A Visit to Chùa Thầy

Location: Due west of Hanoi near Sài Sơn. Turn left at the Daewoo Hotel and proceed straight past Big C out of Hanoi on the Láng – Hòa Lạc Highway, currently under construction. When you see the first karst formation on the right, turn right at the Đáy river into the village. Or, take bus #216.

Not so far from Hanoi, away from the road under construction, across the rice field, is a smallish lake. On the far side of the lake lies a village and behind it rises a karst mountain covered with vegetation. In the lake, as if floating on the water, is the pagoda-style water puppet theater. Upon the peninsula on the right shore of the lake, within garden landscaped grounds sits a pagoda. Each building of the pagoda is higher than the one before it, each roof swooping in a gentle curve.

If you’re not in a hurry, you may sit in the garden of the temple and listen to the chanting of the monk. There are many houses of worship here with many statues of deities, and many other beautiful statues too. And if you are energetic, you may climb the hill behind the village, visit the pagodas at the top, then descend into Cắc Cớ cave with the bones of the ancients. Afterward, you may return through the village and rest again at the pagoda.

This is Chùa Thầy in the village of the same name, and bus #216 can take you there if you don’t own a motorcycle or a car of your own. Plan a quiet half day for the whole experience. And, don’t forget to visit the đình (communal house) dedicated to the architect of the pagoda.