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An important place of pilgrimage and the largest complex of Buddhist temples in the country, Bai Dinh is a fascinating site for its mix of old and new. Ancient temples are housed in caves you can only reach via a pretty climb of 300 steps, while the new temple area covers an area of 500 hectares. This is a tranquil place to relax in the afternoon.

The old Bai Dinh pagoda is located on the western slope of Dinh mountain and nestles in quiet forest. The pagoda houses an ancestor-worshipping house in the centre, Bright cave on the right hand side which worships the Buddha, the small temple worshipping Genie Cao Son. In addition, on the left hand side of the pagoda is another temple worshipping Saint Nguyen and next to it is Dark cave which worships the Fairy. With fanciful scenery and quiet atmosphere, the pagoda will make visitors feel likely to live in fairy land and they find peace in their minds.

Besides, visitors can explore many other grottoes and caves like Fairy cave with seven smaller ones or cave of Ba Chua Thuong Ngan (The goddess of forests). In these caves and grottoes, there are a large variety of magnificent stalactites and stalagmites with various strange shapes and sizes that will invoke the imagination of visitors.

On the other side of Dinh Moutain is new Bai Dinh pagoda. This pagoda has been built since 2003 and covers a 80 ha area. The Bai Dinh pagoda possesses many parts such as Tam The Temple, Phap chu Temple, Quan Am temple (Bodhisattva Temple), Bao Thap, Bell Tower and dormitory area for Buddhist monks.

All materials are collected from local area and neighboring provinces. To build the pagoda requires about five hundred craftsmen and many groups of workers from famous traditional craft villages such as Phu Loc wood making village, Ninh Van stone carving village, Y Yen bronze casting village, Van Lam embroidery village and so on. Such people used Vietnamese materials for instance, green stone of Ninh Binh or ceramic tiles of Bat Trang to create Vietnamese features for the architecture of Bai Dinh pagoda.

Thung Nham Garden is located in Ninh Hai Commune; Hoa Lu District is one of the most attractive tourist destinations. In addition to the fun while sitting on the boat, admiring the lagoon, visitors also explore the wildlife of nearly 40 species of birds with about 50 thousand.

This is a Ninh Binh tourist destination that you should not ignore because this place converges enough elements of ecological tourism, landscape, culture, and spirituality. Thung Nham bird sanctuary is home to 40 species of birds such as stork, cauldron and two rare birds listed in the red book as Phoenix and flamingoes.

The most beautiful Thung Nham bird park at sunset, by this time you will be admired a rare sight that is the flock of white stork wide wings to fly their nest in the lagoon.

Get a bird's-eye view of Ninh Binh at Hang Mua, where 500 steps have been dramatically carved into the steep face of a mountain. At the top, a lookout points offers a vista across the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex, where the river winds lazily among paddies, hemmed up by limestone outcrops. If you still have energy left, embark on another climb to the awe-inspiring lookout at Bich Dong Pagoda.

Cuc Phuong National Park is a famous tourist destination for ecology and environment. This is the first national forest of Vietnam, where it is also a primeval forest known for its complex terrain and abundant flora and fauna. Many rare species are still preserved here. Visitors come here to explore the rich fauna and flora, admire the beautiful natural landscape, participate in ecotourism programs, resort, campfire, adventure, research about cultural history. Center garden located in Cuc Phuong, Nho Quan, Ninh Binh.

In the forest, there are some tourist destinations: Nguoi Xua Cave, Con Moong Cave, Khong Trang Cave, Son Cung Cave, Pho Ma Cave, Thuy Tien Cave, Silver Cloud Peak, Yen Quang Lake, Pho Ma Cave.

When coming to Cuc Phuong ecotourism, you are not only exploring the wild and mysterious forest of primitive forest with old trees thousands of years old, caves bearing historical marks such as the Crescent Moon Cave, God Cave, Thuy Tien Cave, Ancient People Cave… but also experience hot springs and attractive services to visit, trekking, etc.

Originating from the heart of a mountain in Kenh Ga Floating Village, Kenh Ga Hamlet, Gia Thinh Commune, Gia Vien District, Ninh Binh Province, about 15km to the north of Ninh Binh City, Kenh Ga Hot Spring is an ecology, leisure and wellness tourist site attracting numerous visitors.

Kenh Ga Hot Spring was discovered in 1940 by French. The water in Kenh Ga contains good minerals such as sodium chloride, magnesium chloride, potassium chloride, calcium and bicarbonate. With temperature of 53°C, Kenh Ga mineral water is used in the treatment of several diseases, including rheumatism, skin diseases, neuropathies... Kenh Ga mineral water is also treated and bottled to provide visitors.

Located in the north of Gia Vien district, not only a nature reserve, Van Long is also an attractive place. Van Long is known as “no wave bay” because when going on a boat on the lagoon, visitors will see the quiet water surface as a giant mirror. This watercolor painting reflects clearly the monumental limestone mountains such as Meo Bar, Mam Xoi, Hom Sach, Da Ban, Nghien, Mo Coi, Co Tien…

In addition to admiring the mountains have strange shapes, you can also admire some freshwater aquatic species or take the boat to the special cave, especially Fish Cave. In particular, if you are lucky you can also meet a few white langurs watching you from above.

Besides, Van Long lagoon is a spiritual tourist destination with 600-year-old trees, Chi Le pagoda, Mai Trung pagoda, Dinh Tien Hoang Temple, Thanh Mau Temple and Thanh Son Pagoda.

It’s now time to pay a visit to the famous King of Vietnam’s temple – King Dinh Tien Hoang’s. The temple is located in Truong Yen village, Truong Yen commune, Hoa Lu town, in a garden of 5 hectares wide. It faces the East, and stands in front of Ma Yen Mount, where King Dinh Tien Hoang’s tomb was located.

The temple was built in the 17th century, with a special architecture, the interior of which had an “I letter” shape, surrounded by a square land. Now you are standing at the 3-class mid-noon gate. You can go on to the next one, seeing a dragon bed and getting the second gate. Passing through one more gate and walking along the holy way will lead to the main house. In the middle of the house is one more stone dragon-bed, which is 1.8m long and 1.4m wide. Looking at the bed surface you can easily find sculptured dragon, shrimps, fishes, rats images which are of deep delicateness and skill.

This main house has 3 parts. The first one is the worshipping place with 5 rooms. The second is an incense burning room where they worshiped 4 important mandarins under Dinh dynasty. The third main part, the most important one, is separated to the second by a high door. Here you can witness there worshipping King Dinh Tien Hoang and his three sons.

You may have to admit that the temple is an original architectural work of art full of folk sculptures! It attracts tourists for so many valuable relics hidden in thick bricks, tilts, Buddhist prayer-book pillars, and more importantly its meaningful history of the first ancient capital of Vietnam.

Nearby you can find the Tomb of King Dinh Tien Hoang, which was situated on Ma Yen Mount, in front of his Temple. “Ma yen” means “back of a horse”, as seen from a far distance, it has the shape of a back of a horse. The tomb is in the sagging down post of the horse’s back. To reach up to the tomb, visitors must pass 150 rock steps. The tomb was built in 1840, under Ming Mang King reign.

The very first meaningful stop-over in Ninh Binh should be Hoa Lu, the capital of Vietnam from 968 until 1010. Before the year 968, the nation was just a district of China. As time went by, several fightings for independence have occurred, yet none was of a long success until Dinh Bo Linh’s troops rising. In 968, Dinh Bo Linh defeated 12 lords of the district (former Vietnam) and proclaimed to be Emperor. He was the first King of Dinh dynasty (King Dinh Tien Hoang), and named the country Dai Co Viet. Then he set up Hoa Lu, his home country, as the capital of Dai Co Viet. His meaningful success was a great landmark of Vietnam as transferring from a district of China into a truly independent nation.

Dinh dynasty lasted 12 years. Then Le Hoan started 29 years of Le dynasty. In 1009, when Ly Cong Uan became the King, he found an area which had an excellent site and topography, therefore decided to move the capital from Hoa Lu to Dai La citadel, former Hanoi. In 1910, Hoa Lu ended its honored role of being the Nation’s Capital after 42 years. Today, tourists elsewhere come to Hoa Lu for the purpose of involving themselves in a historical and mysterious world of an ancient capital with miraculous palace, mighty citadel, hiding in the grandiose mountain ranges and gentle Hoang Long rivers. This makes a magnificent fairy scenery!

Almost any time of the year is good to visit Ninh Binh. Like in all the north Vietnam, May to October in Ninh Binh is hot, humid and with high rainfall.

The region can be especially vulnerable to typhoons during September. November to April months tend to be cooler and dry. However, the rainy season is also when the rice fields are at their best vivid green, so there’s really a reason to visit all year round!

The diverse terrains, the customs and cultural traditions have created a unique and special attraction of Ninh Binh cuisine culture with many famous dishes such as goat meat (Thit De), burned rice (Com Chay), Nho Quan tube wine (Ruou Can Nho Quan), Lai Thanh (Kim Son) wine, Yen Mac fermented pork roll (Nem Chua Yen Mac), Gia Vien shrimp sauce (Mam Tep Gia Vien), etc.

The beautiful sights, historical cultural relics and delicious dishes of this sacred land known as "Miniature Vietnam" will certainly leave many unforgettable impressions in the heart of visitors.