Huong Tich Cave at Perfume Pagoda in Vietnam

On January 30, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Vietnam3 Comments

Perfume Pagoda is a complex of Buddhist temples located about a couple of hours outside of Hanoi in Vietnam. At the heart of the complex is Huong Tich Cave and within the cave is Chua Trong or the Inner Temple. During the festival time, from late January through early March, thousands of people visit the temple and the 2.5 km (1.5 mile) path that takes you up to the cave is lined with vendor stalls selling food, gifts, and objects to use as an offering. In order to reach the Perfume Pagoda complex, you need to take an almost hour long boat ride (less if you take a motorized boat) through the beautiful countryside.

There is a cable car that will also take you to the summit where Huong Tich Cave is located and for the nominal price it is worth it. During the festival, however, the lines for the cable car are so long that it is faster to walk and even that is very slow going as you weave along the foot path. The views from the cable car are also worth it as it allows you to get above the path and see how it winds through the forest. After taking the cable car to the summit and visiting the cave and Chua Trong, we did walk down the path in order to get an appreciation of it. There were only a few stalls open during our visit and needless to say, with less visitors, they worked hard to try to get us to buy something.

Temple Building on the Side of the Mountain

From the cable car, you walk down a steep set of stairs that take you to the entrance of the cave. The opening of Huong Tich Cave is said to resemble the mouth of a dragon and there is a rock formation inside of the cave that also looks like a dragon. There is a ceremonial altar at the entrance and at the deepest part of the cave is the inner temple, Chua Trong. As we understand it, it is the only pagoda located inside of a cave and there are many different statues of Buddha in the temple. Even without the temple, the inside of the cave is interesting to see with all of the typical stalagmites and stalactites.

When visiting Hanoi, we’d definitely recommend going on the Perfume Pagoda tour, but only after doing Halong Bay and a Ninh Binh tour. The scenery is beautiful and the history, which goes back hundreds of years, and culture is fascinating. It is probably interesting to see during the festival season, but since we don’t like crowds, we were fine with visiting a couple of months before it started. The tour will take a full day from Hanoi, lasting about 10 hours from hotel pick-up to drop-off.

Sung Sot (Surprise) Cave on Halong Bay, Vietnam

On January 27, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn VietnamLeave a comment

Of the many fascinating places that we visited during our Halong Bay tour, seeing Sung Sot or Surprise Cave was certainly unique. There are many caves throughout the region, although most of the other ones that we visited were on the water. Surprise Cave is completely different as it is more of what we would consider to be a cavern with large ceilings, stalagmites, and stalactites. It is another very popular location, so the earlier in the day that you can arrive, the better off you will be.

From our cruise ship, we took a small boat to the docks at Bo Hon Island where Sung Sot Cave is located. In order to get to the entrance of the cave, you must climb the approximately 50 stairs that rise high above the bay. The walls of the mountain is covered in plants and trees, but even so the entrance of the cave is visible from the docks below. Before you enter the mouth of the cave, you are rewarded with wonderful views of the bay below and all of the other ships that are there to visit the island.

Interesting Formations Around Every Turn

As you start to explore Surprise Cave, the first chamber that you enter is known as the “Waiting Room” with multicolored lights and a variety of stalagmites and stalactites. It is probably known as the waiting room because that is exactly what it is as different tour groups wait for their turn to enter the narrow passageway that takes you to the second chamber. The ceiling of the cave has unique, swirling patterns from the water that created the large caverns hundreds of years earlier. It is an opportunity for your tour guide to give a brief history of the cave and to get an appreciation of the beautiful rock formations.

The second chamber, called the “Serene Castle”, is even larger and more impressive. There is a path that leads you around the various different formations, many of which that have been given different names because of things that they resemble. The most popular is one that looks like a turtle, which is a revered symbol, so people leave offerings as a blessing in order to receive long life. As you finally make your way out of Sung Sot Cave’s exit, you are once again greeted with wonderful views of Halong Bay.

We visited Bo Hon Island on the final day of our Halong Bay tour and it only took us about two hours to walk through the interior of Surprise Cave. With the amazing geological features, it is certainly worth having to deal with the crowds in order to see the cave.

Ninh Binh Province Tour in Vietnam

On January 21, 2020 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Vietnam2 Comments

Known as the “Inland Halong Bay”, visiting Ninh Binh Province makes for a perfect day trip from Hanoi, Vietnam. There are several potential locations to visit when doing a tour of Ninh Binh Province and, unless you are planning to spend more than one day, you are going to have to choose which sights you want to see. One of the tours included the Bai Dinh Pagoda, which is the largest pagoda in Vietnam, as well as the caves of Trang An where the movie Kong: Skull Island was filmed. We chose to do what seemed to be the more popular tour that included the ancient capital of Vietnam, the caves of Tam Coc, and the incredible views from the mountains above Mua Cave. It was a full day tour that include lunch with a meal that is representative of the Ninh Binh Province.

Hoa Lu – Our tour started with a visit to the temples of Hoa Lu, which is the ancient capital of Vietnam. The temple of Đinh Tiên Hoàn is dedicated to the first emperor of Vietnam, Ninh Bo Linh. Sitting next to it is the temple of Lê Đại Hành is dedicated to Lê Hoàn who is the second emperor of Vietnam.
Boats Going One After Another Through the Caves
Tam Coc Caves – A highlight of the tour is taking a row boat along Ngo Dong River and going through the three caves that make up Tam Coc. Seeing the oarsman rowing the boat with their feet is certainly very interesting. The scenery is absolutely beautiful and is definitely clear why Ninh Binh Province is compared to Halong Bay.
Amazing Views of the Ninh Binh Province
Mua Cave – The main reason for going to Mua Cave is to climb the over 540 steps to the summit of the mountain to see the incredible views of Ninh Binh Province. The observation deck provides 360 degree views of the region and also overlooks Ngo Dong River where you can see the boats touring the Tam Coc caves. It is a very steep climb, but well worth the effort as you see the mountains in one direction and the rice paddies and fields in the other.
Goat Stew
Traditional Lunch – In addition to the restaurants, you could see women on the side of the roads selling cooked goat meat as we drove throughout Ninh Binh Province. We stopped for lunch at a local restaurant after visiting Hoa Lu and before doing our tour of the Tam Coc caves. We enjoyed a goat stew as well as some typical fried spring rolls.
Beautiful Scenery

When visiting Hanoi, going to Halong Bay is certainly a must, but if you have the time, we’d highly recommend doing a day tour of Ninh Binh Province. Most of the tours include a traditional hat to help protect you from the sun, which is helpful when on the river. Our Ninh Binh Province tour was one of our favorite memories of our time in Vietnam. The tour is typically 11 to 12 hours long and the tour company will pick you up and drop you off from your hotel in Hanoi’s old quarter.