After the time in Hoi An visiting a relative and Chuc Thanh Pagoda where my grandmom's grave is located, we came back to central Da Nang. After lunch, finding that we still had some time, I suggested dropping by Metro. No, I didn't mean to buy anything there; I was just curious to see a wholesale supermarket in Viet Nam and recalled Cosco, a similar type in the U.S where I sometimes shopped. Metro was right in the city, just about a 5 minutes' drive from our place. Too bad our entrance was denied by a guard just because of my brother's little daughter who was not tall enough to be admitted according to the
regulation there. He explained that it was for security reason. We tried to negotiate but well, regulation was regulation and we failed. I don't remember there was such a routine in Cosco or not but it seemed weird to me although the reason that the guard offered didn't sound unreasonable. Of course we couldn't leave the girl outside and we decided to leave. Another idea came suddenly when we looked up to the right. On top of the mountain located a
pagoda named Linh Ung with a giant statue of Bodhisatta (Quán Thế Âm). The car took us there on a beautiful and winding road with mountains at one side and the deep blue ocean at the other. Atop the mountain, the wind was blowing extremely strong and we felt cold. It was a windy day though. So imposing was the enormous statue in front of the pagoda looking down to the ocean. I admired those who had made the statue. Despite its huge size, the statue looked graceful and lively. Linh Ung was a brand-new pagoda which was built with the aid and encouragement from the city authorites with the aim of creating a place for people to worship. Compared to other places in the country, Da Nang doesn't have much to see for tourists and when they don't have things, they're wise enough to create things. Remember to click on each pix to see its larger version.
Da Nang is well known for its Marble Mountain and the fact that marble statues scattered around the pagoda is its evidence though frankly I was suspicious of the origin of the marble. As I know, the explotation of marble in Da Nang has recently restricted to protect the mountain itself that has been so far the landmark of the city.
As normal is, the beauty of a pagoda is the beauty that has stood the test of time and it's certainly impossible to require that from a recenly built construction.
An accident, if we can call it that way, happened to us on the way back to Hue though it was completely not our fault. Why our car was running across a crossroads, a motorbike carrying two young girls suddenly bumped into us. The two girls fell down and we heard a horrible sound. Our car stopped and the police soon appeared. On the car, we looked at each other in fear of troubles. Our driver soon got off the car running to the two girl. Some minutes passed and we were relieved to see him back. The thing was, earlier before that, there had
been an accident and the victims were still lying there on the sidewalk. The scene attracted the girls' attention. They were busy looking at the crowd when crashing into our car. The policemen were aware of that and let us go after giving the two girls a word of warning.
It was the Bodhisatta who blessed us.
Final words: It's said that while the giant statue was being erected, a halo appeared around the head and the picture of it is now on display in the pagoda, hence the name Linh Ung (namely sacred).
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