The national park is there. Trang An, Tam Coc - national parks and vault of caves in Vietnam

What Forrest Gump liked most about Vietnam was that there was always somewhere to go. But if, while traveling around this country, you happen to visit Tam Coc National Park(which translated means “three caves”), then you will definitely like the fact that there is always somewhere to swim. After taking a walk along the picturesque Ngo Dong River, tourists have the opportunity to see the Hang Ca, Hang Giua and Hang Cuoi caves.

Tam Coc is one of the most visited tourist places. By renting a boat and going on a trip along the river, you can admire the picturesque yellow-green ones that stretch along the banks, as well as steep limestone cliffs, their height reaches 100 m.

The real highlight of the trip will be a visit to the karst caves. The flow of water washed out these through caves in the rocks, forming natural grottoes. Hang Ca is the longest of the caves, it stretches for 127 m, while its ceiling is quite low, so you often have to duck your head while swimming through it. The second grotto, Hang Giua, is about half as long; Hang Cuoi is even shorter - 46 m. ​​Tourists are usually attracted by the peace and quiet that reigns here, although sometimes it can be disturbed by local residents trying to sell all sorts of souvenirs and handicrafts.

Traveling through countries and cities, unbeknownst to yourself, you subconsciously divide all these routes into “places”, as if you were arranging the moments of travel on the shelves of memory. There are places where it was sunny, hot and green. There are places where the surrounding beauty was breathtaking. There are places where it was delicious and lazy. There are those that are better not to remember, but they are firmly established on their shelf and do not want to leave. Yes, yes, there are such, inscrutable paths. There are places that are not even places at all, so - passage areas, shelters for overnight stays, after a week or a month they almost evaporate from memory.

But there are places that, months and even years later, you continue to mentally walk through again and again, slowing down somewhere, stopping somewhere, admiring their beauty and peering into the details. These places, their atmosphere, were absorbed by the whole soul, dissolved in it, became part of it. I dream about them at night, they pop up in my memory whenever they want, and again and again they wash over my heart with warm waves of delight, awe, and peace.

One of them places- Ninh Binh province in northern Vietnam, near Hanoi. Actually, the town of Ninh Binh itself is no different from other Vietnamese cities. The same bustle, the same endless shopping shops on the ground floors, the same “beep” of cars and motorbikes on the streets that never stops for a second. Typical Vietnamese city. But there are so many wonderful places around it and, above all, Tam Coc National Park. And Ninh Binh does it special place.

We arrived in Ninh Binh by train from Hue and took a taxi from the station to the place - all the way to Tam Coc National Park. The distance is 10 kilometers. We pre-booked a hotel there for a couple of nights, which Tatyana chose based on reviews and photographs. It's called The Long Hotel. It is actually quite spacious with all its external flights of stairs and high floors. It seems to have been built in the 80s of the last century or even earlier, all in the sanatorium style of our socialist youth.

This is the largest hotel in... I don’t even know what to call it more precisely: in a village, in a village, in a complex - in general, in Tam Coc, or Tam Coc, or Tam Coc. In any case, at that time - April 2014 - it was the largest. Perhaps new large hotels have now appeared, and they were already being built nearby then.

We are one of the few who stay here for several days. Usually tourists come here for one day, or even for several hours: to take a boat ride on the river, look at nature, some still manage to climb to the dragon temple on the mountain (more on this in a separate article) - and that’s it, the program is completed. By local standards, we fell into the category of old-timers. They greeted us at reception, in cafes, and introduced us to their children.

We, one might say, managed to become friends with one of the owners of the cafe opposite the hotel. The chef at this cafe is her husband, and he cooks fantastic squid with lemon grass. The owners are a young couple who have embarked on the entrepreneurial life in its Vietnamese version. We talked with them, they talked about their lives, about their plans, Tatyana even talked with their little daughter, drew with her. And we still owe them a favor: we promised to write about them on our blog and recommend their cafe. And finally, we return the favor and sincerely recommend everyone who the magic of travel brings to Ninh Binh, Tam Coc, this amazing corner of Vietnam, to visit a cafe called Viet Bamboo Restaurant. I wonder how they are now, what has changed for them in two and a half years?

As they say, the picture coincided. That's exactly what I imagined this place Tatyana, this is exactly what she wanted. Why Tatyana, why not me? Because she chose the route, and everyone is wonderful places She always looks for places, corners in all countries. And almost always we are both delighted with her choice. Look, that's exactly how she saw it this place and that’s exactly what I wanted: leaving the room on the top floor, sitting at a table and admiring the stunning beauty around.

They say that it is better to first visit Ninh Binh and Tam Coc, this so-called “Ha Long on land”, “Ha Long among the rice fields”, and only then Ha Long Bay itself. This is recommended so that the perception of “Ha Long on land” does not fade before the impression of Ha Long Bay. That is, first look at these green hills among the rice on land, and then just go to the sea. It is believed that the real Halong at sea is by definition more spectacular and definitely outperforms Ninh Binh. That's what we did. We visited Halong Bay only a year and a half later, in November 2015. And here’s what we will tell you absolutely definitely: both the real Halong among the emerald surface of the sea, and the “Halong on land among the rice fields” of Tam Coc are such amazing, stunning places that it is completely incorrect to compare their self-sufficient beauty and the uniqueness of each. This is our absolute opinion. Of course, someone thinks differently. But after visiting Halong Sea, our earlier memories of Ninh Binh, Tam Coc, and their green majestic rocks among the wet rice greenery at their feet did not fade one bit. But Halong Bay, in turn, also shone like a pearl in our treasury special places.

We spent several days enjoying incredible views here. I climbed onto the roof of the hotel and filmed the surrounding area from there.

The scenes with the cows on the road in front of the hotel were funny.

We walked along the embankment along the river, touched the old walls of buildings with our hands, sat on the steps by the water, and took photographs. Here is a short video from the very center of Tam Coc promenade.

We looked at abandoned huts under the cliffs that had been empty for a long time. And did anyone live here?

We walked along paths that wandered among the rice fields.

For local residents, this is their everyday life, their daily work, their occupation is growing rice. This has probably been their way of life for a long time.

Everywhere you look there is rice, rice, rice...

Along the way, our attention was drawn to large clutches of very large eggs laid by someone.

Almost all the days we were here, fog hung over the hills and fields, sometimes thick and shaggy, sometimes light like mist. This gave the area a certain mystery and blurriness. Nature was clearly fascinated by watercolors, sparing no moisture and white for her creativity, and giving us “eye-to-eye charm.”

Sometimes the paths led to buildings, like everything around here, which were very old. This is no longer a functioning temple. Work was going on inside, the men were dismantling the building.

Around one of the bends in the road we found a small cave with an altar inside. People like this happen here every now and then. People bring fruits and light incense sticks. I even filmed a short video.

And the river, following its winding bed, appeared nearby every now and then, again forcing us to stop and admire the views.

One day we decided to go on a bike ride and get to the temple located in the rock. The road itself was already pleasing to the eye, and every now and then we slowed down and took pictures. Tatyana, of course, could not resist the fantastic beauty of the tree, which, moreover, dropped large red flowers to the ground.

The temple turned out to be quite close, three kilometers or a little more from the hotel. It is separated from the road by a reservoir, lined with stone around the perimeter and giving a second life to the cliffs reflected in it.

Well, let us cross a small bridge into the temple, through this gate.

A lion greeted us inside.

Here, time has applied its entire eternity to every step, every wall, every stone. How many generations have passed here, how many eyes have seen all this, how many palms have touched these rough stones, how many prayers have been sent to the gods.

We climbed the steps to the temple and found ourselves at some kind of national ceremony. What was happening here, what was dedicated to it, we, of course, did not understand. But we stood, listened, and looked. I made a short video.

Besides us, there were a few more spectators - both locals and visitors.

After looking and listening a little, we set off on our way back. Fortunately, we were on wheels, and the ride was very close.

I will continue to talk about our stay in Ninh Binh and show photos and videos of our boat trip (the most popular excursion in Tam Coc). Until new stories!

In almost all guidebooks and in most reports on the Internet, Ninh Binh is presented as a national park and a vault of caves Tam Kok, which is often called “Halong on land”.

What it is? This is a place where a mountain river has cut its way through majestic cliffs (like Halong) and created through caves that can be viewed from the inside by rowing boat. Impressive? Very! Until we found out that a couple of kilometers from this super-tourist place there is a similar route with 7 caves of a larger area and much fewer foreign tourists.

How to get there if I'm already in the city?

In any hotel in the city they will explain to you how to get to Trang An and rent a motorbike or bicycle. Prices are the same as everywhere else in Vietnam: 1-3 dollars per bicycle, 4-7 per motorbike.

We were both unlucky and lucky with the weather - it was lightly raining, which is probably why during the entire three-hour walk we met 2 or 3 groups of foreign tourists. But Trang An is very popular among the Vietnamese.

How it works?

The boat station, from which trips along the river start, amazes with its location among the rocks, as well as the excellent organization of the work. Several dozen rowers are waiting for you in the boats; the loading process takes a matter of seconds.

Almost all of them are women of incredible strength, playfully pushing 6 adults with ordinary oars, which they easily control with their hands and (more impressively) legs.

The walk itself takes about three hours - you slowly swim through caves: from very small ones to several kilometers long. Some of them are so narrow and it seems that a collision with rocks is inevitable or that your head is about to hit the ceiling, but the women are incredibly deft with oars and maneuver in space in a completely unimaginable manner, still managing to shout and warn when it is necessary to bend their heads, and sometimes lie down in the boat altogether.

During the trip, the boats make three stops on islands, where you can stretch your legs, look at small temples or go to the toilet. Our woman was having lunch and was clearly discussing us - we were the only foreigners in the first two hours.

Here it is, by the way:

Each boat has extra oars, more for fun than to actually help the women.

At the end of the route, races begin with neighbors to see who can swim to the shore faster. This is where all the oars come into play, the passionate Vietnamese scream and begin to row almost with their hands.

Total

Unfortunately, it was a rainy day, so it was not possible to photograph the road to Trang An and some of the views. But the place really amazes with its beauty, even after Halong. And its accessibility and the opportunity to be as close to nature as possible - touch the water, rocks, be afraid of cave arches - makes it even more interesting than the bay. Especially in conjunction with the next destination of our trip, which is located almost here and is even more impressive. But more about her in the next post.

Konstantin

The last time we were in Vietnam, we drove from Hanoi to see the beauty of the Tam Coc limestone cliffs near the town of Ninh Binh. At that time we did not yet have the skills to drive a motorcycle, so we went on a one-day excursion. The photos are not very good, sorry, they were taken on our old point-and-shoot camera, we were then afraid that in Asia we would certainly be robbed and that in general it was very dangerous there and we did not take a normal camera :)

Tourists mainly cluster in the southern part of the country: from Saigon to Nha Trang, or completely in the north in Halong and Sapa, and not everyone comes to Tam Coc. Although the place is very picturesque, and it’s worth dedicating half a day to it.

People take boats to look at the rocks, mostly women rowing, and they do it with their feet! And there is a spare mini-oar for maneuvering. Seryoga wanted to help her, and when he started rowing, the boat almost turned around :)
The last boats depart at 17:30 in summer and at 16:30 in winter.

On the way back, the boatmen stop and start selling souvenirs. We very sternly said that we didn’t need anything, so she immediately left behind. We saw that other tourists were attacked very heavily. We also read that boatmen like to stop a meter from the pier and extort tips, otherwise they won’t dock. Ours didn’t do anything like that, because she realized that Seryoga could perfectly row to the pier, even if she rowed in the other direction :) and she would also get an oar ;)

Then we were taken for a bike ride.

At that time I was still not good at riding a bike, and I was very afraid and lagged behind, but somehow I managed :)

After that, we had lunch at a local restaurant and tried kid meat, but we didn’t like it.

The excursion takes only one day, and I remember that it was inexpensive, 10-15 dollars. Of course, it would be cooler to come on your own motorcycle, but then it was unattainable for us. This is the second time we have already.

At first, we, as independent tourists, tried to go on a local bus, but it greatly delayed the departure, and we tried to watch TV on the go, in which half-naked young ladies were jumping, so we ran away from this bus. Then the hotel employee said that he himself does not travel on these buses, they are also too harsh for him.

You can also get to Ninh Binh by train if you have tickets, but then you need to catch a motorcycle taxi from the train. It's easier with a tour.

Waking up in the morning and having breakfast in a cafe located near our hotel, we rented a bike and went to Tam Coc National Park, which is located 10 km from Ninh Binh city. It was cool outside. December is not the best month to visit these places. “Three Caves” - this is how the name of Tam Coc Park is translated. This is a unique place known throughout Vietnam. It was there that the Ngo Dong River carved its way through high cliffs and caves, surprising and delighting tourists with its beautiful scenery. The local Vietnamese call this place “Halong on land,” and the name is fully justified. The rocky landscape of this area is very reminiscent of the famous Ha Long Bay, only instead of the water surface of the South China Sea, there are rivers and rice fields.

We left our bike in a paid parking lot for 10,000 VND. Of course, it was possible to park it along the road for free, but it is much safer to use paid parking lots, since I would not be surprised if the Vietnamese themselves, in retaliation for the fact that we did not use the paid parking services, pierce the wheels or steal the bike. Coming out to the steps leading down to the river, we saw many boats waiting for tourists who wanted to go on a short trip along the river.

Nearby there was a booth where they sold tickets. A ticket for one person costs 170,000 dong. We were also asked to pay an extra 50,000 dong for two, which I still don’t understand. Vietnamese-English is a bit difficult to understand. In total, we paid 390,000 dong for tickets. We were put on one of the boats, our driver was a Vietnamese grandmother. She steered the boat very skillfully with her feet. Imagine, she rowed with small oars secured to oarlocks, using only her legs. I've heard about this before, but it's certainly interesting to see it with my own eyes. “I’m seventy years old,” said our guide. I don’t know whether she told the truth or not, but for seventy years old she looked very cheerful, and she worked her legs very deftly. Although such work may have influenced her good condition at the age of 70. She was full of energy. Meanwhile we found ourselves in the valley.

When we set off on the boat, we were completely alone among the tourists, but then our guide caught up with several more boats, after which we moved in a small group of four boats. A big plus of visiting Tam Coc Park in December is the small number of tourists. When we looked at photographs of those who traveled to these places during the high season, we were horrified at how many boats with tourists were on this river! The boats came one after another, in a continuous stream. And exactly the same oncoming flow of boats was coming towards them.

It was cold, but we reassured ourselves that there were very few tourists at this time. We met a large group of tourists only when returning to the parking lot.

On the way we met local traders on their boats. And they were surprised why they didn’t come to us. It turned out that a closer meeting with them awaited us a little later, on the way back.

Rocks, river, thickets and caves... It feels like everything is mixed up and repeated over and over again!

We actually swam through three caves. Two of them were no more than 15-30 meters long. And one turned out to be almost 100 meters long. It reminded me of a kayak trip through the caves in Ha Long Bay. After the last cave, our boat, along with the others, turned around and we set off on our way back. It was here that we met the traders we passed by. Our guides stopped the boats and traders rushed to offer us their goods. Bananas, water, souvenirs, magnets, hats, sticks and much more, which can be found in abundance in all places, touristic and not so much. Of course, the price was too high. We, as well as tourists from neighboring boats, tried to explain that we didn’t need this, that we could go further, but the traders did not let up, and our drivers were in no hurry to take us away from them. I already wrote that the Vietnamese do not understand the word “No, thanks”. Once again we are convinced of this. Losing hope that we would be able to smuggle in some goods, the merchant took extreme measures. She began to persuade me to buy something for our old lady, who was rowing with oars, and was probably terribly tired. To be honest, my girlfriend and I were shocked. We don’t ride here on the river for free, and we didn’t come here with the goal of gawking at goods, which are already abundant at every turn, we went here to admire nature and beauty, and we are being hyped by any means to buy junk we don’t need. Our drivers continued to stand and wait to see how it would all end. I turned away from the traders, believing that it was useless to say anything or refuse in any way...

After some time, the situation repeated itself, only now the goods were offered by the old women who were driving us. They stopped, took rags out from under the seat and began offering to buy them. I watched as the French, who were in neighboring boats, wearily refused. One looked at me and said something to me in French. I replied that I didn’t speak French, but I understood everything from my eyes. We understood each other without words. Our old lady acted wisely and did not force her rags on us.

We moved on. We met another group of tourists, among whom were Chinese and Indians. Vietnamese photographers circled around them on boats. This is another misfortune of this area or a simple business scheme to extract money from tourists. On boats they approached the “unfortunate” travelers in order to take a photo. Some Chinese and Indians waved them off with their hands, turned away and hid their faces, trying in every possible way to ward off the notorious “businessmen.” It was like a paparazzi hunting down celebrities.

As we later saw, some photographers were sitting in the mountains and bushes. A photo hunt was conducted on us in order to sell us clumsily taken, unprofessional photographs in the future. All this intrusive service, from traders to photo services, spoils the pleasant impression of visiting this amazing place.

Approaching the shore, we talked about how few good people we had met in Vietnam. You can count them on your fingers. We decided that our old lady would be one of them, since she did not try to sell or impose anything on us. Before we had time to talk about it, she began to demand a donation from us, money, with the words: “TIP ME”! We did not immediately understand what she wanted from us. At first we thought that she wanted money to pay for the boat, but we showed her the tickets and began to explain that we had officially paid for everything, and that it was from the booth that we were put on her boat. But she didn’t let up. To all our questions: What is the money for? She kept saying "TIP ME", "TIP ME"! Later I realized that she just wanted money, but I lost the desire to give her anything. She completely ruined our mood! Having gone ashore, we realized that there could have been a much worse option: She could not swim to the shore until we give her money.

A little irritated by this situation, cursing the Vietnamese greed, we went to the parking lot to pick up the bike. And while we were putting on our helmets, another unpleasant facet of the Vietnamese was revealed to us! One tourist from the Chinese group was walking towards the toilet, which was next to the parking lot. When asked how much it costs, he was told 10,000 dong. After rummaging through his wallet, he turned it inside out and showed that he only had 5,000 dong or 500,000 dong in one bill. The woman decided not to miss him! He began to say, “I’ll go by and then I’ll bring some change,” because from all appearances it was clear that he could barely restrain himself from need. They still didn’t let him through. He started shouting: “I paid there, I paid here, I paid for parking and you don’t want to let me in?” Then he passed without asking, and the standing Vietnamese, together with the one who did not let him through, simply began to laugh! Disgusting attitude towards tourists and people! Despite all the natural beauty of Vietnam, we remember simply the consumer attitude of the Vietnamese towards other people, to put it mildly.

Later, we were riding a bike along the roads in this mountainous area, in one place, next to another pagada, which is a tourist place, a Vietnamese woman simply ran out onto the road in front of us, inviting us to park the bike in her parking lot, thereby almost creating an emergency situation. I stopped, looked back at her in bewilderment, and she ran after us! How do you like this savagery? I just decided to move on, hearing some screaming behind me. In another place, when I stopped on the bike and was looking at where to go next, a woman ran out and began to tug at my sleeve so that I would park the bike in her parking lot! I looked at her with a question in my eyes: “Why are you pulling me?” And she continued: “Put the bike here, put it here!” And she doesn't care whether I planned to stop at this place or not! Place the bike and pay - that's all she cares about!

If you ask me: “What do you remember about Tam Coc National Park?” Then I will answer that he is remembered precisely for such a disgusting attitude of the Vietnamese! The beauty of nature fades into the background and pales in comparison with the attitude of the Vietnamese towards people!

The beauty of the surroundings...

In the next article I will write about how we climbed