Venues Banquet Halls

A UNESCO World Heritage Site, Trang An Landscape Complex is an impressive set of large limestone karst cliffs covered by forest. In the entire area, you can find temples, dozens of valleys and about 50 different caves.The best way to enjoy this inspiring scenery is to take a boat ride. A lady rower will row the boat for you, the technique they use to maneuver the boat inside the underwater caves is truly amazing. It’s unreal the amount of effort these ladies have to put every day for a living.Since the whole trip lasts for about 2 hours (!), I helped the rower for some time by using the spare oars. Trang An was definitely the main highlight of Ninh Binh and apparently a much more beautiful and relaxing ride than Tam Coc‘s (see below). Being surrounded by the huge mountains in almost every direction while on a tiny boat is truly a spectacular feeling. Don’t miss this!  

Hoa Lu Ancient Capital

Hoa Lu is the ancient capital of the Dinh and Le dynasties, dating back to the 11th century. It’s located roughly 14km from Ninh Binh and close to the Trang A boat ride.Today, the remains of this ancient city are just that: remains. The buildings still standing include the royal temples of Dinh Tien Huang, housing a statue of Emperor Dinh Bo Linh and his sons as well as the royal temple of the early Le Dynasty. Still, more than the buildings or temples, I found Hoa Lu to be beautiful because of the scenery. The ruins are just too rainy to be memorable IMHO. It’s still worth to have a stroll around and imagine how the city was a millennium ago.  

Bai Dinh Pagoda

Located 15km away from Ninh Binh city in a mountain area, Bai Dinh Pagoda is a HUGE religious complex. In fact, everything is massive here. Within the 539-hectare premises, there are 5,000 Buddha statues, a 36-ton bronze bell and dozens of Buddhist temples, each more opulent than the other. Usually, visitors explore the compound by electric car (!).It’s the absolute largest pagoda in South East Asia. Climbing to the top gives you an amazing open view over the Ninh Binh province.Just like Ninh Binh in general, I honestly don’t know how Bai Dinh can fall this much under the radar. But it does and I guess that’s a good thing!  

Day 2 in Ninh Binh

Contrarily to the first day, this one can be done on a bike as distances are shorter. All the sights are in or around Tam Coc.  

Tam Coc Rice Fields

The boat ride in the Tam Coc rice fields is the main reason tourists come to Ninh Binh. The area is surrounded by hundreds of stony outcrops similar to the ones found in Halong Bay. For this reason, the area is nicknamed “Halong in Land”. I skipped the boat ride when I heard it’s a hotspot for scams and hawkers. Apart from the ticket fee, the rowers often “ask” (aka demand) tourists a tip on the middle of the ride. Plus, when you get back on shore, you’re coerced to buy some food for your rower. Since I had already experienced the awesome boat ride in Trang An, I decided I could live without it. A great alternative option to explore the rice fields is on a bike. It’s hassle-free, way more adventurous and cheaper in the end. Cycling along the paddies, waving to the people working in the fields and getting up close with some cute animals on the way felt like the absolute right choice!  

Bich Dong Pagoda

If you’re coming from Tam Coc, the road to Bich Dong Pagoda is simply gorgeous. At a given point, you’ll be surrounded by huge rice fields with limestone cliffs as a backdrop. Definitely worthy of stopping for some selfie moments! Bich Dong Pagoda itself is a set of 3 temples enclosed in a mountain. To explore the highest one you need to pass through a series of caves. At some point it’s pitch dark inside, so watch your step! Inside you can find several Buddhist images carved in stone and hollow stalactites on which you can play some tunes. Some of these caves were used by the Viet Minh to hide from the French during the First Indochina War.  

Hang Mua

Everyone addresses this place as the Hang Mua Caves, but to be honest the caves are nothing special. In fact, if I had it skip completely, I wouldn’t have missed anything. Even the ones in Thung Nham Bird Park are better IMHO. The real appeal of this place lies on the temple on top of the mountain. You can see the set of stairs to get there from a distance. It’s a fair climb of almost 500 (!) steps. Yes, it’s exhausting, especially because they are uneven – some are really tiny, others can be made for giants. But don’t get discouraged. Once you have had this proper workout, you’ll be rewarded with a spectacular 360° view over the Tam Coc valley. The views over the countryside and paddy fields are truly amazing. There’s no better place to catch your breath and find your inner zen again. Totally worth the effort, believe me.  

Thung Nham Bird Park

During my research about Ninh Binh, I’ve NEVER heard of this place. It was the lovely girl on the reception of our hotel that not only suggested us to go to Thung Nham but offered to be our guide there! For those who love nature and an adventurous bird-watching trip, the natural reserve of Thung Nham (Nham Valley) is a must go. Deeply enclosed in the mountains, it’s a place with great natural beauty with many underwater caves and rivers. The Hang But (Buddhist Cave) is one of the largest. With lots of stalactites and stalagmites inside sitting beside an underground river, going inside is quite an adventure. A total of 150 different animals (beware of the snakes!) and more than 40 species of birds – some of them critically endangered species – can be found in Thung Nham. There are so many there’s even a place inside dedicated to them – the Bird Park. We took the boat to watch the birds at dusk, the peak time for foraging birds. Picture a small rowing boat on the mangrove forests, with HUNDREDS of birds hanged on the trees, all wrapped around in a drop dead gorgeous forest. The only noise comes from the birds while the sun is setting in the background. Magical. I went there knowing absolutely nothing about this place and came back mesmerized (can’t thank you enough Trang!).