[TRAVEL VIETNAM 1] WHAT TO SEE IN HO CHI MINH CITY
[TRAVEL VIETNAM 2] HO CHI MINH - VISITING CU CHI TUNNEL (BEN DINH)
[TRAVEL VIETNAM 3] HANOI- WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A 2D1N HALONG BAY CRUISE — DAY 1
[TRAVEL VIETNAM 4] HANOI- WHAT TO EXPECT FROM A 2D1N HALONG BAY CRUISE — DAY 2
[TRAVEL VIETNAM 5]HANOI- 5 THINGS TO DO AT THE OLD QUARTERS
Hoa Lu — the ancient royal capital
All you need is a 2.5 hours drive to be transported from the hustle of Hanoi capital to another quaint, historical site of Vietnam — Ninh Binh Province, in the northern region.
Admire beautiful rural scenery of paddy fields along the way and immersed yourself in the tranquil beauty of green tender plains, field plots and cottages.
Hoa Lu was the capital of Vietnam for 41 years, under the Dinh and Le dynasties and is a district in Ninh Binh Province popular with visitors.
In Hoa Lu lies 2 famous temples — Dinh King Temple and Le King Temple — which were built in the 17th century in remembrance of King Dinh Tien Hoang and King Le Dai Hanh respectively.
Arriving at the main gate en-route to King Dinh Temple, brings us closer to the Chinese influences left over from the Chinese Tang Dynasty which had dominated Vietnam for centuries, before the fall of its last Chinese emperor.
Since the Chinese dynasty's fall, Dinh Bo Linh, a Hao Lu native, sized power and establish the Dinh dynasty as the first Vietnamese emperor. The rest is history.
First, King Dinh Temple
Second, King Le Temple.
The deity inside worshiped by the locals is King Le.
Tam Co ( 10 km from Hao Lu)
After the 2 temples, we hopped on to Tam Co.
This is an amazing, picturesque place where we got onto a bamboo boat rowed by the locals, and sightsee along the Ho and Long River and sighted the Tam Coc ( three caves).
The deep dark caves go on bright and dark and took two hours to go along the river. Local fishing villages and limestone formations are whatTam Coc is famous for.
The boats were rowed by the not-so-young men and women and it was no mean feat. Long distances, time and harsh weather. They don't use hands, they uses their feet, perhaps lest strenuous.
Boarding area
This is how you R.O.W.
Feet + Umbrella in Hand
Grottoes
In and out of grottoes we went.
You can see, everyone was busy taking photos and capturing the moment of the limestones, grottoes, sunlight and all.
Apologies it's a bit shaky. But shows part of the journey
When you are in the midst of Tam Coc, you can't control but to take lots of selfies.
The relaxing 2 hour ride came to an end and we disembarked
TIPS:
1. Do tip your rowers auntie or uncle at the end of the journey ( they will usually ask for tips too, but don't take offence and think they are being rude) It's a really strenuous job rowing 2 adults in a boat, so tip them!
2. If you are a couple traveling, ask the auntie/uncle to stop the boat at some scenic spots along the way, stand up and asked him/her to take your couple shots!
Makes perfect photo remembrance keep-sake! \
3. Take a selfie stick with you! Extremely useful in taking selfies/wefies~
Thanks for reading!!