HA TAY TOUR 1 - BACK TO THE ORGIN

Ha Tay province is located west of Hanoi. The province is famous with picturesque landscape and ancient relicts. The culture heritages density of Ha Tay is 15/km2 in contrast to 3/km2 of country's average. The HaTay 1 tour leads you to Thach That district, where you will meet with not a single toursit during the whole tour.

After picking you up, the bus goes in west direction and will stop at Lang pagoda, which is located in the outskirt of Hanoi. The pagoda is no doubt the most beautiful pagoda of Hanoi in terms of space and setting. Here you will see several some hundred years old trees. You stay about 30 min. in Lang pagoda, then leaving for Thach That. It takes about 45 min. Our destination is the villages on the foot of the hill where Tay Phuong pagoda is located.

After getting off the bus, you immediately pick the bicycles and go straight ahead to explore the countryside. You will go through the rice fields, see how people work. You can talk and even work with them. You will visit some village's constituations: Yen Lac communal house, temple,. where local people will invite you for a cup of tea. On some day, you can have a chance to visit a market in the countryside. This market isn't opened everyday. Because of the number of customers, which is not very numerous, the market is opened on certain days of the month.

At noon we take a 1 hour break for lunch and a little rest in a farmer's house. You can try to talk with them, use their house utensils, just try to live like them.

After lunch and a little rest you will ride again on different track. On the Xa cu trees road to a village where the houses had been built mostly with laterit stone, then on dike and enjoy the scenery on both side of a Tich Giang river, on the lane of a village made of brick that every married couple had to contribute for the village.

At the end of the tour you will visit the acient Tay Phuong pagoda, one of the most beautifull pagodas in North Vietnam. Leaving Tay Phuong pagoda you will head back to farmer's house and the Bus will bring you back to Hanoi.

Time schedule

7:50 Leave Hanoi by minibus or car, enjoy landscape and guide story on the way

8:20 20-min stop at a large pagoda in the outskirt of Hanoi

9:30 Arrive at the village, greeting the host family and get bikes. Start to ride on bike with our guide through picturesque scenes, stay at interesting places: rice field, pagoda, village assembly hall, riverside etc. You can make a stop on your request, everywhere we help you talk with people, learn about their life, let you take memorable pictures.

11:30 A noon break at the host home, relaxing and hanging around in Vietnamese style.

12:30 Start again to explore the countryside

Several short stops for guide stories, riding through exciting countryside: river dike, mulberry fields, brickfields, temple, war memorial etc., sightseeing, taking picture

15:00 Visit a nation-famous pagoda on the way

16:00 End of tour

17:30 Arrive in Hanoi

Appendix

Lang pagoda was founded in the reign of King Ly Than Tong (in the 12 century), dedicated to Bonze Tu Dao Hanh, a superior monk who reached the peak of the Way in Buhddism in the time of Ly Dynasty. It was built right on the ground of Tu Dao Hanh parents house. Lang Pagoda is one of the oldest pagodas in Hanoi . Though it had been repaired many times it still remains its antique look. The father of the bronze Tu Dao Hanh was killed by another buddist priest. To get revenge he went to Tibet to learn buddist with two friends.

After coming back and killed the enemy, he went to peach, built many pagodas in the area around Hanoi. After he died, he reborn him selves as a male child of a royal family. As the reigning King did not have a son. The child was adopted as a crown prince and after his adoptive Father died, he became the King. But he did not reign long, maybe in this life he tried all the things he had not tried in the previous life, most with women. He died at the age of 20. In his reigning time, he built this pagoda to honor his previous life as a famous bronze.

On both side of the main hall are five torture-chambers: the east and the west. The altar is at the end of the main hall. On the altar is a statue of King Ly Than Tong made from wood and especially a statue of Tu Dao Hanh, which is not made of stone, wood or bronze but plaited of rattan and covered in varnish. Arccording to the legend, there was a broze buddhist bible too, the King read it when he came to visit but someone bad had stolen it.

Tay Phuong pagoda located on a hill and was first built by a chinese mandarin in the 6 century in time of chinese rule. He was a very good sorcerer, and in order to extend chinese rule in Vietnam, he built many buiding in some certain places that is above a good layer of earth (supposed to have a decisive influence on a man's fate). These house will damage or even destroy this good layer of earth and Vietnam will never raise again.

The Tay Phuong pagoda consist of three separate pagodas, the lower, the middle, and the upper pagoda. Each pagoda has 8 roofs, 4 up and 4 down. The corner between two roofs are decorated with statues of crocodile, dragon, phoenix, and lion. In the pagoda, each pillar stands on a stone that was engraved into a blossoming lotus. There are 45 wooden statues in Tay Phuong pagoda. The inner side of the roofs in the middle pagoda was engraved with motives of four sacred animals, dragon, phoenix, unicorn, and tortoise. But in U and L pagodas, it is the motives of flowers, leafs, plants, and mointains. In the lower pagoda there are 9 statues, the godess of mercy with her tausend eyes and hands, the 8 who known as the 8 bodyguards.

Yen Lac communal house is in Yen Lac village, Can Kiem commune, Thach Thai district, Ha Tay province. In Vietnam , each village has its own communal house. The communal house is the political and social center of the village, and a place only for men. In combination with the communal house, there are banian trees, village's wells, and village's pier. Most of this village's combination were destroyed in the past by wars of by human them selves. The Yen Lac communal house and its banian tree, a well, and a pier is the last remaining in Vietnam.

Yen Lac communal house is about 500 years old. There are 3 Gods that are worshiped here. They were friends of one of our 4 immortal. The Mountain Spirit. The maincourt was destroyed in the war again French, is rebuilt newly. The forecourt was spared. In one of the pillar there is a hole which was shot by a fighter in the war again French.

PRICE: $25/person (including: lunch, transportation, entrance fees, guide, bikes)