Located 120 km from Hanoi, Tam Coc (Ninh Binh Provice) is a popular tourist destination in north Vietnam and part of the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex UNESCO World Heritage site. The area is nicknamed “the inland Ha Long Bay”.
Tam Cốc, literally “three caves”, consists of three natural caves on the Ngô Đồng river – Hang Cả, Hang Hai and Hang Ba. Tourists are taken in small boats along the river from the village of Van Lam, through rice fields, limestone karsts and the caves.
Unlike other places in Vietnam, Tam Coc only has one rice crop per year due to the rise in the river’s water level during the monsoon, making farming on its banks impossible.
End of May and early June (fourth lunar month) are the busiest rice harvesting time in Tam Coc. Going to Tam Coc in this time, tourist will admire the beauty of ripened rice paddies stretching along both sides of Ngo Dong River, glistening in summer sun. It is a heavenly sight.
