Hue's oldest pagoda is “one of the city's most beautiful places,” says Rusty Compass. “Early mornings and late afternoons are spectacular,” and it's “an easy cycle from town along the Perfume River too.” The tower has seven levels, is 21 metres tall and is “the tallest such structure in Vietnam,” explains Sacred Sites. Its name (literally "Heavenly Lady") comes from the legend of an old woman who “appeared on the hill where the pagoda now stands” and told the local people that “one day a King would come and build a Buddhist temple for the country’s prosperity.” In 1601, “on hearing this legend,” King Nguyen Hoang purportedly began construction of the pagoda. On our way to to the pagoda, writes Travel Talk, we passed “young lovers smooching on the riverbanks and a few water buffalo having a swim.”