Hundreds of motorbike taxi drivers solicit customers at the gate of a thousand-year-old pagoda in Ha Nam

According to VietNamNet reporters, on the afternoon of February 16, thousands of people went to Dia Tang Phi Lai pagoda in Ha Trung Ninh village, Liem Son commune, Thanh Liem district, Ha Nam province to celebrate the beginning of the year.

sour spicy 4.jpg — People come to visit and worship at Dia Tang Phi Lai Pagoda.

Due to the large number of visitors and the small road leading to the temple, the authorities have set up two barriers to prevent vehicles from entering the temple and avoid traffic jams.

The first barrier is about 1km from the pagoda to block the flow of cars. When tourists get off their cars here, hundreds of spontaneous motorbike taxi drivers solicit customers for 10,000 - 15,000 VND/person/trip to the pagoda.

It is worth mentioning that almost all motorbike taxi drivers carry 2-3 passengers at a time, do not wear helmets, and honk loudly. Many drivers even compete and solicit passengers, causing chaos right in front of the temple gate, affecting the beauty and tranquility of the temple.

When the authorities stopped these motorbike taxi drivers from entering at the second barrier, the group of drivers ignored the danger and drove over the rice fields to continue.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chuong (Hanoi) said that the number of motorbike taxi drivers here is very large, and the prices are not uniform. "The motorbike taxi drivers have destroyed the solemnity and serenity of the temple, they solicit and compete for customers to the point of arguing," Mr. Chuong said.

According to Mr. Chuong, local authorities should organize passenger pick-up and drop-off services in a more organized manner.

Regarding the above incident, a leader of Thanh Liem district said that the local government has sent functional forces to the scene to resolve the matter.

Although there was a police checkpoint, many drivers still carried passengers in groups of four.

Motorbike taxi drivers go through rice fields to avoid police.

Many drivers risk their lives by carrying many passengers at once to make money.

Dia Tang Phi Lai Pagoda is about 70km from Hanoi. The pagoda, formerly known as Dung Pagoda, was built around the 11th century. Over time, the pagoda's architecture has worn out, degraded, and is surrounded by trees...

In 2015, Venerable Thich Minh Quang took over, renovated and renamed the pagoda Dia Tang Phi Lai. Since then, every year the pagoda welcomes tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world to visit and worship.

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