Tran Quoc pagoda by the West Lake (Photo: Trong Duc/ VNA)

Tran Quoc Pagoda on a small peninsula at the east end of West Lake, is the oldest pagoda in Hanoi. It is over 1,500 years old and was recently voted the most beautiful pagoda in the world. The pagoda’s lakeside setting is particularly enchanting and visitors are given incense to burn at the multiple shrines within the complex. The pagoda’s Bodhi tree grew from a cutting taken from the original tree in Boh Gaya, India, under which the Lord Buddha sat and achieved enlightenment.