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Tam Coc means three caves, which takes about two
hours driving from Hanoi (110 km) to the South,
and visitors may say that distance is not a
matter after seating in a boat rowed by one or
two local persons in Hoang Long river and see
the first limestone mountains, which will run
along their riverway for several kilometers.
The boat will be rowed, through three caves on the river,
all created by wind and water from a legend
time, while the sea had occupied this area. The
tide-mark is still on the rock about 2m above
the water, and in higher mountainwall the
erosion have carved some strange shapes that now
filled of green grass, delicious foods of the
goats that local people breed everywhere. If you
are lucky, sometimes you can see mischievous
monkeys. The river trip is wonderful for photo
hunters, especially when local people come to
harvest the water rice planted along the river,
or when they transplant some seedling for the
next crops. The tourists often compare the place
with Guilin – China, or more closely, to the
limestone islets of Halong Bay in the Tonkin
Gulf for their similar geological structures and
shapes. Thus Tam Coc is also called
Halong-Bay-On-Land.
Hoa Lu is very near to Tam Coc, is the relics of the ancient capital Hoa Lu –
the remains are the temples dedicated to King
Dinh and King Le, the two heroes who lived in
10th century and chose Hoa Lu to build the
citadel of the capital city. From time to time,
archaeologists have excavated buried parts of
this citadel with rusty weapons and ceramics.
The temples are said to be built on the old
foundation of their original palaces in 11-12th
centuries and restored in 17th century. Though
the temples are not maintained entirely some
precious antiques are still preserved well like
the whole-stone dragon thrones, wooden
bas-relieves and lacquered statues of King Dinh,
Kinh Le, Queen Duong Van Nga who in turn got
married both of the kings, and the princes of
the two dynasties. |
