Halong Bay, one of the seven wonders of the natural world, is a hard act to follow that is for sure. Twenty-four hours after our stay there we visited Tam Coc and the three caves along the Ngo Dong River.
We arrived tired and grumpy and we expected to find it the ugly sister of the North East but the reality could not have been further from the truth.
During our time there my boyfriend and I experienced a whole new definition of natural beauty.The first thing which warmed us to Tam Coc was the fact that getting to the caves involved an aquatic adventure. The only way to reach the caves is via a three hour round-trip by boat, where skippers maneuver the oars with their feet instead of hands (which takes some getting used to).
The caves are sold as the main attraction but they were outshone by the vibrant scenes we paddled past – rural life, vast limestone columns and rice fields with vivid green shoots. We stopped in silence to watch kingfishers, woodpeckers and starlings at play, and marveled at the hundreds of butterflies and dragonflies which zigzagged by. Aside from the caves there is plenty to do. After a delicious lunch along the banks of the river we opted to explore Ninh Binh by scooter.
In a few hours we saw the surrounding areas including the ancient capital of Vietnam (Hoa Lu) and the country’s largest National Park, Cuc Phuong. It was only when our camera memory cards became full that we realized it was time to go home.
Our brief experience, packed as it was with beauty and wildlife, is a small illustration of the amount there is to see and do in this small corner of Vietnam.