The Ban Tinh Xa Pagoda (or Nirvana Pagoda) contains the huge Lying Buddha, one of the biggest in Vietnam. It is pretty amazing – and big – lying sedately on its side underneath gorgeously carved wooden beams.
But just as incredible is this large ceramic statue in front of the Buddha that is made entirely of broken porcelain or ceramic china.. It’s terribly ornate and incredibly detailed, like some giant mosaic statue.
We proceed upstairs, past the ceremony being held by the monks for the trainees at the temple with all the food offerings..
…arriving on a balcony overlooking the waterfront. There are great views here and the white roof of the temple below makes a great contrast with the hazy sky…
There are statuary up here, as well as a huge dragon boat filled with plantings and a mausoleum with urns of cremated ashes.
This is also where the large bronze bell is located – one that you are supposed to be able to ring for luck. But there is now a large cover on the gong – so we can’t really ring the bell. But we can try to decipher all the little notes pasted to the bell – assumedly for good luck too.
Time for lunch! We’re all getting a little noshy by now, so lunch comes at the perfect time. San takes us to Quan Tre where we have a set lunch with so many dishes, it is hard to finish everything! There is salad, stir fried meat with peppers, fried chicken, fried pork, assorted vegetables, some sort of green vegetable soup fried crunchy rice and fruit for dessert. All excellent – and all gone by the end of the meal!
Fully sated, we head to the restroom – through the construction zone (yep, we had to walk across the rebar ladder type walk way to that door you see on the other side of the restaurant…
…and pass by all the fish tanks with the snails, sharks and other varieties of fresh fish you could choose for your meal.
Then back to the van for the last two stops of the day.
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