TRAVEL

Travel is only glamorous in retrospect ~ P. Theroux

I could tell you a lot of really interesting travel facts about the Perfume Pagoda. Set amongst the limestone hills and tropical forests of the Huong Mountain region, I could tell you about the network of magnificent Buddhist shrines set in limestone caves. I could tell you about the strong women who shuttle tourists back and forth up the Yen River on flat-bottomed boats, or even about the deep respect (and consequent self-loathing) I developed for the joyful elderly Buddhist women overtaking me on the climb up to the main shrine.

Or I could tell you about how I ended up sitting in a metal boat in the middle of an open river during a tropical deluge, feeling rainwater seep in through my ambitiously named raincoat to drench my tickets, passport and about a hundred dollars worth of ratty Vietnamese dong, while waiting to be fried into oblivion by the enthusiatic lightning storm crashing down around me.

Or I guess I could just tell you about the bit where I saw a dog being chased by a chicken.