Famous for the name 'Nam Thien II Cave', Tam Coc-Bich Dong possesses peaceful village scenery and an impressive limestone cave system. As part of the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, Tam Coc Bich Dong is the perfect destination for those who want to fully explore the beauty of the river. Today, let's follow HoaBinh Tourist for a tour around Tam Coc-Bich Dong.
As part of the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, Tam Coc-Bich Dong Ninh Binh is located in Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province, 100km south of Hanoi. Possessing a spacious area of 350.3 hectares, the scenic spot is a combination of limestone cave systems and peaceful village scenery. Besides, this tourist complex also owns a Bich Dong pagoda imbued with traditional architecture and historical relics related to the Vu Lam palace of the previous Tran dynasty.
According to HoaBinh Tourist's experience traveling to Ninh Binh on your own, the best time to go to Tam Coc-Bich Dong is from January to March of the lunar calendar. At this time, the climate in Ninh Binh is relatively pleasant, cool, and has little rain, making it suitable for you to fully enjoy the journey to explore Tam Coc-Bich Dong.
In addition, in the first days of the new year, Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex in general and Tam Coc Bich Dong in particular also have extremely interesting spring festivals, typically the Bai Dinh pagoda festival. If you explore Ninh Binh during this period, you will be able to immerse yourself in the bustling festive atmosphere while still retaining its inherent solemnity.
More specifically, if you have the opportunity to come to Tam Coc Bich Dong in the last days of May and early June, you will definitely be overwhelmed by the brilliant scenery of rice fields blooming throughout the journey. At this time, the rice fields on both sides of the river are a harmonious combination of the green of young seedlings and the bright yellow of ripe rice. This is a perfect picture of the river scenery that makes everyone excited.
Only about 7km from Ninh Binh city center, there are many ways for you to get to Tam Coc Bich Dong. The most popular are motorbikes, passenger cars, and trains. If traveling by motorbike, you can follow the route Hanoi—old National Highway 1A—Ninh Binh. Note that you should go in the direction of Ninh Binh Thanh Hoa; avoid going in the wrong direction by going to Nam Dinh - Thai Binh.
In addition, you can also choose to go to Ninh Binh from Hanoi or Saigon by train if you have plenty of time. From Hanoi, you can take train lines SE1, SE3, SE5, SE7, or SE19. In Saigon, train line SE8 will take you back to the ancient capital.
Tam Coc is a scenic complex with three natural caves, including Ca cave, Hai cave, and Ba cave. All three of these caves were built up by the Ngo Dong stream and went straight through the mountain. If you visit Tam Coc, you will take a boat down the Ngo Dong River, weaving through cliffs, water caves, and rice fields before stopping at the entrance of Ca Cave.
The special point is that if you want to visit the three cave systems, you have to travel by boat and sometimes have to lower your head if you don't want to hit the rock ceiling above.
Previously, the mountains of Trang An-Tam Coc were the place where King and I of the Tran Dynasty chose to build the Vu Lam Palace to strengthen forces in the second resistance war against the Yuan-Mongol army. Today, Thai Vi temple has become a place to worship kings Tran Thai Tong, Tran Thanh Tong, generals Tran Hung Dao, Tran Quang Khai, and even queen Tran Thi Dung.
Located peacefully halfway up Dong Vo mountain, Thien Huong Cave is one of the most popular attractions in Ninh Binh. With a height of nearly 60m, the cave is 40m long and 20m wide, with an arch that resembles a large bell.
Thien Huong Cave has a wide top, so it is also called Heaven Cave. If you have the opportunity to go to Thien Huong Cave today, you will see inside the cave a shrine worshiping Mrs. Tran Thi Dung, wife of King Ly Hue Tong in the past. She was the one who taught the people of Ninh Hai commune the embroidery profession, so people built a shrine and incense sticks to her all year round to express their gratitude.
Located about 2km from Tam Coc wharf, Bich Dong is a dry cave located halfway up the mountain. In front is Xuyen Thuy Dong, a water cave through the mountain. Bich Dong is the name given to the cave by Prime Minister Nguyen Khiem, father of the great poet Nguyen Du, in 1773. This place has been favored with the name 'Nam Thien II Cave', meaning the second most beautiful cave in the South, ranked only behind Huong Tich cave in the Huong Son region.
Belonging to the Tam Coc-Bich Dong complex, Bich Dong Pagoda is an ancient pagoda built on the Truong Yen limestone mountain range in 1428 at the beginning of the Later Le Dynasty. Today, in the pagoda, there is still a large bell cast during the reign of King Le Thai To and the tombs of the monks who contributed to building the pagoda.
During the reign of King Le Hien Tong, the pagoda was restored and expanded with three separate pagodas, including Ha Pagoda, Middle Pagoda, and Thuong Pagoda, stretching across three mountain floors.
Belonging to the Tam Coc-Bich Dong complex, Tien Cave is a system of three large caves with a system of stalactites of various shapes, such as fairy trees, rice trees, fairy trees, fairies, elephants, lions, tigers, lizards, dragons, eagles, and iridescent clouds.
No one knows when Linh Coc Pagoda appeared in the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex. People often tell each other that the pagoda has existed since the reign of King Tran Thanh Tong. Located peacefully in Moc Pagoda Mountain, Linh Coc Pagoda faces west; in front is a water field.
The pagoda is designed in a three-compartment style, where the statues of monks A Nam Da and the Western Patriarch with high noses, curly hair, and Indian beards are placed. The pagoda's harem is the place to worship the Three Holy Mothers, including Mother Thuong Ngan, Mother Thoai, and Mother Lieu Hanh.
As one of the destinations located in the buffer zone of the Trang An scenic complex, Co Vien Lau is an ancient house area with many houses collected mainly in Ninh Binh and the Northern Delta region. In addition, inside the houses here there are also displays of utensils such as sofas, mahogany tables, tea cabinets, etc. Most of the houses were built during the Nguyen Dynasty but still clearly show the ancient architecture.
Tam Coc-Bich Dong, with its system of limestone caves and worshiping buildings, has always been one of the favored destinations of many people. During your journey to discover Ninh Binh, HoaBinh Tourist hopes you will have wonderful and memorable experiences while immersing yourself in the charming natural scenery here. For any information you need advice on, please contact our hotline at 0939.311.911 - 0913.311.911 for dedicated support.
