Linh Phuoc Pagoda

Linh Phuoc at Trai Mat outside Da Lat is known as the ve chai pagoda - the broken glass pagoda - because its surfaces are covered in mosaic assembled from smashed bottles, porcelain and tiles: a dragon in the courtyard some forty metres long made from beer bottles, columns wrapped in fragments, walls, towers and even the interior of the underground hell chambers. It was built from 1949 and extended enormously from the 1990s, with a seven-storey bell tower holding a very large bell that visitors write prayers on. The tourist train from Da Lat station runs out to Trai Mat, which is how most people arrive.

What you actually see

• Mosaic from broken glass and china - covering the whole complex.
• A forty metre dragon - made largely from beer bottles.
• A seven-storey bell tower - with a bell covered in written prayers.
• The tourist train from Da Lat - the usual way out to it.

When to go

Year round. Half a day including the train.

Honest expectations

The underground hell chambers are graphic and unsettle some visitors, particularly children. It is a working pagoda and busy with domestic tour groups. The train runs to a limited timetable and needs a minimum number of passengers.

Nearby

Da Lat is west; the Datanla waterfall is south of the city.