Aquatic adventure in Tam Coc is wondrous
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| Tam Coc Tourism Site - Photo by An Bui |
Twenty-four hours after our stay there we visited Tam Coc and the three caves along the Ngo Dong River.
We arrived tired and grumpy and we expected to find it the ugly sister of the North East but the reality could not have been further from the truth. During our time there my boyfriend and I experienced a whole new definition of natural beauty.The first thing which warmed us to Tam Coc was the fact that getting to the caves involved an aquatic adventure.
The only way to reach the caves is via a three hour round-trip by boat, where skippers maneuver the oars with their feet instead of hands (which takes some getting used to).The caves are sold as the main attraction but they were outshone by the vibrant scenes we paddled past – rural life, vast limestone columns and rice fields with vivid green shoots.
We stopped in silence to watch kingfishers, woodpeckers and starlings at play, and marveled at the hundreds of butterflies and dragonflies which zigzagged by. Aside from the caves there is plenty to do. After a delicious lunch along the banks of the river we opted to explore Ninh Binh by scooter. In a few hours we saw the surrounding areas including the ancient capital of Vietnam (Hoa Lu) and the country’s largest National Park, Cuc Phuong. It was only when our camera memory cards became full that we realized it was time to go home. Our brief experience, packed as it was with beauty and wildlife, is a small illustration of the amount there is to see and do in this small corner of Vietnam.
Source The Saigon Times.vn
Bai Dinh Pagoda – the biggest in Vietnam
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| Bai Dinh Pagoda, Ninh Binh - Photo by An Bui |
As a tourist attraction, Bai Dinh pagoda is endowed with both scenic beauty and historical value. It is considered the largest complex of Buddhist pagodas Vietnam, which are either old or new. The old Bai Dinh Pagoda sits on a 200m high mountain, which has been recognized as a cultural and historical heritage site of Vietnam. The new Bai Dinh Pagoda covers about 700 hectares, near the site of the old one. Tourists often visit the pagoda area during their sight-seeing tour.
Every year, the Bai Dinh Pagoda Festival kicks off on the sixth day of the first lunar month, attracting tens of thousands of visitors. On the way to the old pagoda site, pilgrims have to climb stone steps to small ancient places of worship to pray for good luck and enjoy traditional ceremonial singing performed by local artists. Through the gate into the new Bai Dinh Pagoda area, visitors will see 500 Arhat statues, each 2.4 m high and weighing about 4 tonnes, standing or sitting on both sides.
The Bai Dinh Pagoda complex boasts having the biggest bronze Buddha statue in Southeast Asia, about 100 tonnes in weight, and three 50-tonne Buddha statues and two huge bronze bells. From Bai Dinh, tourists can go by boat to the nearby Trang An tourist site in Hoa Lu district. Along with the ancient capital of Hoa Lu, Tam Coc-Bich Dong caves and Phat Diem stone church are all on the to-see list.
Source Travelweekly.asia
Tree Caves of Ninh Binh are wonders
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| Tam Coc - Photo by An Bui |
Ninh Binh Province has many beautiful landscapes that can surprise tourists on their first visit, with the most famous sight Tam Coc (Tree Caves). The Tree Caves belong to the historic limestone mountains of Ninh Binh Province, which is known as Halong Bay on land, and are located in Hoa Lu Commune, about 100 kilometers from Hanoi. The best way to enjoy the magnificent Tree Caves is hiring a small boat for four people at Dinh Cac wharf.
For only five U.S. dollars, tourists will have a two-hour trip down the Ngo Dong River. Twenty minutes from shore, the boat takes in the first cave formed by the flow of Ngo Dong River into a limestone mountain for hundreds of thousands of years. The river’s name is said to have come from the cultivation of corn on both sides of the river.Further on, tourists will be faced with a second cave, lying between the standing mountains on the left named Ben Thanh and on the right is one shaped like a landing eagle.
By the river is a large, flat stone that is said by local people to be the resting place for Tran Thai Tong, an ancient Vietnamese king. The last cave is no doubt the most beautiful. The water running through limestone has formed many magnificent, living stones and local people have used their vivid imagination to link these stones with mythical characters. Along the river is many layers of green mountains, they seem to have grown from the deep water and cast shadows on the surface from the dawn of time. Somehow, tourists will spot a single stone house under the mountain where a local family raises goats, plant rice and fish to feed their family. Isolation is a way of life here.
Source SGT
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