Travel to the Perfume Pagoda, a vast network of temples and shrines built into the limestone Huong Tich Mountains—the most important religious site in Buddhist Vietnam. Ride in a row boat on beautiful waterways, trek up steep mountain paths, and marvel at centuries-old temples.

Get picked up from your hotel in Hanoi and travel south to a river harbor. Ride a bow boat along a romantic stretch of the Yen stream before arriving at Thien Tru harbor. Trek up a mountain to reach Huong Tich cave, a huge cave on the top of a mountain. After the Lunar New Year, thousands of Vietnamese pilgrims come here to pray for health and prosperity.

Hike down at eat lunch at a local restaurant at the foot of the mountain. After lunch, visit the Heaven Kitchen Pagoda, and learn more about ancient Buddhist architecture under the Le Dynasty. Travel back down the river by row back and then drive back to Hanoi, arriving back at your hotel in the early evening.