Hang Mua is the name of a mountain that is located together with the Mua Caves in a protected area next to Tam Coc National Park in Ninh Binh Province in northern Vietnam. Although there are two small caves in the area, the Mua Caves is the sightseeing platform on top of Hang Muoi Mountain. To get to the observation deck you have to climb 500 steps. From the observation deck you have stunning views in all directions, but mainly of the Ngo Dong River and many rocks around it in Tam Coc Park.
How to get to Mua Caves in Ninh Binh
There are 3 different ways to get to Mua Caves in Ninh Binh:
- Independently on a moped, bicycle or car
You can rent both a moped and a bicycle and car from your hotel. Mua Caves is not far from Ninh Binh, so you can get here even by bicycle. We got here on a rented moped, which we rented from our hotel Tam Coc Bungalow.
- The tour includes
Almost all tours of Ninh Binh include this observation deck, but it is better to clarify this point in advance. You can buy the tour at your hotel in Hanoi, or you can take a tour in Ninh Binh, also at the hotel.
- Taxi
This is also a good option, especially if you are traveling with children. You can take a cab on the street or use the Grab app on your phone. In our experience the price difference between a cab from the street and the Grab app is about 2 times, in Grab cabs are much cheaper. This cab is very common in Vietnam.
Good Hotels in Ninh Binh on Booking:
Mua Caves fee and opening hours
Entrance to the park, where Hang Mua Mountain is located, costs VND 100,000 per person. You leave your moped or bicycle in one of the parking lots before entering the park. The closer the parking lot is to the park, the more expensive it is. We left our moped 10 meters from the park for VND10,000, near the park itself it costs VND15,000, and a little farther from the park there are parking lots for VND5,000. Keep in mind that the locals can give you a whole show, as they did for us. When approaching the park about 50-80 meters away a woman in a police uniform jumps out, waving a police wand and blowing her whistle, saying it is forbidden to ride a moped further and you must park your moped or bicycle in her paid parking lot. Since we couldn’t even see the entrance to the park, we took a perplexed look further down the road and saw mopeds standing about 20-30 meters from this spot. We just took it and drove around. So don’t be fooled by such pseudo-police and drive practically to the park entrance.
The park is open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Our visit to Mount Hang Mua and the Mua Caves Lookout
The view from Mua Caves is a trademark of the northern Vietnamese province of Ninh Binh. In all the brochures or pictures on the Internet when typing the words Ninh Binh, you often see these beautiful pictures with stunning views from Hang Mua Mountain. This mountain and viewpoint was item 1 on my list of places to visit in Ninh Binh, and there are, you know, several such places that are a must-see. But we are always limited in time, so we have to choose. So, we arrived at the park around 2pm and set aside about a couple of hours to climb up and enjoy the views from the top.
We paid our entrance fee and entered the park area. Unexpectedly, the park really impressed us. Everywhere is very clean, beautiful paths are made, and there are many different statues and interesting themed structures on the sides. It’s quite possible to spend an hour here looking and taking pictures of the cute and cozy places.
There are also some swings near the paths, you can sit down and enjoy the peace and quiet if there are no crowds of Chinese around you
After 15-20 minutes we came to the beginning of the foot of Hang Mua Mountain. The way up consists of 500 rather large steps. Don’t be intimidated, the stairs are nice and wide and it takes about 20-30 minutes to get to the top.
At the beginning of the way up the stairs with the dragon, it is symbolic, because at the very top of the mountain, which is very difficult to climb, on the sharp rocks is also a dragon.
At the beginning you can see the entrance to the cave, but there are not many visitors, we decided to leave it for the way back, but we were in a hurry and we forgot to look there. The cave is very small and if you haven’t been on a river trip to Tam Coc or Trang An with many different caves, it might be worth a look at this cave. We, on the other hand, hurried upstairs for some great views!
It was not too difficult to walk, periodically we stopped to catch our breath, after all, it was quite hot outside, so I recommend arriving early or closer to sunset.
At a certain point the path bifurcates into 2 in opposite directions. On the right side there is a smaller mountain with a small temple on top, and we decided to go up there as well, but on the way back. At this height we began to realize how beautiful it is here, but above was even more beautiful.
Finally, we reached the observation decks, and there were a few of them on different levels! We took photos from different heights, and it’s hard to say where the best view is, as for me, this view is beautiful from any place. The first few minutes as soon as we finished the ascent and looked into the distance, lost the power of speech and just stood and watched, enjoying the natural beauty. The view is of the protected Tam Kok Park, where you can take a boat ride between the various cliffs. We sailed the same morning right along the river you see in the photo, you can even see a few boats there. The beauty is indescribable, of course. In general, this place in Ninh Binh is called “Halong on land. Halong Bay is very famous around the world, because it is included in the 7 Natural Wonders of the World. We went there too, and yes, my impressions are the same, Ninh Binh is definitely a bit like Halong, only on land and floating on the river here. I liked both places, although I have heard and read opinions that some even liked Ninh Binh better than Halong! And no wonder, Ninh Binh province is very beautiful indeed. Here they filmed part of the movie “Kong. Island of the Skull” and in the national park Trang An there is even an island on which it was filmed and it is open to tourists. In general, there is a lot to see in Ninh Binh.
There is a dragon on the highest point of Hang Mua Mountain, we crawled on it, but it is quite dangerous to be here, as very sharp rocks and not much space, so the photos came out close. To take a picture of the whole dragon it is best to go to the neighboring mountain and take a photo from there.
Next to the dragon is a small temple with a statue of the Lady Buddha. This was my first time in Asia to see a statue of Lady Buddha, it was so unusual for me, because in other Asian countries where I have been, always saw only male Buddha, in large numbers, and it turns out there is also a Lady Buddha. Later on in our trip to Vietnam, we will see her more than once.
So, we went up the second track to the neighboring mountain and from there we had no less breathtaking and beautiful views.
A lot of rice fields, houses of local Vietnamese, the rocks standing one after another, this natural beauty can be seen for a long time. We spent a little longer at the top than we planned, it was getting close to sunset and we went downstairs, we were supposed to visit another temple of Green Pearl in the rock.
As you know the mountain of Hang Mua, Mua Caves is very pleased with the fantastic views for a long time stuck in my heart, so if you take an excursion for 1 day from Hanoi or traveling alone in Ninh Binh, I strongly suggest you to include in the list of places to visit this beautiful mountain with stunning views.