Pilgrim for good health and luck for New Year

       Going on a pilgrimage in the spingtime is a chance to enjoy the tranquil atmosphere of the pagodas, to rejuvenate oneself after a year of hard work and to pray for good health, luck and happiness. Ben Thanh Tourist is offering tours to the pagodas the upcoming Tet holidays to discover ancient architecture as well as to offer prayers to the Buddha.
The first stop on the “Trips to the Southern Land” is Vinh Trang Pagoda, a national cultural relic located in My Tho City. The second stop is a pilgrimage to Van Linh Pagoda on Cam (Forbidden) Mountain, which stands imposingly in the Mekong Delta at an altitude of 710 meters.
Trekkers to Van Linh Pagoda will visit small pagodas and be rewarded with magnificent scenery, a clear view of Asia’s largest statue of the Mitreya Buddha which is 32 meters high, as well as a panoramic view of Great Buddha Pagoda.
Next stop is Ba Chua Xu Temple, located at the foot of Sam Mountain in Vinh Te Commune, Chau Doc Town in An Giang Province. Tay An Temple, a notable Buddhist temple known for its historic and architectural features located near Sam Mountain, five kilometers from Chau Doc, is also included in the tour.
Before saying goodbye to the Mekong Delta, tourists can shop for clothes and specialties at Dau Bo Market. The two-day tour, priced at VND845,000 per person, will run on February 7 and 8.
The two-day-and-one-night “Pilgrim to Mountain Pagodas” tour to Chau Doc-Long Xuyen-An Giang leaves HCMC for Chau Doc from Phu My Hung, a modern urban area in southern Saigon. After enjoying specialties in Sa Dec including Lai Vung pork roll, milk glutinous rice chapatti and glutinous rice chapatti mixed with shrimp powder, tourists will visit Hang Pagoda (Cave Pagoda) in Chau Thanh District, Tra Vinh Province. The pagoda is known not only for its wooden sculptures but also for the crowded bird yard in front of the main temple. The tour continues to Muop Pagoda, Ba Chua Xu Temple, Tay An Temple and Thoai Ngoc Hau Tomb.
On the second day, tourists will go to Long Xuyen Province for a trek to Cam Mountain, passing That Son area on the way. The trip will give tourists a chance to admire the scenery on Bay Mountain (Seven Mountain) near Chau Lang – Xa Ton.
At Cam Mountain, tourists can visit Van Linh Pagoda, Great Buddha Pagoda and the 32-meter-high statue of Mitreya Buddha covered in the cool weather and peaceful sceneries of rivers and mountains.
On the way back to Long Xuyen District, the tour will pass Co To mountain with its splendid landscapes, and lotus fields in Thoai Son. The tour is priced at VND925,000 per Vietnamese tourist and VND1.025 million per foreign tourist, and departs weekly on Friday and Saturday.
Another tour to Chau Doc featuring ten famous ancient pagodas and temples in the Mekong Delta is also offered. Beginning at Vinh Trang Pagoda in Tien Giang Province, the tour moves on to Buu Lam Pagoda and Linh Thuu Pagoda, home of many ancient statues and famous Buddhist parallel sentences, Ngoc Hanh Zen monastery, Ngoc Hoa Buddhist temple, Phuoc Hung old pagoda, Huynh Dao Pagoda, Tay An old pagoda and Mieu Ba Chua Xu (Xu Lady Temple).
The two-day-and-one-night tour will depart on February 7 and February 14 in HCMC and costs VND815,000 per person.
Ben Thanh Tourist: 86 Ly Tu Trong Street, District 1, HCMC, tel: (08) 3520 2020, email: domestic@benthanhtourist.com or sales@benthanhtourist.com.