VIETNAM – TAM COC

MARCH 5 – 10, 2026

We took a sleeper bus to TAM COC, in the province of NINH BINH. We each had our own little bed, complete with TV, charger capability, pillow and blanket. It was amazing!!

We took a boat ride down the NGO DONG RIVER. There were hundreds of boats queued up, so the wait was not long.

The boat people paddled with their feet. It was weird to see. Apparently, they used to row by hand, but with the increase of tourists, it was taking a toll on the boatsmen / women. They found that rowing by foot was easier on the body, and it allowed them to use their hands to hold an umbrella or snap a picture for the tourist. The rowing technique varies from peddling like a bicycle to both feet pulling at the same time. They can maneuver these SAMPAN BOATS very well.

The scenery was breathtaking. We drifted along for about two hours, passing between limestone karsts and along rice fields.

We passed through 3 caves. It seemed like they were going to swallow us up. At times we had to duck so as not to hit our heads.

The next day we took a walk to BICH DONG PAGODA. We passed more rice fields and were still in awe of the scenery. The limestone mountains resembled up-side-down eggs. It was so humid everything had a misty appearance, adding to the mystique.

BICH DONG PAGODA was originally constructed in 1428. We crossed over a walkway, with lotus ponds on either side, and through an arched entry gate.

The pagoda is built on three levels. We had to climb a bunch of steps to get to the two upper levels.

The upper most level had us pass through a cave, then up a few more steps to a small shrine.

We went around the other side of the pagoda and came to a SECRET CAVE. There seems to be a lot of “Secret Caves” in Vietnam. An old lady took our money and gave us a 15 minute tour. She pointed out stalagmites that looked like Buddha, a dragon and some sparkly ones. The one that I liked the most was when she shone her torch on one and it glowed.

We were fortunate to have a lovely little restaurant right across the street from TAM COC GOLDEN SUN HOMESTAY. The food was delicious, the prices were cheap and their Wi-Fi was much better than the hotel.

We took a tour, which I wrote about in a separate blog.