Tam Coc: a bad bich pagoda and a big ass rock

The only bus heading to Tam Coc from Phong Nha was a night bus. It was meant to leave Phong Nha at 9pm and arrive in Tam Coc at 5am. “5am isn’t ideal”, we thought, “but at least it’s not too horrifically early” we thought. Well, we thought wrong. 3:20am the bus arrived in Tam Coc. Half asleep we were herded onto the pitch black street to find our own way to our guesthouse, where we had to wake up the owner in the middle of the night. Excellent. That went well.

Thankfully our guesthouse owner was some sort of saint and let us into a room to get some sleep. Once we resembled humans as opposed to zombies we began exploring. Here’s what we got up to...

Endangered Primates Rescue Centre and Turtle Conservation Centre

EPRC are a non-profit organisation dedicated to to the rescue, rehabilitation, breeding, research and conservation of Vietnam’s endangered and critically endangered primate species, including gibbons, langurs and lorises. 25 species of Vietnam’s primates are on the edge of extinction, with 11 species listed as ‘critically endangered’ as a result of poaching and habitat destruction. A visit here is brief, and I’d have liked the staff to give us more information (I could’ve probably given more than our guide did) but it’s nice to see Vietnam working hard to protect its native species.

Over the road sits the Turtle Conservation Centre, Which was established in 1998 as a rescue and holding center for tortoise and freshwater turtles which were seen in the extensive illegal wildlife trade during the 1980's and 1990's. Again, a visit is pretty brief, and I’d have liked more information, but it’s great to see an effort being made to conserve native species.

In conclusion: would recommend if you’re in the area but don’t worry about going out of your way for them.

Four Paws Viet

Now this one deserves a visit. I have a love affair with bears thanks to getting to work with them twice in the last few years, and it’s so nice to see this place doing brilliant things for them.

Even though the production of bear bile and trading in bear products are forbidden by law in Vietnam, bear bile farming and illegal bile extraction still take place. The Vietnamese government has taken firm legislative steps to end bear farming in Vietnam, however, there are still approximately 400 so-called 'bile bears'-mainly Asiatic black bears-living in horrendous conditions on more than 150 bear farms. These animals suffer in tiny metal cages, spending their days in an almost vegetative state, half-starved and dehydrated.

The newly built Four Paws aims to end bear farming in Vietnam. The Sanctuary will boost government efforts to enforce the existing laws that prohibit the abuse of bears for bile extraction by providing a place for bears – whether confiscated or voluntarily given up by their owners – to find a haven where they will be cared for properly.

You can go on a tour around the centre, it’s lovely to see the bears living their best lives (I could honestly watch them for hours) in lovely large enclosures with lots of enrichment activities, and the staff are really knowledgeable about the bears and their histories. There’s videos to watch showing the before and after of the bears and though the before is hard to watch (one of the bears has had both her front paws chopped off), the after videos are the loveliest to watch.

Bich Dong Pagoda

Bich Dong Pagoda was built by 2 monks in the early 18th century and consists of 3 pagodas at varying heights nestled into the mountain. The cluster of cave temples is surrounded by water, with the most photographed spot being the arched concrete bridge leading across the lake to the temple gateway. There are some 100 steps from the bottom to the top, with the trail taking you through caves where smaller shrines are nestled. It’s a pretty cool spot, and the bonus is that it’s only a half hour scenic walk from the centre of Tam Coc along rice paddies and past limestone karsts. And it’s free to explore- what’s not to like?

Tam Coc Boat

Tam Coc is heralded as ‘Ha Long Bay on land’, and it’s not hard to see why. A 2 hour trip down the Ngo Dong river takes you past huge limestone karsts and through 3 small caves. The rowers here use there feet rather than their hands, which adds to the whole experience. I’m fairly sure if I tried I’d end up in the drink.

Bai Dinh Pagoda

Parts of this huge pagoda complex are still being built, but most of it is finished and ready to be explored. Built on a hillside with hundreds of steps leading to the top, the best plan of attack is to get the golf buggy up and then walk back down through the various levels via the stairwells on either side lined with hundreds of stone statues of what we were told were ‘buddhas disciples’. Other highlights include the two huge buildings housing equally huge statues and shrines- huge golden buddhas depicting the past, present and future, and hundreds of small buddhas laid into the walls sponsored by families hoping for good fortune.

We made the mistake of being talked into getting a ‘guide’. I add the quote marks because our ‘guide’ teetered around in high heels with a little handbag and putting up her umbrella any time we were outside, despite it not being sunny nor rainy, and panting any time we went up any steps. She didn’t really add a whole lot to experience, other than entertainment at how ridiculous her work shoes were, so I’d give having a guide the swerve.

Trang An Boat

Trang An is like Tam Coc’s more impressive big sister. There are 3 routes to choose from (all costing the same), depending on what you’re after. We chose Route 2, the quickest of the the 3 as we had other things on the plan for the day too- though it still lasted the best part of 3 hours. The route takes you through a dramatic landscape of huge limestone karsts, through caves and stopping off to explore pagodas. It’s like being on the set of Jurassic Park. If you only had time to do one, I’d pick this over Tam Coc, but we really enjoyed both and it’s such a cool experience that we were more than happy to do it twice.

Hang Mua Peak

By now you’ll know we love a climb, and this one was a corker. 500 steps above the Hang Mua caves you’ll find amazing panoramic 360* views of Tam Coc valley, limestone mountains and local countryside. There are 2 sides to climb as the stairs fork to the left and the right, but I’d recommend going up both because they’re both pretty spectacular.

Sleep: Khai Yen Tam Coc- I cant recommend this place highly enough. The lady who owns the guesthouse got up at 3:20am to find us beds when our night bus arrived nearly 2 hours early. Breakfast was tasty and included in the price, we booked our onward travel with her (she even helped carry our bags to the bus and gave us a key ring as a reminder of our stay), and her husband drove us around to the different sights. Plus, their puppy is so, so cute.

Eat:

T-bar- banging veggie burgers, chips and pizzas. Happy hour gets you a free beer with your pizza.

The Long Vegan- 2 separate menus- one for meat eaters and one for vegetarians- win win for everyone.

Drink: just wandering up and down the road will find you happy hours left right and centre for that post-exploring hydrating beer

Thanks for treating us to mad views Tam Coc, next stop: Cat Ba