We leave Phong Nha, after two days exploring the National Park, and take a sleeping bus to go to Tam Coc, 240 miles up North.
Tam Coc is located in what we call “Ha Long bay on land”. This region presents beautiful landscapes used in a handful of movies, like King Kong for example. Here we find big rocky hills in the middle of large rice fields.
Sleeping bus from Phong Nha to Tam Coc
It is the first sleeping bus we take in Asia, and the first sleeping bus ever for Maider’s folks. Adventure begins !
The bus is scheduled to arrive at 4 am in Tam Coc. The night is going to be short.
In the end we all sleep pretty OK given the circumstances and despite very little leg room for Matt.
We arrive a little earlier than expected in Tam Coc, around 3:45 am. We booked 2 nights in a homestay very close to the bus stop. And we were able to negotiate another night at half price for the night we arrived at 4 am. The only problem is that nobody is at the reception when we arrive so we start to panic a little. But we quickly find 2 sets of keys on the counter and understand that those are our two rooms.
We are able to go back to bed and sleep in until 8 am.
When we wake up we meet our host, Hau, who is super nice and apologizes for not waking up last night. She thought her father would be picking us up but he didn’t, typical miscommunication. But in the end we found our rooms alright so there was no issue.
She prepares us a great breakfast before giving us tips on what to do in the area.
The absolute must-do here is a boat ride from Tam Coc between the rice fields and in the middle of these huge karstic pics. But we keep that for the next day, indeed it is better to do it when it opens at 7 am. After that the crowds of tourists who do a 1 day trip from Hanoi come pouring in. Hanoi being only 60 miles away, this is a perfect escape from the city.
Bike ride around Tam Coc
For our first day here we decide to rent bikes to ride around the countryside.
Here again there are rice fields everywhere, it is beautiful.
We are, at times, surrounded by nothing but rice fields.
We also ride through some tiny villages where it seems there are more goats than inhabitants.
Hang Mua mountain
We make our way to the Hang Mua cave. If we come here it is not to see the cave, but climb the karstic pic.
We need to climb 500 steps to get to the top. After 5 minutes we are already sweating a lot, but the way up is actually easier than it looks.
We were afraid that there would be a lot of people but in the end it was OK. It seems that groups arrive a little later.
When we arrive at the top we notice that there are actually 2 different summits, linked by two staircases.
We climb to the first one on the right hand side.
The view from up there is incredible.
We take plenty of pictures.
And stay a while to admire the view.
Before getting back down and up again to the second summit. We can tell you that at that moment our clothes are soaking wet. The temperature is around 90 degrees, but with the humidity the real feel is around 100.
But we can’t complain, the view from this second summit is just as beautiful.
Maider will even strike a pose with the dragon statue at the top.
From this view point we can also see the river that the boats take from Tam Coc.
Another excuse to take pictures.
We finally head back down the 500 steps.
We are still very very hot so we stop to drink some very welcomed cold water at the bottom.
We then hop back on our bikes and ride through the countryside and tiny villages again.
The view on the rice fields and these karstic pics remains very beautiful.
We stop for lunch in town before heading back to the homestay for a nap. The heat and lack of sleep were too strong for us.
Thai Vi temple
Late in the afternoon we get back on our bikes to go visit the Thai Vi temple.
Another nice ride where we cross a bridge over the river and can see the boats passing by. Here again some goats are wandering by the river.
Here we ride in the middle of the rice fields again.
Before getting to the temple located in the middle of nowhere.
Sunset over the rice fields
As we continue, we find a perfect spot to watch the sunset. So we step off our bikes and take the time to admire the scenery.
We meet a guy from Chile who is also traveling for a month in Vietnam.
From here we take plenty of pictures because the place is just incredible.
Dinner with our hosts
We come back to the homestay and tonight we will eat with our hosts family. Maider helps in the kitchen, making the dip for the spring rolls.
We then set the table for 8 as we are eating with Hau, her cousin and her parents.
On the menu, fried spring rolls, fried pork, caramelized pork, Chinese broccoli and chayote. Delicious !
We will spend a great evening all together.
Hau speaks very well English, which helps a lot. She explains that her husband and her father designed the entire guesthouse, that opened only 6 months ago. Her husband is a civil engineer and works in Hanoi during the week, and comes back to Tam Coc only during the weekends.
We get along great and almost feel like part of the family.
Small boat ride on the Ngo Dong river
The next day, following Hau’s advice, we go to visit the Ha Long bay on land by boat at 7 am, right when it opens.
We are the first ones to arrive and get one of the little boats. Brigitte and Justin together on one and Maider and Matt on another one.
These are rowing boats, and it is fun to see that the locals here row with their feet.
The tour lasts two hours. Tam Coc means “the three caves” so the boat takes us along the river and on the way we will ride under three caves under the mountains.
All while being surrounded by these amazing rice fields.
We can’t stop taking pictures from the boat.
The landscape around us is beautiful : karstic hills popping out of the water, ducks swimming around the river, locals fishing, small temples here and there and the rice fields of course.
All of this with nobody around. We were the first boat on the water this morning, meaning we have the river all for ourselves. It’s fantastic.
We read on blogs, and Hau also mentioned it, that we could stop after the first cave and then climb to a nice viewpoint. This isn’t an official stop of the ride so we have to “tip” our rower for her to stop. We disembark on the river bank and climb up to the view point.
The way is a little steep, with a ladder to help us at one point.
But the view at the top is well worth it. The view on the valley from here is incredible.
This is where the famous picture from the Ha Long bay on land that we see everywhere was taken. Hau even took some of her wedding pictures up here.
After taking a few photos we go back down and climb inside our boats.
We continue the smooth ride along the river and enjoy the relaxing atmosphere.
We continue to a 2nd and a 3rd cave. Before making a u-turn, it is time to get back to the village.
The way back is just as nice, and we start seeing a few boats arriving in the opposite direction.
We make it back to the starting point after 2 hours in total.
And go grab breakfast at our homestay. Hau’s daughter, Lynn, starts to recognize us and spends some time having fun with Maider and Brigitte. This kid is lovely.
Bich Dong temple
To end the morning we get back on our bikes to go visit the countryside, as always surrounded by these amazing karstic pics.
We stop at the Bich Dong cave. Here there are three different levels with 3 different pagodas.
Only one of the three pagodas actually is inside the cave.
As we leave the cave we see another staircase bringing us to the other side of the hill, so we decide to go check it out.
A nice little walk around a tiny lake.
We then get back on our bikes to go back to Tam Coc.
With still more rice fields and karstic pics. We will never get bored of these landscapes.
We end our morning ride in a beer garden outside of the main road, for lunch. Where we also taste some excellent local craft beer.
In the afternoon Hau mentions that we can go swim in the homestay’s swimming pool owned by her cousin. Of course we accept. We will spend the afternoon in the swimming pool. Hau’s father comes with us and brings along the little Lynn. Another great time spent all together.
For our last evening in Tam Coc we go to the restaurant to taste the famous duck and goat from the region. Delicious.
The next morning we leave Hau’s family, who treated us as if we were one of their’s, and leave to the island of Catba.
Another beautiful stop that marks the end of the Ha Long bay on land.