The Celestial Lady Pagoda - Thien Mu Pagoda

Thien Mu Pagoda wasn't far from our guest house, but it ended up being a lot farther to walk than we expected! At least we got to see some beautiful scenery along the Perfume River while we walked along the long, dusty road for about four kilometers. The distance doesn't seem so bad, but the heat made it worse!

We finally arrived at Thien Mu Pagoda, where everyone else was arriving by motorbike or by tour bus. Hue is the Buddhist heart of Vietnam, and even after just a few days we could already tell that the central part of the country was far more Buddhist than the heavily Taoist and Confucian north. Thien Mu, meaning "Celestial Lady Pagoda", is a Buddhist temple in Hue overlooking the Perfume River.

The seven-story pagoda is a symbol of Hue, and one of the city's famous landmarks. The pagoda dates back to 1601, and has a famous story associated with it. Those were the final days of the Le Dynasty, when the Nguyen Lords ruled central Vietnam in tribute to the north before ascending the throne and establishing the Nguyen Dynasty. One day a Nguyen Lord was riding in the countryside, he met an old lady dressed in red and blue (the "Celestial Lady") who predicted that a lord would build a pagoda and become a great ruler. Then, she mysteriously vanished! The lord constructed the pagoda, and 200 years later, his family would rise up to become the imperial family of the last dynasty of Vietnam.

Thien Mu Pagoda is heavily influenced by the Zen school of Buddhism. The main statue inside the pagoda is of Maitriya, the "Future Buddha", who is supposed to come to the world in the future to bring Buddhist teachings when most have been forgotten.

The temple also has a garage holding an important Vietnamese relic: the automobile that carried Buddhist monk Thich Quang Duc to Saigon in 1963, where he self-immolated in protest. This moment was captured on film by an American journalist, and became an important symbol of anti-war protest.

Even though it's one of the city's major tourist attractions, it's also a working temple. We saw a small group of novices (kid monks) playing together on a wooden cart.

I already like central Vietnam so much more than the north! It's much less crowded, more peaceful, more laid-back, and feels friendlier. Hanoi, in particular is a very crowded, cramped, and slightly claustrophobic city. Here in Hue, there's plenty of  space!

That's one thing I like most about this temple; it's up in the hills over the river, and there is plenty of beautiful forest area to explore. It is shady, and even feels a little cooler!

There were so many tourists there, but it didn't feel crowded at all! The grounds were big and spacious, and it felt really peaceful. In fact, most of the time, it felt like we had the whole place to ourselves.

When leaving, we were bombarded by boat drivers offering to sell us package tours of the river or even to ferry us back to the Imperial City.

It was too expensive for our budget though, so we just bought some cold water instead, and set off back to the home stay on foot.