Scent of a pagoda

Today I took the obligatory trip to the "Perfume Pagoda." It's a group tour kind of thing that involves a two-hour bus ride, a boat trip and a hike. The bus drops you off at a river bank where several ladies in conical hats are waiting to row you upriver. They take 4 passengers per boat for a slow one-hour row, wait for you to come back, and then row you back. For their troubles, you tip them a generous 50 cents.

The hike is about 4K up a steep hill in extremely hot and humid weather. I was a ball of sweat. But the payoff is pretty impressive - the pagoda is not really a pagoda at all, but rather a large cave set into a jungle-covered mountainside. There's a dramatic set of stairs that leads into the cave, and several alters with incense smoke wafting back up toward the entrance. The smokiness, the incense smell, and the flickering lights makes it all very atmospheric.

Also, I said I'd send some pictures of my current residence, so here's a photo of the outside. We are on the 3rd and 4th floors of this building.