It takes around one hour to get to the pagoda, and rowers have to be careful to avoid hitting other boats in the dark and foggy conditions.

The Perfume Pagoda (Huong) festival is one of the most popular in Hanoi, and tens of thousands of people make the pilgrimage after Tet (Lunar New Year) to celebrate the spring festival that will last until the third lunar month or mid-April. 

To get to the pagoda, people need to take a boat along Yen Stream in My Duc District, and this year, many people have decided to set sail in the early hours to avoid the heat and crowds.

In the early hours of Wednesday, hundreds of boats sit ready to carry passengers to the pagoda.

As an agricultural country with a long history of rice cultivation, Vietnamese people used to take a month off for Tet to celebrate a new lunar year. Even now as the country becomes ever more industrialized, many people still stick to the saying: “Thang gieng la thang an choi” (the first lunar month is the month of partying). Around 50,000 locals gathered at piers along Yen Stream to sail to the Perfume Pagoda on Tuesday.

Rowers work nearly around the clock at this time of year.

In the early hours of Wednesday, hundreds of boats sit ready to carry passengers to the pagoda.“People are booking boats from 2 a.m., and huge crowds are a common scene by 4:30 a.m.,” said Hung, a rower.

It takes around one hour to get to the pagoda, and rowers have to be careful to avoid hitting other boats in the dark and foggy conditions.

“I never used to set out at night or in the early morning, but things have got much easier now. Rowing at this time is actually better as there are fewer boats and I can go faster,” said Sang, a rower who has been carrying passengers on Yen Stream for three years.

Source: VnExpress