One and half drive and 100 kms from Hanoi is the Mua mountain. It was a cloudy day and we expected few showers. Passing through rice fields on roadside, the drive was a pleasant one.
History of Mua caves:
Mua translates to dancing in Vietnamese. It is said that a King of Tran dynasty returned from Thang Long (Hanoi) to Hoa Lu during Vietnam Mongolia war, which was the ancient capital and established Am Thai Vi. He often used to visit this tranquil mountain to listen to beautiful singing and dancing of women. He named this place Mua Cave. Later, the surrounding area came to be popularly known as Mua cave.
lychees for the road
The worst thing about road travel is one needs a break.
people enjoying meals
There are three types of pipes. Dieu cay is a bamboo pipe, and the most simple one.
Apart from Vietnam, this type of pipe can also be seen in Cambodia.
We bought these hats to help us not getting wet. These hats do not prevent one from getting wet. They are more of sun hats, but when you are without any other option, it is better to have something. These hats have become our sovenir now.
This is one of the biggest expanse of lotus both white and pink. Wooden boards take you closer to the flowers.
the steep climb is a bit challenging with steps which lack proper foothold at places
Time to relax at a small kiosk selling drinks, ice creams. Since, it was raining, and we were all soaked, it was a good idea to stop for some time.
view of Tam Coc valley, Ngo Dong river. Boats going to Tam Coc caves
Mua caves:
Dieu Bat: is made of ceramic
Dieu Ong: this is the most sophisticated one and expensive too. It is made of ivory or precious wood or animal bones. It has silver chain to secure the cap and is sometimes carved as well. Suhas' friends, Hari Nayer, Sarthi Acharya and Vijay Rao presented an expensive one on his birthday in Cambodia. It has a small bowl in which water is filled so it cools down the smoke. Another reason, it gives an extra smooth and cool sensation to the smoker. Another reason to filter out the toxins.
roadside eating joint
Having parked our vehicle in the car park, we start walking. It was drizzling so we welcomed that but soon it became far from being pleasant.
No doubt why Vietnam Airlines has a lotus as their logo.
photo shoot
I was surprised to see young girls taking pictures in the rain. That is the effect of instagram!!
raindrops on lotus leaves
view of towers and temple on the peak
There are two towers. Nearing the towers, there are two tracks you may decide to chose. One leads to the image of Boddhisattva, Kua Yim, where you can see the white dragon. The other flight of steps takes to another tower, called the "check-in tower" on right side in the picture above.
The other is a small tower. One needs to climb for another 20-30 minutes to reach the highter one.
About 500 steps take you to the top of mountain. There is a beautiful view of paddy fields and Ngo Dong river.
steps leading to top
Sculpture of Te Thien Dai Thanh
Te Thien Dai Thanh or the Monkey King, first in figure above is a legendary character which has been influenced by Hanuman, the Hindu deity from the Ramayana. Stories travelled with Buddhists from India to China and South-east Asian countries probably created this legend.
Dong Hoang Ho- Tiger cave:
Just before one starts climbing, on the right side is the tiger cave. The cave is not very big.
A stone white tiger sits in the altar.
On the side are steps with a collection of water below. Inspite of some light, it was quite dark for me to try going in the water. Is that a well in the center?
A small stream flows is said to flow inside .
Dragon on the side is said to be carved during Tran dynasty (1225-1400)
looking up to climb 500 steps
already climbed so many steps
From here, I need to decide which path to take.
Go right to the "check in tower" or climb higher to see the temple of Kua Yim and the dragon.
"check in tower" with flight of steps, one of the peak of Hang Mua
The stairs leading to top of mountain look like the Great Wall of China
"Check in tower"
The tower is very popular with people taking pictures and selfies.
It is a simple tower with a square bottom representing the land, the pointed parts of tower going upwards symbolizes fire.
Ngo Dong river, notice the entrance to cave on right under limestone mountains
Image of Boddhisattava, Kua Yim who looks down at the capital blessing the people.
Few more steps more lead you to top to the temple of Kua Yim or Gua Yim. The steps are a bit unstable here so climbing was not easy.
Lying Dragon Mountain (Nu'i Ngao Long)
Just behind the image of Boddhisattava is a stone dragon on top of the Mua peak. It is one of the highlighting features of this place. I tried to find a way of going up but the area has been cordoned off as there were some fallen rocks all over the place.
I tried again to find way to reach the top but it looked quite risky so gave up the idea. In some earlier pictures, I had seen a long dragon but most of it is gone now leaving just a small section of it.
view of Tam Coc area, paddy fields below, yes, it has been raining hard
relaxing
The caves are situated at the base of Mua mountain.
entrance to Mua caves
The cave is 800 meter square wide and 142 meter high
With so many casks, initially we thought they produce wine here :)
going towards the pond
These are used to store water dripping from above
A small pond in front, for those who dare to go, there is said to be a stream ahead.
other end of cave
view of temple of Kua Yim
lunch time
The lunch was great with prawns, goat, bread, variety of leaves which makes a very important part of a Vietnamese meal.
After a hearty meal, we realised that the rain had stopped and we could make Trang An boat tour.
Entrance ticket: 100,000 VND
Hours: Monday to Friday, 6 A.M. to 5 P.M
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