Escape to Ninh Binh
The title sounds like we are heading to somewhere like Narnia! 😆
Deb and Debb’s Real Travel Adventures
Trang An, Ninh Binh, Vietnam
After several days in Hanoi, and an enchanting cruise in Ha Long Bay, I was longing for some countryside and greenery. I had already researched a lot of the area in my pre-planning on this province south of Hanoi. It is known for its stunning beauty and amazing geography. We arrived by mini-bus (door to door) from Hanoi and at once I felt at peace. I had booked us rooms at the Trang An Retreat, and we were greeted by the owner Ngo ‘Sam’ who runs the resort with his family. We dropped our things in the room and chose to just walk around the countryside, It was truly a refreshing pace from the Hustle and Bustle of Hanoi. Deb and I just wanted an afternoon to relax and take in the surroundings, so it was pretty low-key. We did book tours through the hotel for the next two days though, as there is so much to see in the region, and we only had a couple of days. It is definitely easier to get around the area by tour, but if you had time to spare you could probably rent bikes and explore at a more leisurely pace.
Photos around our hotel - L-R: beautiful butterfly outside our hotel room, lots of amazing murals in the area, incredible geography and a stunning sunrise.
The next morning, we were up early, had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel, and joined a few other tourists in a mini van. The tour included visiting the Buddhist Bich Dong Pagoda and caves [1], climbing the 500 uneven steps up the karst mountain of Hang Mua to see the lovely riverscape and rice paddies below, a guided tour of Hoa Lu (ancient capital) and the spectacular sampan tour of the UNESCO World Heritage Site, Trang An Landscape Complex.
Photos from Bich Dong, Hang Mua and Hoa Lu
It was a very long and hot day but the final stretch on the boats really provided a sense of wonder and calm. The boat tour is two hours long, with stops to visit some of the temples. This powerful landscape, known as “Ha Long Bay on Land’ felt much more intimate than the cruise in Ha Long Bay at Sea.
Pictures speak a thousand words – so the above are some from Trang An.
The next day we had planned to go hiking in Cuc Phuong National Park. I will say outright that this was definitely one of the highlights of my tour in Vietnam. Huyen was our tour guide to the park and is also a former Park Ranger. I can’t thank him enough for sharing his expertise with us and providing us with such a memorable visit. It was a small group that included two Israeli men, a male hiker/photographer from Italy, and Deb and I. We started with a tour of the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre, a rehabilitation place for rare primates, that would be almost impossible to see in the wild. They are doing their best to care for these primates with the goal of releasing them back into the wild. I was really impressed with the work they are doing there.
Photo of a Red-shanked douc lemur, and of Huyen with a stick bug
We then went for lunch, to fuel up before our hike. Huyen easily spotted many species that we likely would never have seen otherwise, including praying mantis, stick bugs, butterflies, spiders, snails and sharing his knowledge about local flora and their uses. This was all on the hike to visit the 1000-year-old Kampong tree. Hiking in the jungle was amazing!
Photos L-R: Oriental Garden Lizard (Calotes versicolor), Prionolomia gigas, 1000-year-old Kampong Tree (Tetrameles nudiflora) with Huyen for scale
The final stop was at the Cave of Primitive Man (more climbing) – also known as Nguoi Xua Cave. Locally it is known as the Bat Cave ‘Đắng’ as it houses many of these furry mammals. It was an interesting archaeological site that is well described in a July 2024 article on Vietnamnet.[2] So, I won’t repeat the info here, but recommend you read the article at the link below.
Photo of the Cave of Primitive Man
Conclusion: I would definitely go back to Ninh Binh, I highly recommend Trang An Retreat, and they can help you book the tours mentioned above.
You can also see other photos of my trip to Vietnam and Thailand in the Travel section of this website.
[1] “The Academy award winning film Indochine features many scenes shot at Bich Dong Pagoda, enhancing its reputation to a new international audience.” https://www.discoverninhbinh.com/bich-dong-pagoda/
[2] Vietnamnet (2024) Ninh Binh's Nguoi Xua Cave: A glimpse into prehistoric Vietnam. Posted online July 16, 2024. https://vietnamnet.vn/en/ninh-binh-s-nguoi-xua-cave-a-glimpse-into-prehistoric-vietnam-2301841.html
