Hanoi Countryside Cycle Trip Do Temple Phat Tich Pagoda 1 Day offers the opportunity to visit one of the most important temple, an ancient pagoda and many rural villages. Visit local house(s) and chat with local friendly villagers.
Car transfer to Yen Vien. Start cycling fro about 10K from Yen Vien to Den Do temple. There you make the first stop to visit one of the most important temple in Vietnam.
Den Do Temple, also called Ly Bat De temple was built in 1028 on the death of King Ly Thai To, and the complex enlarged as seven of his descendant Ly Dynasty emperors were also buried at the shrine. Traditionally the shrine serves for ancestor worship of the eight emperors.
After spending about half an hour, or an hour discovering the peaceful temple, learning an important piece of Vietnamese history, keep cycling for 15K to Phat Tich. There you make another stop to visit the Phat Tich pagoda, was built in 1057 during the reign of King Ly Thanh Tong (1054-72).
In 1066, the king ordered a tower to be built at the south of the mountain. Legend has it that a monolithic green stone Buddha statue showed up right when the tower later collapsed. The pagoda was reduced to ashes by French colonialists in 1948 and only restored in 1987. The giant Buddha Amitabha statue, installed outdoor on the mountain in 2010. The stone statue is 27m tall and weighs 3,000 tonnes. It was adapted from a similar structure from the Ly Dynasty. To reach it, you have to walk and climb. It’s like a pilgrimage!
Have lunch in a local restaurant.
After lunch, you can either take the car to get back to Hanoi or keep biking for 5 – 10K before being picked up by your car and brought back to Hanoi. Arrive back in Hanoi at about 16.00. Hanoi Countryside Cycle Trip Do Temple Phat Tich Pagoda 1 Day is completed.