Vietnam North to South – Day 3: Tràng An

February 12, 2024

We left Hanoi in the morning, riding our tour bus for almost two hours to Hoa Lư. Known as the ancient capital of Vietnam, Hoa Lư was elevated to prominence by local warlord Đinh Tiên Hoàng, who successfully unified the region following the expulsion of the Southern Han. His short-lived Đinh dynasty was succeeded by the Early Lê dynasty of Lê Đại Hành, which continued to rule from Hoa Lư. While the Đinh lasted only twelve years, the Early Lê did not do much better with their paltry twenty-nine. The ruler of the subsequent Lý dynasty, Lý Công Uẩn, then moved Vietnam’s capital to Thăng Long, now called Hanoi.

The present-day site of Hoa Lư contains two temples, one dedicated to the Đinh and the other to the Early Lê. These are not particularly large or artistically remarkable, noted largely for their historic significance. We ate lunch in a nearby tourist joint, where our local guide shared with us a sticky rice cake his mother made for the Lunar New Year. The leaf wrapping included several fronds that our guide dexterously used to cut the cake into even shapes. Besides that, I was able to get some respite from my diet of vegetarian pho with fried tofu and vegetables.

After lunch, we continued by bus to Tam Cốc, one of Vietnam’s most popular scenic areas. Located on the river Ngô Đồng, it is typified by its hilly landscape, rice fields, and caves. There are also several temples along the river, which all seem to be dedicated to different deities and historical figures. Tourists typically visit the area on boats, choosing between three different routes and paying a boatman or boatwoman to ferry them from one stop to another. Each route takes about three hours to complete, depending on whether one stops at all stops and on the speed of the rower (ours happened to be very slow despite my dad’s attempt to energise him with a sausage).

Once again, the experience forced us to wonder why this tour had been planned for the Lunar New Year, as the place was packed beyond all help. We stood in line for almost an hour between finally getting to our boat, and once we boarded, we poured out from the harbour along with hundreds of others in a steady stream of tourists. This is not to say that the landscape was ugly or unimpressive; the lusciously green hills rose above the river in their dramatic shapes, changing constantly as the boat wound its way through the bends.

We returned to Ninh Bình in the evening, booking into our hotel and searching for a place to eat. The service was slow, but fortunately I had very little to write in my diary for the day.