Despite the cold weather, pilgrims flock to the Perfume Pagoda to pray for a happy year. Organizers expect to attract some one million visitors this spring.

Local authorities have cleaned up Hanoi’s Perfume Pagoda Festival in hopes of making the collection of mountain shrines a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The site is just 60 km southwest of downtown Hanoi, in My Duc District’s Huong Son Commune, (formerly part of Ha Tay Province but merged with the capital city last September). But the dusty pot-holed drive to Huong Son can still take up to four hours.

Pilgrims from all over Vietnam visit the site regularly, but up to 40,000 visitors hit the site to pray for a prosperous and happy year on a peak day during the annual two-month-long Perfume Pagoda Festival, which opened Saturday.

After a drive out to the site, the real journey begins with an hour-long rowboat trip up the Yen Vi River, through a stunning karst landscape of mountains and streams.

Then up a very steep mountain path, worn smooth by countless pilgrims chanting prayers and seeking blessings at the mountain’s many shrines, which have been cut into the rocks at several beautiful caves and grottoes.

The uphill trip takes an hour.

Inside the main pagoda is cold and damp, but the stalactite and stalagmite formations are enchanting, each with its own legend and shrine.

The main pagoda, actually a cave, is packed to the brim every day of the festival.

The festival improves

The Ministry of Culture - Sports - Tourism has been working on applying for UNESCO World Heritage Site status for the pagoda since 2005.

The work has entailed many renovations to the site and the surrounding area’s infrastructure, which were previously seen as cumbersome and out of date.

To many regular visitors, the Perfume Pagoda Festival has become a more enjoyable affair in recent years as a result of the efforts of local organizers.

“Last year, I had trouble with parking because of the crowds,” said Nguyen Thanh Ngoc, a resident from Ba Dinh District.

But since last year’s festival, both local roads and parking areas have been improved.

Tran Van Quang, a visitor from Nam Dinh Province, said “I like attending the festival with my parents and wife very much but we are always scared of being ripped off and pick-pocketed.”

Indeed, visitors to the event often need to navigate a complex obstacle course of hawkers and beggars, some of whom have no problem reaching into pockets and purses.

But at a press conference two weeks ago, Deputy Chairman of My Duc District and Chief of the Huong Pagoda Festival Organizing Committee Nguyen Van Hau said some 600 staff, including 180 policemen, would work at the site day and night to ensure security.

He also said that more than 70 sanitation workers would ensure cleanliness at the festival in line with standards issued by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment.

“To deal with boat traffic, some 3,700 boats and 5,000 rowers have been trained and licensed to ensure steady access and fair prices for passengers. The boat and entry ticket prices have been printed on posters and leaflets to prevent unfair pricing,” he said.

“As the former Ha Tay Province is now part of the capital city, we predict a considerable increase in the number of visitors to the festival this year and the following years,” he said, hinting at the easier access to promotional funding and know-how that local authorities enjoy as part of the nation’s capital city.

“We’ve been focusing on enhancing infrastructure and services including educating our staff with updated tourism training, especially English language skills,” said Hau.

He added that the festival’s slogan this year was: “Security, Civility, Courtesy, and Effectiveness.”

A system of 45 cable cars was put into operation three years ago to ferry visitors to and from the high-altitude pagoda from 4 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. every day.

Since 2007, the My Duc People’s Committee has spent nearly US$450,000 on roads, public toilets and security stations around the pagoda.

The festival’s organizing committee has placed new strict hygiene regulations on local restaurants as well.

Additionally, more than 4,000 Huong Son Commune locals took part in a hospitality training course recently, learning how to better communicate with tourists, protect their environment and provide guided tours of the monuments.

Reported by Tuong Nguyen