Trang An is another national reserve in Ninh Binh. It is no less beautiful than Tam Coc, which we visited first, as it is the most popular place in Ninh Binh. I, for example, also liked Trang An very much, at times even more than Tam Coc. Some tourists like Trang An much more than Tam Coc. But, since almost all day trips from Hanoi include a visit to Tam Coc Park, Trang An is a less popular place, although there are always people here. Trang An is much wider and larger and the tour takes an average of 3 hours. During this time you not only sit in a boat, but also land on small islands, visit pagodas, look at the nature. For me, it is more interesting than just 3 hours on the boat.
Trang An – description, routes, fee
Trang An is a very beautiful nature reserve, which is famous for its karst rocks, located next to each other between rivers and reservoirs. Very beautiful and fabulous place, you can very long leisurely admire the natural beauty of Ninh Binh, sailing next to the mountains and under them into the through caves.
In Trang An offer you a choice of 3 route options. The first option has the most caves – as many as 9, and 3 landings to see the pagodas. The second route has 3 caves and also visits to islands with pagodas, and the most important difference – a visit to the island where the movie “Kong. Skull Island. The third route also has 4 caves and stops to see the pagodas. I really wanted to visit the island where the famous Kong movie was filmed, so without thinking I chose the second route. Basically, by the way, almost all tourists choose the very first route, but I read in the reviews that 9 caves is too much, and they get bored, so I did not want the first route beforehand.
The cost to visit Trang An National Park is VND200,000 for an adult and VND100,000 for a child, children under 1 meter tall go free. Parking of mopeds, bicycles costs 15 thousand VND.
Trang An – how to get there
Trang An is 10 kilometers from Tam Coc. Tourists mostly stay in hotels near Tam Coc National Park and, accordingly, travel from there as well.
- Independently on a moped, bicycle
The most popular way to get to Trang An is to rent a moped or bicycle from your hotel and drive yourself. The distance is short, part of the road goes along the highway, part along the rice terraces. We rented a moped from our hotel Tam Coc Bungalow and drove all the way to Trang An on your own. This is very convenient, because after that you can go even further and visit the largest pagoda in Vietnam — Bai Dinh
- By Taxi
This is also an equally popular way to get to Trang An if you don’t want to think about anything and drive a vehicle. You can also call a cab directly at your hotel, but I recommend you to use the app Grab, you can order the same cab there 1.5-2 times cheaper, it’s an analogue of Uber.
Good Hotels in Ninh Binh on Booking:
Our visit to Trang An National Park. Testimonial.
We arrived in Trang An on the 2nd day of our stay in Ninh Binh. We arrived around 10 am, bought tickets, there were no lines at the ticket office. We walked across the bridge, showed our tickets and as we approached the pier, a local worker came up to us and asked which route we had chosen. We answered that we had chosen the second route with a visit to Konga Island. Then they bring us to 2 girls who just happened to choose the second route and were waiting for us. The rest, about 20 people stood on the pier and one by one set sail on the first route.
We set sail from the pier and our walk began! On the left and right we paddled along the beautiful karst rocks covered in greenery that appeared here and there around every bend.
The weather was a little cloudy, in the morning in Ninh Binh it is often, well, that it did not rain, and we were waiting for sunshine, which they promised closer to the afternoon. But on the plus side of this weather, we are not burnt in the sun, because it was a little stuffy.
We were swimming in different caves, from 60 to 320 meters long. The caves were all different, very often we had to practically lie down in the boat to avoid hitting the roof of the caves. Unusual sensations, for people suffering from claustrophobia, it will not be a very pleasant pastime.
It was always so nice to swim out of a stuffy cave, although inside all the caves are lit up and it’s not scary to swim through them at all.
We also disembarked at 2 islands where we walked around for about 20-30 minutes looking at the pagodas, during which time our boatmate was also resting. In Trang An, by the way, the boatwomen row in the classic way – with their hands, not their feet, like in Tam Coc.
All the pagodas are very beautiful both inside and outside.
And the views all around are dizzying!
All these karst rocks, which here and there appear out of the water, excites the mind. You feel very small in all this domination of nature.
You realize that nature is the power and might, and we humans are just little men in the whole universe.
And here we are approaching the long-awaited island where they filmed the movie “Kong. Skull Island.” Nearby is a small temple on the water, but inside I saw music speakers, and I never knew if it was working.
But the views are very nice!
There are also pagodas here, but all our attention is on the sign of Konga Island.
We walk up the stairs, passing what seemed to me to be another part of the island, where we are greeted by many statues of turtles.
A little more and we come to the boat that was filmed in the movie, which is what the people in the movie were trying to get off the island on! My excitement knows no bounds, we look around and I remember in detail how this boat was filmed. Undoubtedly this is it!
The boat stands right on the river, we walk across the bridge to another island, and here we see the huts of the people who lived on the island and even the people themselves!
A joke, of course. But the locals, dressed in costume from the movie, really a few people and you can take pictures with them.
At first I was upset, because I was sure that it was a fee, and we did not take money with us, they stayed on the boat. But as it turns out, it’s all included in the price of a visit to Trang An.
Want to be the local king? Please, here’s a crown for you! And several other locations with locals where you can have your picture taken as if it were a still from a movie. Healthy all made up, interesting!
All in all, this island left a great impression on me, as did the entire Trang An National Reserve. Our second route took about 2 hours, although we had set ourselves up for 3. Judging by the map that we were given, we did not swim to another island, apparently, our boat lady was tired, and we did not say anything to her. But it was a plus for us, because we saw everything we wanted to, and this hour came just in time, because after Trang An we were going to go further and visit the pagoda Bye Ding, And after that we had a 14-hour overnight train ride to Da Nang. Well, the adventure continues!