pocket. A cup of coffee costs at least VND40,000 and a glass of hot tea VND100,000.

>> The Pilgrim's tales

While a bowl of Pho (noodles) can cost around VND20,000 in downtown Hanoi, here the price is 10 times higher with poorer quality.

One of the attractions of the Huong (Perfume) Pagoda is the beautiful Huong Tich cave. But to reach there, one needs to walk or take a cable car and this is where troubles start.

Although the ticket booth is located nearby, many people were forced to buy from scalpers at a more expensive price.

Because most pilgrims choose to walk step by step to the cave to demonstrate devotion, the trip lasts long and thus hotels spring up to cater to their needs.

Needless to say, prices are all exorbitant, around 3 times higher than normal.

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The Pilgrim’s tales

A large crowd of pilgrims jostle on the way up to Huong Pagoda

Photo: Tuoi Tre

Tens of thousands of pilgrims are jostling, pushing, and littering up the sacred place at the Huong Pagoda in Hanoi as the famous Huong Pagoda Festival opens Tuesday, to last three months.

The pagoda, in My Duc District, is a cultural and historical relic of Vietnam and according to traditions, on the sixth day of the lunar New Year which is today, people would arrive at the pagoda to pray for wellness and fortune.

Huong pagoda is not one temple but a cluster of temples and shrines in the general vicinity of Huong Mountain, built during the reign of Le Chinh Hoa (1680 -1705), by a monk.

Other shrines and temples were later built in this area to take advantage of the beautiful scenery.

Tuoi Tre captures chaotic images around the site today:

 

 

A large crowd of pilgrims jostle to the entrance gate of Thien Tru Pagoda – one of many sites belonging to Huong Pagoda to lay their offerings to the gods for fortune

 

Some shop owners offer odd service by charging VND2,000 – 10,000 for each pilgrim to use their shops as shortcuts to the pilgrimage site

 

After squeezing in to visit some locations, visitors take a rest and start to throw away garbage

 

Many young people try to enter a sacred site to pray by climbing over a hedge

 

Children buy violent toys on their pilgrimage path

 

Many jostled and waited up to 2 hours for their turn to take a cable car to the Huong Tich Cave – lying midway on the side of Huong Tich Mountain and 400m above sea level