Tam Cốc-Bích Động
Interesting facts
- Parts of the 2017 film Kong: Skull Island were shot among the karst towers of Tam Cốc, with filming in Ninh Bình starting in February 2016.
- Nguyễn Nghiễm, who named Bích Động in 1773, was the father of Nguyễn Du, Vietnam's most celebrated classical poet.
- The Bích Động pagoda dates from the early Lê dynasty, and its three temples, Lower, Middle and Upper, climb the mountain in tiers.
- In the 13th century the area served as a royal retreat of the Trần dynasty during its wars against the Mongol-Yuan invasions.
- The nearby Thái Vi temple honours the Trần emperors along with the famous general Trần Hưng Đạo, who defeated the Mongols.
- Động Vái Giời is reached by 439 stone steps and is divided into three levels named Hell, Earth and Heaven.
- Động Thiên Hà runs for about 700 metres, of which some 500 metres can only be travelled by boat.
- Văn Lâm's embroidery craft is traced to the 10th-century Đinh dynasty, and over 700 households in the area still practise it.
Why it is worth it
Tam Cốc means "three caves", and the name describes the whole experience: a slow boat ride along the Ngô Đồng River, which has cut three tunnels straight through the limestone towers of Ninh Bình. The area forms part of the Tràng An Scenic Landscape Complex, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and its tower karst rising from flooded rice fields has earned it the nickname "Hạ Long Bay on land". The first tunnel, Hang Cả, runs 127 m through a large massif behind a mouth more than 20 m wide, with stalactites hanging from its roof. Hang Hai, about a kilometre further on, is 60 m long, and Hang Ba, the lowest and shortest at about 50 m, lies close behind it. The route ends near a temple to Thần Nông, the mythical founder of rice farming.
Tam Cốc was the first boat route developed in the province and remains its oldest. Rowers, many of them local women, take visitors out from the landing and famously often row with their feet. The round trip takes around two hours, and the scenery shifts with the farming year: green paddy in the growing season, gold before the harvest and silvery water once the fields are flooded.
Bích Động, "the green cave", lies about 2 km from the Tam Cốc landing. It was named in 1773 by the court official Nguyễn Nghiễm, and old tradition ranks it as the second most beautiful cave in the southern realm, after the Hương Tích cave at Hương Sơn. It combines a dry grotto halfway up the hillside, which holds a Buddhist pagoda arranged on several levels, with Xuyên Thủy, a dark, flooded tunnel about 350 m long that boats pass through beneath the mountain. Nearby are further caves, including Động Tiên with its coloured dripstone and Thiên Hương, a dry grotto with a shrine to Queen Nguyễn Thị Sen, whom local tradition credits with bringing embroidery to the village of Văn Lâm.
Getting there
The area lies about 2 km off National Route 1, some 7 to 8 km from the centre of Ninh Bình and about 9 km from Tam Điệp. The nearest airport is Cat Bi International Airport in Hải Phòng (HPH), about 107 km away. Boats leave from the main landing near Văn Lâm village.
Plan your visit
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Nearby places
- Phát Diệm Cathedral 22.1 km · cathedral
On these lists
From the encyclopaedia
Tam Cốc – Bích Động is a popular tourist destination in north Vietnam and part of the Tràng An Scenic Landscape Complex UNESCO World Heritage site. It is located in Ninh Binh province, near the village of Tam Cốc. The closest city is Hoa Lư. It consists of two distinct attractions: Tam Cốc, a flooded cave karst system; and Bích Động, a series of mountain temples.
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