'White Horse Mountains' (apparently named this because the surrounding clouds resemble herds of white horses), hosts a large lake. The lake hosts an island. The island hosts a rambling Zen Monastery!

Most tourists come to a place to see the tourists sights . Some long-term travelers bemoan the same places. "Don't go there," they say, "it is too touristy".
 
But, I beg to differ. When I get to a place my first goals are to see the thing or things the country or city is known for. These are the 'touristy things'. I've read and heard about these things and I want to see them for myself.
 
After seeing the sights the majoriry of tourists come to see, I then enjoy seeing the 'off the beaten path' parts of a place. That's not always possible, though. Sometimes the transportation is just not in place to get to those places, or maybe there are not adequate places to stay while there. Or, maybe I just do not know about those 'off the beaten path' things to see.
 
This is why I keep returning to Cambodia and Vietnam. The locals here are easy to get to know and, after a while, they want to take me to see what I call the 'non-touristy things'. Oftentimes it means long rides through the countryside, which I love. It's almost always on the back of a motorbike in sunshine or rain!
 
This brings me to what turned out to be a great adventure today .
 
My motorbike driver is Bang. I met him a couple of years ago while visiting here. He worked at a small cafe close to the hotel. He speaks good English and is a very nice young man, in his 3rd year of University now. When I returned this time, he not only works at the cafe, but also gives tours to foreigners, by motorbike, now offered through the cafe.
 
I have been to see the 'touristy' things on my previous visits here, so I cannot give him my business.
 
Bang wants me to visit the home of his parents while I am here this time, though. His 'homeland' is an hour or two ride away on the motorbike. Like most students he has a room in Hue while attending the university.
 
The day before we decide to go to Bang's parent's home, he says he wants to pick me up early in the morning, because he wants to show me around his homeland.
 
This was how an interesting day to White Horse Mountain and the Zen Monastery came about!
 
It's the end of the rainy season in Vietnam and we ride through some small roads that are still flooded. At one point we rode past a Vietnamese military cemetery . Bang drove past it, but I asked him if we could stop so I could see what it looked like.
 
That's a good thing about these small motorbikes. You can stop quickly, turn around easily and go anywhere, roads or not!
 
Once outside the city limits, the countryside was beautiful. The roads varied from small paved ones to dirt.
 
At one point a small herd of cattle were meandering down the road and would not let us pass. Bang honked the horn and shouted, but they didn't care. We tried to drive in amongst them, but they didn't give way! We finally resolved to just follow them until we could get a chance to go around. After maybe 5 minutes, we came to a place where there was just enough space to go around them.
 
Going through some small villages at one point there was even a concrete road! Who lives around here with enough pull for a cement road? It was a small road, but still yet, it was cement! As a matter of fact, it was so small that when a truck came toward us, we, along with the other motorbikes and bicycles, had to get off of the road to let the truck pass . I got a photo of it. The wheels of the truck were barely fitting on each edge of the road!

The road was built with motorbikes in mind, no doubt. When we turned off to go to Bang's parents house, we rode down a small path -- through the fields -- made by motorbike tires. There is not a driveway from the road to the house for a car. Like most Vietnamese, Bang's father has a motorbike but no automobile. The path leads through the woods until we arrive at his house, hidden back here in the forest.

Bang's father was away working in the fields, but his mother and sister fixed a very nice Vietnamese meal for us. We sat on the floor eating, as is the Asian way. Only Bang could speak English, so he translated the conversation back and forth. I often wonder why the locals I meet want me to visit their families. Usually the one that takes me is the only one in the family that speaks English. But, it seems very important to them for me to go to their homes and meet their families . I try to do it, if I have time, before moving on to my next destianation.

I didn't get any photos of his family (too busy with the meal, I guess) but I got one of Bang standing on the porch. We walked through the woods surrounding the house. He pointed out pineapple trees and some mango trees and other types of fruit trees on their land. Bang is a really nice guy and comes from a really nice family.

After lunch, we rode into the White Horse Mountains! Beautiful scenery! At the lake we waited at a dock. No one spoke English, and all the signs around were in Vietnamese. This is not a place where a lot of foreigners visit, except maybe other Asians from Buddhist countries. They come to visit the Zen Buddhist Temple here!
 
Bang tells me it will be expensive to hire a boat to go to the island. But, if we wait for the Buddhist people to come we can ride over with them.
 
The Constitution of the Socialists Republic of Vietnam allows freedom of religion . But, the religion has to be licensed and is monitored by the communist government.

The religious teachings cannot contradict the government. Officially (declared by the government) the Socialist Republic of Vietnam is an atheist state.

The U.S. and the Vatican criticized the Vietnamese government for it's lack of religious freedom in years past. So, in the last few years Vietnam began to allow some religious freedoms in order to gain favor with western countries in order to improve the Vietnamese economy.

There are still strong government controls over the religions, though. Ministers are not allowed to proselytize or teach doctrine opposed to, or critical of, the Vietnamese government. Just within the last couple of years a Latter Day Saints minister was arrested and his house burned for teaching doctrine that criticized the government.

Vietnam is one of the least religious countries in the world, only 24% claiming any religious beliefs . Although the majority of Vietnamese regard themselves as having no religious affilation, there is a lot of superstition and beliefs in ghosts and spirits of the dead.

Of the religions that are approved by the government, the Buddhist are the majority (12.2%) and the other approved religions are Catholic (6.8%), Protestants (1.6%), some Muslims and a few others.

Buddhism is taken more seriously in Hue than in other parts of Vietnam. But, I still don't see monks walking the streets here collecting alms, and I don't see any pagodas around town like in many other countries. I know there are some here, but I guess you would need to get away from the area I stay in to find them. I do see Buddhist followers in Hue burning offerings to Buddha once a month on the full moon.

So, today we are going to the Buddhist Monastery, Truc Lam Bach Ma. It sits on the island in the middle of the lake, with the mountains behind it making for a awesome backdrop .

This monastery is of the 'Zen Buddhist' form of Buddhism. Zen Buddhism originated in China centuries ago and emphasizes meditation into the nature of Buddha.

Our small boat landed with it's load of Buddhists followers . . . and me! 

The others headed up the hill, but I saw a path leading off to the side. I asked Bang where it led. He said to a huge Buddha statue. I asked him if we had time to hike around the island to see it. Everything has been said in Vietnamese and I do not know how long before the boat returns to pick us up. I just let Bang take care of the details.

He says we have time, and we take a nice little hike through the hills, around the island, until we reach the giant Buddha Statue. This is fun to do. And it lets the others from our boat go ahead to the temple. This way it shouldn't be so crowded by the time we go there.

Our hike was a beauty, taking us up and down the mountainside through the woods . At the end of the trail, we found a stone statue of Buddha 24 meters high (72feet) and weighing 1,500 tons (3 million pounds) meditating on the hill. We were the only ones from the boat that tackled this hike. I think they missed a great experience. Too much walking for them, I guess.

After our hike, we returned to the path leading up to the monastery. You need to climb 172 steps to reach the gates. Just as I hoped, the people that came over on the boat with us had finished their visit of the temple. So, we avoided the crowds and went at our own pace seeing things.

We walked through some very impressive gates, actually there are 3 of them, at the top of the stairs. Inside the gates is a nice, meditative-style garden. (Zen Style).

The temples are surrounded by the dense, primitive forest on this island. I really like the setting. The forest just comes right up to the temples on all sides .

The buildings around the mountain are situated in 3 'zones'. There is the 'outdoor zone' where there are exotic flowers and trees taken care of by the monks and nuns that live here. Then, there is the 'monk zone', where they live and work. And the 'nun zone'. There are over 20 buildings, both large and small, to see.

There are pagodas with rambling hallways to walk through, and stairs to upper levels to climb. There are carved dragons and murals of the life of Buddha everywhere. The pictures tell the history of Zen Buddhism.

Bang paid his respects to Buddha by lighting the incense and bowing to the Buddha image. A woman, with shaved head and robe (like a monk) came to chat with him. I didn't get a chance to talk with her since I am not fluent in Vietnamese. She smiled and offered me some incense sticks to burn for Buddha, though.

It was a great day with my Vietnamese friend and his family. I saw things I would not have seen with any other guide! We made a few other stops along the way, even at a beach. The rain was off and on during the day, but at least it was not cold.

NEXT: "Uncle Ho Takes A Bath"