Despite
my tiredness I’m determined to make the most of my Saturday. My friend
suggests we drive to Trang An caves in Ninh Binh province, which is
about two hours from Hanoi. I’m persuaded by the fact that my friend
has a car. I must admit negotiating the dusty and crowded provincial
highways on a motorbike is no longer my idea of a fun day out, most
especially on Highway 1A.
So I get to doze off in the back while he drives – perfect! When I wake
up we have left Vietnam’s main artery behind and we’re driving along a
country road that meanders between the green rice fields. Our first
stop is at a site which is home to two of Vietnam’s oldest temples,
which worship King Dinh Tien, who took the throne of Dai Co Viet in
968AD, and King Le Dai Hanh, who took the throne in 980AD,
respectively.
The Dinh Temple was built in the shape of a Chinese character. Through
the first entrance, called Ngo Mon, there is a royal bed made from
stone with various legendary animals standing on both sides. Dinh
temple consists of three parts: Bai Duong for the community, Thien
Huong in honour of mandarins, and Chinh Cung, which is in honour of
Dinh Tien Hoang. His statue still stands today alongside the statue of
his eldest son Dinh Lien and other illustrious members from the Dinh
family line.
Le Temple is almost the same as Dinh Temple in terms of architectural
design and also consists of three parts in honour of the community,
royal mandarins and the Royal Family. The statue of King Le Hoan is at
the centre, on the left is the statue of Queen Duong Van Nga and on his
right is that of Le Ngoa Trieu, his fifth son and the third King of the
First Le dynasty As we drift away from the temples towards the car park
we spot that you can rent bicycles and so we decide to be clean and
green and peddle our way towards Trang An’s ecotourism centre, which is
just 2km away.
The new wide and smooth road that runs between the imposing rocky
mountain ranges is ideal for cycling. Though this perfectly built and
rather romantic road quickly ends near the centre, where the road
suddenly becomes thick with mud as the result of the construction of
the new road and tunnels. This means we have to negotiate a tunnel of
scaffolding to get back out into the untouched valleys on the other
side.
But besides the infrastructure developments, there are no hotels,
restaurants, cafés or shops in the valley. It is a wonderfully clear
road towards the Trang An caves, though perhaps it won’t be this way
for long. “With such a rich natural beauty it’s unlucky that the
tourism in the province is still in development,” says Trinh Xuan Hong,
the director of Ninh Binh province’s tourism department. “We lack
high-quality accommodation and services but we are now investing to
upgrade everything.” It’s not surprising that the local authorities
believe that tourism can thrive in such a magical setting.
“The Trang An cavern system is like a Halong Bay on land, where
limestone mountain ranges, river, flooded valleys and caverns mix
together to create this imposing and mysterious place,” adds Hong. The
Trang An eco-tourism centre is large enough, covering a total area of
1566ha, including 980ha of protected mountains and forest with the
remaining land set aside for building the necessary infrastructure to
cater for growing tourism.
We decide to stroll towards a wharf on the edge of a lake. Floating on
the crystal clear pools are a number of row boats where local women are
waiting hopefully for a customer to appear amongst the trickle of
tourists. Once these local women were farmers but their paddy fields
were incorporated into the development of the Trang An ecotourism
centre and now they survive on rowing tourists around their backyard.
At the moment it’s far from a lucrative gig, but in time perhaps that
will change. A row boat is definitely the perfect way to enjoy the
scenery at Trang An. All around us there are more than 30
water-submerged valleys, which are linked together by a clear and blue
river, that offer access to some 50 caves that sit under the limestone
mountains. Floating on the waters I bask in this poet’s paradise.
The area is rich in rare and precious flora and fauna. But I also gaze
into the waters, keeping my eyes peeled as I was told that numerous
antiques dating as far back as the 10th century were dredged up here.
We row through nine caves towards the “Ancient People’s cavern”, or
Bang cave, where in 2007 archaeologists found tools made of pebble
stone dating back to the Stone Age. In the end we spend three hours
exploring the caves.
Our camera batteries start to do die as we head back to the shore.
There’s time for one last detour – up the hundred stone steps to the
Tran temple, which was built in honour of the Tran dynasty in the 13th
century. When we arrive, there is a Len Dong ceremony underway.
This is a ritual that is performed to make contact with certain
deities, in this case Dao Mau, the Vietnamese Mother Goddess. Quietly
we sit at the entrance and listen to the voices of the Hat Van singers
and the music of dan nguyet (moon-shaped lute) drift over our heads,
into the valley and out across the waters.
Source Timeout
Ha Noi – Ha Long – Ninh Binh – Cuc Phuong National Park
©2012 SkyDoor - The travel information network of Vietnam
