11 October 2018
Our plan for the day was to explore Tam Coc on foot, including a visit to Bich Dong Pagoda situated about 3 km away from Tam Coc. Although we could have borrowed bicycle from our homestay in Tam Coc, we decided to walk to Bich Dong Pagoda.
Paddy fields in Tam Coc.
Road from our homestay to Tam Coc town center, on the left of picture.
We first made our way from our homestay, on a small road across the paddy fields, to Tam Coc town center. This is a small but busy place with many tourists attracted by the boat tour within Tam Coc Scenic Area.
Place to board the boats for the Tam Coc Boat Tour.
The Tam Coc boat tours featured rowers that row the boats using their feet, something that was quite fascinating to observe. The boats would take tourists through the scenic Ninh Binh landscape, including going through 3 limestone caves.
Since we had already taken a similar (and better) boat tour at Trang An, we gave the Tam Coc Boat Tour a miss.
We followed the footpath, next to the Tam Coc waterway, and passed by many homestays (B&B). Some were operational while a few were under renovation or being constructed. This is a sign that tourism is booming in this part of South East Asia and more tourists are to be expected.
We noticed that most of the homestays are given names like Tam Coc XXXX Homestay, where XXXX could be names like Friendly, Boutique Garden, River View, Lake View, Memories, Mountain Lake, etc. The names are all so similar.
We came to a small stone bridge that was a perfect place to get good views or photos of the rowers rowing the boats using their feet. We could see them from above as their boats went below the bridge.
A line of boats approaching the bridge that we were on.
Two rolling styles were observed. It is like swimming - freestyle versus breast stroke. Some rowers used a “cycling” motion where only one oar is immersed in water at any one time. Others rowed with both oars moving in unison.
Rower using a cycling motion where one oar is immersed in water at any one time.
A boat with rower using the “breast-stroke” method.
Whatever the method used, the rowers seemed so relaxed as they leaned back on their seats and let their legs and feet do the work.
Using Google Map, we navigated through the narrows streets of Tam Coc and then took a dusty main road leading to Bich Dong Pagoda. This was the moment where I wished we had taken a bicycle. Fortunately, the walk was not too long and the autumn weather was cool. We knew we were arriving at the pagoda when we spotted a row of restaurants, cafes and souvenir shops lining the road.
Walking on the lonely road to Bich Dong Pagoda from Tam Coc.
Bich Dong Pagoda
To enter the pagoda complex, we crossed a stone bridge over a waterway covered with many lotus plants. Visitors in June could expect to see beautiful lotus flowers at this spot. In autumn, there were no lotus flowers and the leaves of the lotus plants were either dead or dying.
Beautifully decorated gate to Bich Dong Pagoda across the stone bridge.
Bich Dong pagoda was built by two Buddhist monks Tri Kien and Tri The in early 18th century. It consists of three temples: Ha temple, Trung temple and Thuong temple, built on the mountainside.
The first temple was the Ha Pagoda (Lower Pagoda), situated at the foot of the mountain. The design was very traditional Chinese.
The Ha Temple with Chinese characters on the stone walls.
We climbed up some stone steps to the Trung Pagoda (Middle Pagoda), located on the mountainside.
Steps leading up to the Trung Pagoda.
Trung Pagoda, situated on the mountain side.
Trung Pagoda is divided into two areas. Half of the pagoda is situated beneath an overhanging cliff and the other half is situated inside a cave.
We followed the sign and entered the cave behind this structure.
The temple inside the cave reminded us of Danang’s Marble Mountain with many impressive temples built inside limestone caves.
This cave was dark in some places and we could see a bell on the top of a flight of steps. As we made our way up, we could hear sounds of bats in the dark ceiling above us.
Trung Pagoda, situated in the cave.
After going through the cave and climbing more steep steps, we arrived at the Thuong Pagoda (Upper Pagoda). It was quite breezy at this location which made it a good place for a rest before heading back down.
Thuong Pagoda (Upper Pagoda).
Overall, Bich Dong Pagoda was a quiet and serene place until tour groups with noisy guides appeared as we were making our way down. We saw a French tour leader with loudspeaker broadcasting her voice to everyone in the vicinity and an Asian group with a tour leader barking instructions to her group.
A typical signage showing the dress code for a visit to a temple in Ninh Binh. There should be a sign against impolite and noisy tour leaders and groups in such places as well.
We walked back to Tam Coc using the same route we took to get to Bich Dong Pagoda. This time, we stopped by the duck farm to shoot some photos of the scenery and cute little ducklings.
The supposedly ugly ducklings were quite cute and charming.
Lunch at Tam Coc’s Minh Toan Restaurant Father Cooking
We had lunch back at Tam Coc town. There were a few restaurants and we chose Minh Toan Restaurant, also known as Father Cooking, based on their slightly better reviews when I searched the internet.
Ming Toan is a small family operated restaurant located just across the Tam Coc boat tour boarding area. We sat in the veranda and ordered our cheap Hanoi beer and lunch that included the grilled goat meat on skewers that reviewers raved about in the internet.
Grilled goat meat skewers, omelette with spring onions and prawns in tomato sauce at the Minh Toan Restaurant.
190,000 VND for 5 juicy goat meat skewers coated with sesame seeds and herbs. Served with a dipping sauce but I prefer it without the sauce.
We liked the tomato sauce for the prawn dish was freshly done and tasty but the small prawns were not de-veined and overcooked.
The grilled lamb skewers were excellent. The meat was perfectly seasoned and grilled. We came back the next day for lunch to have this dish again. This time, we also ordered the tofu in tomato sauce (since we liked the sauce but not the prawns) and a bowl of beef noodle (pho) soup that was just average.
Overall the food at this restaurant was not bad but I find the staff was not attentive enough to customers, even though the place was not crowded.
Evening walk around Tam Coc Rice Fields
A stay in Tam Coc should include a leisurely walk through the paddy fields in the early morning or late evening when the day is cooler. The paddy fields were literally just outside our homestay, Tam Coc Horizon Bungalow.
Accompanied by a playful dog from a neighbouring homestay, we made our way towards Thai Vi Temple.
View of Tam Coc Horizon Bungalow, right below the limestone mountain and in the midst of paddy fields.
Playful dog that accompanied us for our walk halfway. This dog abandoned us halfway when it met another dog.
We had seen better scenery of paddy fields in Mai Chau and Pu Luong. Nevertheless, the evening stroll with views of Ninh Binh’s landscape was still enjoyable.
We came to a bridge where we saw a flotilla of boats heading towards us. Apparently, these were villagers who were selling stuff at the Tam Coc Boat Tour and were heading back to their village at the end of day.
It was interesting to see how relaxed they were, rowing their boats with their feet.
The road to Thai Vi Temple was deserted and peaceful. We saw many birds and even a flock of goats on the steep mountainside.
On the trail to Thai Vi Temple, Tam Coc, Ninh Binh.
It was amazing to see the sure-footed goats on sides of the steep limestone mountains.
Partial view of Hang Mua peak through a gap in the limestone mountains.
“Close-up” shot of the dragon and pagoda on Hang Mua Peak that we visited just the day before.
Although we took the trail to Thai Vi Temple, we did not venture inside the temple as it was getting dark and we did not want to walk back to our homestay in the dark.
Heron hunting in the paddy fields just outside our homestay.
Where we stayed in Tam Coc
Instead of a typical hotel, we chose to stay in a homestay (B&B), located in the midst of Tam Coc’s paddy fields so as to enjoy a different experience. There are many such homestays within Tam Coc but only a few could boast of exceptional reviews in the internet.
Read about our own experience at the Tam Coc Horizon Bungalow in the next post.
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