Chua But Thap

Goddess of Mercy Quan Yin with her thousand eyes and arms to see all and help those in need.


Wooden statues of Buddha dating from 17th century, recognized as some of best in Vietnam.

This wooden prayer tower from the 17th century, is built in the form of lotus petals.

Chua But Thap

Located outside Hanoi, near Dinh To village, is the ancient Chua But Thap, built in the 13th century. Seven houses align on a 100 metre axis flanked by 32 long corridors of 26 column bays.

This pagoda has the finest examples of Buddhist statuary in the country, so will show you some of them in the next post.

Last look at Sapa

The French instigated a building boom in the 1930's as an escape from the coastal heat. The weather was wet the entire time so photos were very difficult.

Looking over the wall into someone's vegetable garden.

This restaurant, built on the side of a hill has an interesting walkway up to it.

A break in the weather - so lets have a parade.

The rain cleared enough one afternoon in Sapa for these men to practise their marching for a parade.

We never did find out what they were celebrating, but it was very colourful and brightened up what had been a very wet, muddy day.

Sapa's hill tribe people

The people from the hill tribes surrounding Sapa, are well known for their heavily embroidered fabric and costumes.

Not only are their costumes colourful, but so are some of their names – White Dao, Flower H’mong and Black H’mong.

School Days

While walking in the country-side near Sapa, we happened upon this village school. The children in one classroom were quite excited to see us; they don't have much but they seemed a happy lot.

Great weather for ducks and buffaloes

Ducks like the wet and so do water buffaloes. In the rice paddies around Sapa water buffaloes are invaluable to the farmers, and unlike the farmers don't mind being out in the rain..

Views around Sapa

The countryside around Sapa is stunning and rain adds another dimension to the landscape.

Beasts of Burden

Horses are still used extensively throughout Vietnam to haul loads.

Victoria Hotel - Sapa

Sapa is reached by an overnight train trip from Hanoi and then a bus trip through stunningly steep mist-covered mountains with rice terraces clinging to their sides.

Staying at the Victoria Hotel eases any discomfort you may have had getting there.