On the morning of February 14 (the 5th day of Tet), tens of thousands of people flocked to the Huong Son Scenic Relic Area – Huong Pagoda (My Duc, Hanoi City) to sightsee and worship. Huong Pagoda Scenic Area is one of the famous spiritual tourist destinations on New Year’s Day, with only 2 days of ticket sales (the 3rd and 4th days of Tet), the Management Board of Huong Son Scenic Area said. There were more than 56,000 visitors.
The entrances to Huong Pagoda on February 14 were crowded with people. Photo: Gia Khiem
Many people brought offerings to Huong Pagoda. Photo: Gia Khiem
According to the Management Board, the price of two-way ferry services this year has increased, going on the Huong Tich route is 85,000 VND/person (an increase of 35,000 VND), the Long Van – Tuyet Son route is 65,000 VND (an increase of 30,000 VND). Ticket prices for scenic spots also increased from 80,000 to 120,000 VND/person/turn. Cable car ticket price, round trip is 220,000 VND for adults, 150,000 VND for children. One-way ticket price is 150,000 VND for adults and 100,000 VND for children.
People pass through the ticket control point. Photo: Gia Khiem
A new feature of this year’s Perfume Pagoda Festival is the establishment of the Perfume Pagoda Tourism Service Cooperative to end the situation of unregulated solicitation and spontaneity that causes inadequacies in tourist service activities. Photo: Gia Khiem
This year, Huong Son commune opened a Huong Pagoda tourism service cooperative with more than 4,000 boats. The organizers of the Perfume Pagoda Festival hope that the implementation will contribute to professionalization and end the offensive scene of solicitation and asking for money.
The boat system serving the 2024 Festival is managed by the Huong Pagoda Tourism Service Cooperative, and the implementation is directed by the People’s Committee of Huong Son commune. Photo: Gia Khiem
People bring flowers to worship at the temple. Photo: Gia Khiem
Busy stream of people entering Huong Pagoda. Photo: Gia Khiem
The weather this morning is cool, very suitable for spring travel and sightseeing. In particular, this is the last day of the Lunar New Year holiday, so the stream of people flocking to Huong Pagoda has been very crowded since early on, causing cable car riders to have to wait for many hours.
As noted by PV Dan Viet, from early morning, the stream of people flocking to Yen wharf to take boats to the pagoda becomes crowded. The peak time is from 7 to 9 a.m., when thousands of boats operate at full capacity to serve the sightseeing and pagoda ceremonies at the beginning of the year of the people.
The path to Huong Pagoda is crowded today. Photo: Gia Khiem
Cable car riders have to wait many hours. Photo: Gia Khiem
Due to the large number of people coming here, the cable car area became crowded. The ticket purchasing area, waiting room, and even the queuing path also became crowded. Many people were tired of moving step by step to get to the cable car area.
Sharing with us, Ms. Nguyen Thi Nga (from Ninh Binh) said that at 3:00 a.m., her family of 5 people drove to Huong Pagoda. At around 5:00 a.m., the whole family was here to take the boat to Huong Pagoda.
“Every year my family comes here to visit and worship. Tomorrow, some family members start work so now is a very suitable time. However, there are too many people coming here. We have to After waiting for nearly an hour, I could still only move about 10 meters and the distance to wait for the cable car was still very long. But with this situation, taking the cable car is fast, but waiting for several hours, it’s very tiring to squeeze each other,” Ms. Nga shared. shall.
Many young children eagerly follow their parents to attend the Perfume Pagoda ceremony at the beginning of the year. Photo: Gia Khiem
Because waiting too long…. Photo: Gia Khiem
…. so there are tired people lying down to rest after visiting the Perfume Pagoda. Photo: Gia Khiem
Sharing the same sentiment as Ms. Nga, Mr. Chuong Viet Nam and his wife and children said that every year, going to Huong Pagoda is crowded, so go early to avoid traffic jams but are still “helpless”.
Mr. Nam took his wife and children out of the cable car line and chose to walk to the temple. He said: “I waited 30 minutes but I was still in line too far. I saw people in the line ahead of me but still had to wait very hard, so I gave up my ticket, got out of line to save time, and had to go. That’s it”.
Many people decided to walk to Perfume Pagoda. Photo: Gia Khiem
As noon approaches, the number of people flocking to Huong Pagoda increases. The festival’s organizers estimate that this year the number of people coming to Huong Pagoda during Tet Giap Thin will increase sharply, more than 20% compared to the year Quy Mao.
Perfume Pagoda Festival (My Duc district, Hanoi) in Giap Thin will officially open on February 15 (January 6). This is the longest festival in the country (until the end of the third lunar month), attracting millions of visitors each year.
This year’s Dragon Festival, at the Huong Pagoda scenic spot, the following opening and closing times apply: from Monday to Friday, the boat wharf starts welcoming guests from 5:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., on weekends it will be open from 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Security forces are arranged, ready for the opening day of the festival. Photo: Gia Khiem
Exchange with PV Dan VietMr. Nguyen Ba Hien – Head of the Management Board of Huong Son Scenic Relics Area, said that although the festival officially opens tomorrow on the 6th day of Tet, it has already welcomed more than 140 thousand people flocking to Huong Pagoda.
Specifically, according to Mr. Hien, from the 30th day of Tet and the 1st and 2nd day of Tet, the relic site is open for free to welcome about 30,000 people to visit and worship. “From the 3rd day of the Dragon Festival (February 12), which is also the first day of ticket sales for the 2024 festival season, more than 21,000 people came to Huong Pagoda. On the 4th day of the Lunar New Year alone, there were 56,000 visitors to the pagoda. Traveling in the spring, going to festivals. Today it is expected that there will be about 35,000 people, tomorrow the festival will have about 30,000 people,” Mr. Hien said.
It is expected that the number of people flocking to Huong Pagoda in the early spring will increase, the Management Board of Huong Son Scenic Relic Area proactively develops plans to ensure safety for tourists. Accordingly, all work has been carefully prepared in advance, security and order and traffic issues have been very favorable so far.
Mr. Hien emphasized that the security plan for this occasion has been approved and the security subcommittee is ready for the opening day of the festival.
“We deployed troops right from the 2nd day of Tet (February 11). From the 4th day of Tet, there were reinforced forces from the city police at the blocking points. We mobilized about 150 people from different forces. to ensure safety and maintain security and order for people during the festival,” Mr. Hien stated.
In order to end many inadequacies related to ferry ticket prices here, the Huong Pagoda Festival Organizing Committee decided to establish Huong Pagoda Tourism Service Cooperative – the unit that manages boat driving activities at the relic site.