The water surface is so still you can see the veins of the leaves of the trees above reflected in it.
Truoi Lake , which is named after the location, lies in a grassy valley nestled between mountains.
Drive 30km from the ancient citadel Hue , take a right turn afterTruoi Bridge in Phu Loc District, then go 10km on a road bound on bothsides by bamboo to reach the lake.
The banks of the two-hectare lake touch the feet of four mountains.
The mountains, which are foothills on the northern side of Bach Ma(White Horse) Mountain Range, are covered by primary forest. Bach Ma,reaches 1,444m above sea level and is slightly cooler than Da Lat Cityin the Central Highlands. The French started building their resortvillas in Bach Ma since 1925.
The mountains now serve as a tourism site and a nature reserve –known as Bach Ma National Park, famous for its amazing white cloudsthat look like horses on the mountain peaks all year round.
Everyone knows Bach Ma Mountains but Truoi Lake is a well-keptsecret. "The lake’s low tourist profile has kept it clean fromrubbish," says Tran Thi Le, who runs the only boat services on thelake.
Le says the lake’s crystal clear water is thanks to the mountainstreams, which feed it. "The water is extremely cool as well," the56-year-old boat-woman says.
Water from the lake now supplies an adjacent reservoir in thedistrict’s Loc Hoa Commune that supplies water for households andfarming. To control the water level in the reservoir a unique dam witha tower built in the Nguyen dynasty style has been constructed at thelake mouth.
"I have never seen any kind of water in my hometown as clear as inthis lake and the water is really cool," says Nguyen Hong Linh, a younggirl from Cuu Long ( Mekong ) Delta, as she splashes around excitedly.
Because the lake supplies the reservoir, residents hope it will stay clean forever.
The only service on the lake is Le’s and her colleagues’ boatservice, which costs 15,000 VND each person to cross the lake to thepagoda on the other side or 300,000 VND per trip around the lake or togo further upstream to visit some waterfalls.
"Tourists often want a tour to take photographs," Le says.
A pagoda on top of one of the mountains is silhouetted against the sky.
Truc Lam Bach Ma is the nation’s fourth Zen monastery belonging tothe Vietnamese Buddhist zen sect. It was built only last year and theother the ones are in Quang Ninh province’s Yen Tu, Vinh Phucprovince’s Tay Thien and Da Lat City’s Phuong Hoang mountains.
It has traditional pagoda gates, bell towers and halls for Buddhist practice.
It is an amazing experience to climb the 173 stairs to its gates.In Buddhist theory, one of the ways to see Buddha or to be zen is toclear the mind. Climbing up the stairs, while keeping count of thenumber of steps and breaths, blanks your mind. Amazingly there are nothoughts during the climb.
The lake is also used as a tool for Buddhist practice. When youtravel on it, thanks to its beauty, transparency and peace, you takelight breaths and make gentle movements to not disturb the watersurface. That’s a meditative practice in Buddhist theory. Buddhistsconsider the lake as a place to wash the guilt from their body beforeseeing Buddha.
Looking back at the boat from the pagoda gates before going backdown the stairs, one can see the sitting Buddha on a tree covered hilljutting into the lake.
Not far from Hue City and Lang Co Beach Tourism Zone, Truoi Lakeand its Zen monastery are a reminder of Hue ’s poetry and its Buddhisttradition./.
Truoi Lake , which is named after the location, lies in a grassy valley nestled between mountains.
Drive 30km from the ancient citadel Hue , take a right turn afterTruoi Bridge in Phu Loc District, then go 10km on a road bound on bothsides by bamboo to reach the lake.
The banks of the two-hectare lake touch the feet of four mountains.
The mountains, which are foothills on the northern side of Bach Ma(White Horse) Mountain Range, are covered by primary forest. Bach Ma,reaches 1,444m above sea level and is slightly cooler than Da Lat Cityin the Central Highlands. The French started building their resortvillas in Bach Ma since 1925.
The mountains now serve as a tourism site and a nature reserve –known as Bach Ma National Park, famous for its amazing white cloudsthat look like horses on the mountain peaks all year round.
Everyone knows Bach Ma Mountains but Truoi Lake is a well-keptsecret. "The lake’s low tourist profile has kept it clean fromrubbish," says Tran Thi Le, who runs the only boat services on thelake.
Le says the lake’s crystal clear water is thanks to the mountainstreams, which feed it. "The water is extremely cool as well," the56-year-old boat-woman says.
Water from the lake now supplies an adjacent reservoir in thedistrict’s Loc Hoa Commune that supplies water for households andfarming. To control the water level in the reservoir a unique dam witha tower built in the Nguyen dynasty style has been constructed at thelake mouth.
"I have never seen any kind of water in my hometown as clear as inthis lake and the water is really cool," says Nguyen Hong Linh, a younggirl from Cuu Long ( Mekong ) Delta, as she splashes around excitedly.
Because the lake supplies the reservoir, residents hope it will stay clean forever.
The only service on the lake is Le’s and her colleagues’ boatservice, which costs 15,000 VND each person to cross the lake to thepagoda on the other side or 300,000 VND per trip around the lake or togo further upstream to visit some waterfalls.
"Tourists often want a tour to take photographs," Le says.
A pagoda on top of one of the mountains is silhouetted against the sky.
Truc Lam Bach Ma is the nation’s fourth Zen monastery belonging tothe Vietnamese Buddhist zen sect. It was built only last year and theother the ones are in Quang Ninh province’s Yen Tu, Vinh Phucprovince’s Tay Thien and Da Lat City’s Phuong Hoang mountains.
It has traditional pagoda gates, bell towers and halls for Buddhist practice.
It is an amazing experience to climb the 173 stairs to its gates.In Buddhist theory, one of the ways to see Buddha or to be zen is toclear the mind. Climbing up the stairs, while keeping count of thenumber of steps and breaths, blanks your mind. Amazingly there are nothoughts during the climb.
The lake is also used as a tool for Buddhist practice. When youtravel on it, thanks to its beauty, transparency and peace, you takelight breaths and make gentle movements to not disturb the watersurface. That’s a meditative practice in Buddhist theory. Buddhistsconsider the lake as a place to wash the guilt from their body beforeseeing Buddha.
Looking back at the boat from the pagoda gates before going backdown the stairs, one can see the sitting Buddha on a tree covered hilljutting into the lake.
Not far from Hue City and Lang Co Beach Tourism Zone, Truoi Lakeand its Zen monastery are a reminder of Hue ’s poetry and its Buddhisttradition./.
