Briefings

Located as far as 100 kilometers south of Hanoiis Ninh Binh province, the south extreme of the Red River delta. Insidethe province is the grandiose Tam Diep Mountain, connecting the Northand the South. The province stretches from the Northwest mountainousarea to the delta, thus being calleda half mountain half plain area. Inparticular, Ninh Binh contains 3 main kinds of topography: limestonemountains with fascinating caves & grottos, the delta raised by RedRiver Silt, and a coastline with the length of 18 kilometers, enlargingthe province area by 100m² per year.
Besides limestonecaves and grottos, Ninh Binh is also popular for the first imperialcapital of Vietnam, from 968 to 1010 under Dinh, Le and Ly dynasties,which has resulted in its cultural tourism potential. Also, Tam Coc-Bich Dong and Cuc Phuong national parkwithin the province are desirable destinations for tourists. Would youlike to visit Ninh Binh? Please be willing to join the following trip;

Hoa Lu, the first imperial capital of Vietnam

Thevery first meaningful stop-over in Ninh Binh should be Hoa Lu, thecapital of Vietnam from 968 until 1010. Before the year 968, the nationwas just a district of China. As time went by, several fightings forindependence have occurred, yet none was of a long success until DinhBo Linh’s troops rising. In 968, Dinh Bo Linh defeated 12 lords of thedistrict (former Vietnam) and proclaimed to be Emperor. He was thefirst King of Dinh dynasty (King Dinh Tien Hoang), and named thecountry Dai Co Viet. Then he set up Hoa Lu, his home country, as thecapital of Dai Co Viet. His meaningful success was a great landmark ofVietnam as transferring from a district of China into an trulyindependent nation.

Dinhdynasty lasted 12 years. Then Le Hoan started 29 years of Le dynasty.In 1009, when Ly Cong Uan became the King, he found an area which hadan excellent site and topography, therefore decided to move the capitalfrom Hoa Lu to Dai La citadel, former Hanoi. In 1910, Hoa Lu ended itshonored role of being the Nation’s Capital after 42 years. Today,tourists elsewhere come to Hoa Lu for the purpose of involvingthemselves in a historical and mysterious world of an ancient capitalwith miraculous palace, mighty citadel, hiding in the grandiosemountain ranges and gentle Hoang Long rivers. This makes a magnificientfairy scenery!

King Dinh Tien Hoang’s Temple

It’snow time to pay a visit to the famous King of Vietnam’s temple – KingDinh Tien Hoang’s. The temple is located in Truong Yen village, TruongYen commune, Hoa Lu town, in a garden of 5 hectares wide. It faces theEast, and stands in front of Ma Yen Mount, where King Dinh Tien Hoang’stomb was located.
The temple was built in the 17^thcentury, with a special architecture, the interior of which had an “Iletter” shape, surrounded by a square land. Now you are standing at the3-class mid-noon gate. You can go on to the next one, seeing a dragonbed and getting the second gate. Passing through one more gate andwalking along the holy way will lead to the main house. In the middleof the house is one more stone dragon-bed, which is 1.8m long and 1.4mwide. Looking at the bed surface you can easily find sculptured dragon,shrimps, fishes, rats images which are of deep delicateness and skill.
This main house has 3 parts. The first one is the worshipping placewith 5 rooms. The second is an incense burning room where theyworshiped 4 important mandarins under Dinh dynasty. The third mainpart, the most important one, is separated to the second by a highdoor. Here you can witness there worshipping King Dinh Tien Hoang andhis three sons.

Youmay have to admit that the temple is an original architectural work ofart full of folk sculptures! It attracts tourists for so many valuablerelics hidden in thick bricks, tilts, Buddhist prayer-book pillars, andmore importantly its meaningful history of the first ancient capital ofVietnam.
Nearby you can find the Tomb of King DinhTien Hoang, which was situated on Ma Yen Mount, in front of his Temple.“Ma yen” means “back of a horse”, as seen from a far distance, it hasthe shape of a back of a horse. The tomb is in the sagging down post ofthe horse’s back. To reach up to the tomb, visitors must pass 150 rocksteps. The tomb was built in 1840, under Ming Mang King reign.

Phat Diem Cathedral – symbol of a rich religious life

Ifyou are a Catholic, a famous Cathedral for visiting in Ninh Binh isPhat Diem Cathedral, which was built between 1875 and 1899 with fourroofs and six sets of iron wooden pillars, and consists of a network ofponds, lakes, churches, and artificial caves. On both sides of thechurch are four smaller churches of different styles. In the area, therice paddies are peppered with stone churches. But, unlike thesestructures, as built by Europeans and resembling typical churches ofthe era, Phat Diem Cathedral was designed by a Vietnamese priest, knownas Father Sau. Father Sau rallied the local population to build thecathedral, five side chapels, three artificial grottoes, an artificiallake and a bell tower. Phat Diem Cathedral seems to have changed verylittle since Graham Greene described its gigantic pillars formed out ofsingle trees and the scarlet lacquer work of the altar. Indeed, withits multi tiered, curling roofs and its 48 lime-wood columns - (thelargest of which weigh seven tones), Phat Diem is a far cry from aEuropean cathedral. Stone relief angels overlook carved dragons and thecathedral's two-tone bell is accompanied by a giant brass gong.
Whoever spending a few minutes inside the Cathedral, particularly theStone Church, can easily feel the specially cool atmosphere and aclassical religious space!

Tam Coc – Bich Dong - “South second nicest grotto”

Tam Coc – Bich Dongis called “A terrestrial Ha Long Bay”, or the “South second nicestgrotto” (to Huong Tich) for its poetic and inspirational naturalscenery of beauty. It is a grandiose comlex of Bich Dong pagoda and TamCoc grotto. King Le Canh Hung ever said: “This is “the South secondnicest grotto of Vietnam, after the Huong Tich Grotto in Ha Tayprovince”. Its pristine natural beauty together with a simple but nicecountryside landscape, and a sacred spiritual life have converged intoa fascinating and attractive Tam Coc-Bich Dong to numerous tourists.
These days, more and more people in the world have been coming here invarious types of tours: ecological tours, culture, history, festivaltours (such as Thai Vi Temple, Bich Dong pagoda, Linh Coc pagoda, ThienHuong Cave, Fairy Cave.. festivals). Noone could deny that Tam Coc-BichDong has become a legend of rivers and mountains, a green, pure, andsafe destination for every traveller.

Cuc Phuong National Park

Forcenturies, the province has undergone thousands of changes in terms ofnature and society, yet the ancient historical relics, the naturalpainting of miraculous caves, grottos covered with karst, shinystalactites, & stalacmites, and beautiful rivers still remainpristine and captivating!