Visit Ba Chua Xu Temple under Sam mountain-a sacred and mysterious land in the South of Vietnam
Hi everyone!
Another weekend has come. How did you guys have a week? Whether it's a good week or not, please treat yourself to a very happy weekend to rest, take good care of yourself, to fight a new week that is coming.
I've had a pretty busy week with work until today I still have to work, and only get to rest every Sunday. So I will take advantage of that little time to rest, make the most of it, and hope for the best for all of us.
Around the beginning of this year, when the Covid pandemic in my country had not yet broken out again, everything was stable at that time.
And to take advantage of my vacation of the year, I took a trip to the South West of the country with my friends, in early April, which lasted for 10 days, and it was the longest trip that I have ever taken. My initial plan was to go with 3 people, including me and 2 other friends in Da Nang, with 2 motorbikes. But then, fortunately, another friend joined, he is from Ho Chi Minh city but has never been here before, and we have not known each other before. So our trip has 4 people, including 2 boys and 2 girls.
I and 2 friends moved into Ho Chi Minh city by plane before the departure date. 4 of us departed from Ho Chi Minh city at 9:00 AM. Our first place in this journey and would like to introduce to you is a very beautiful temple called Ba Chua Xu Temple. Unlike where we live in central Vietnam, here people call it the West River, because of the interlaced system of canals of the Mekong River, which originates from the Tibetan mountain of China. Because there are many rivers, travel between the two banks is mainly by ferry (a ferry is a form of transport of people and vehicles running on the water when the bridge has not been built). On that journey, we were transported on 2 such ferries. It felt very new and exciting when for the first time we seemed to be floating in the middle of a large river, and could breathe in the wind, admire the immense water, slowly leave this side, and after 15-20 minutes was granted a berth on the other shore. It's strangely interesting.
After a long journey for the first day of departure, we reached this shrine at 4:PM. It is a temple, dating from ancient times and restored over time. Ba Chua Xu Temple is located at the foot of Sam mountain in Sam mountain ward, Chau Doc city, An Giang province. Ba Chua Xu Temple has many mysterious legends surrounding the birth situation of the temple, which has been passed down from generation to generation. Here is associated with the mystical sacredness and many religious beliefs that have existed for a long time. With its sacredness and fulfillment, it is expected that Ba Temple will attract millions of visitors to visit and worship, especially on weekends, or holidays and Tet. Ba Chua Xu Temple on Sam mountain is not only famous for its sacredness but also known for its unique and beautiful architecture.
The Temple of Ba has the layout the shape of a tower in the shape of a blooming lotus, a three-story roof, and a very strange blue tile roof that we have never seen in a temple before. The patterns in the ancient main hall show bold artistic characteristics. Inside the temple, it is designed and decorated with bold Indian art. The temple doors are carved and sculpted by artisans.
Objects from ancient times and the offerings of pilgrims are carefully arranged, adding to the sanctity of this sacred place. Here, the campus is extremely spacious and airy with green shady old trees and many beautifully shaped ornamental plants.
From January to April of the lunar calendar every year, this place is always crowded with people to visit. Because this is the time of the festival of visit Ba Chua Xu. Many people say that if you sincerely pray to her with sincerity and respect, it will be given to you.
After a round of sightseeing and sincerely praying for blessings from Ba Temple, we decided to go to the top of Sam mountain to watch the sunset. The road to the top of the mountain is quite winding, but it is not difficult to go, combined with driving a motorbike gives us a great feeling. About 15 minutes by motorbike from Mieu Ba, we were here. Luckily, when we reached the top, we were able to admire the sunset here before the sun disappeared behind the mountains. Looking down from the top of the mountain, the scenery is very poetic and majestic.
From here, we can see below is a ripe yellow rice field, a bright yellow stretching to the foot of the mountain in the distance.
The weak golden sunlight at the end of the day shines down on the field, brightening up a golden color that enhances the mysterious beauty of this land. At that moment, time seemed to slow down, everything stood still and watched the sun gradually sink to the horizon, disappear behind the mountains, ending a brilliant day.
Beautiful sunset view from the top of Mount Sam
Dinner in Chau Doc city under candlelight due to a power outage
After a long day of riding a motorbike and visiting the two places above, we chose for ourselves a motel to stop and prepare for the next day's journey. This land of Chau Doc, An Giang with its mysterious sacredness leaves each of us with different emotions. And especially, we love to experience the feeling of starting and ending a day in a new land during our trips. And watching the sunset on the top of Sam mountain is one of the most beautiful sunsets that I have experienced.
Thank you for reading my article, and please follow my journey to discover the Southwest region of my country Vietnam in the next articles!
Have a nice weekend!!