Pu Luong Nature Reserve in Vietnam: All You Need to Know!
October 4, 2024
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In Ninh Binh, also called the “Halong bay on land”, the breathtakingly beautiful Bich Dong Pagoda is situated among rice paddies and karst formations, in stunning natural decor. Located an hour south of Hanoi and a short bike trip from Tam Coc, this centuries-old relic is a captivating part of Vietnam’s spiritual and cultural heritage, a place that has drawn travelers for centuries. In this post, we’ll explore the history, beauty, and culture of the Bich Dong Pagoda in Vietnam!
The entrance of the Bich dong Pagoda in Tam Coc
The Bich Dong Pagoda, sometimes also referred to as “Tam Cốc Bích động”, and not to be confused with the nearby Bai Dinh Pagoda is a beautiful three-tiered pagoda complex built in the Ngu Nhac mountains near the tourist town of Tam Coc.
It is next to the Trang An Scenic Landscape complex boat tour and the Mua caves and viewpoint one of the top attractions in the area around Tam Coc. The pagoda complex itself is serene and wonderfully located, with nice views over the surrounding area from the top.
However, this has also become a very popular Instagram location so you’ll probably have to share it with a lot of other travelers! It’s especially hard to take a photo of the lovely gat, where people are practically standing in line to have their picture taken.
Aside from that, the Bich Dong Pagoda is absolutely worth a visit!
Bich Dong Pagoda, Tam Coc
The first mention in history of the Bich Dong Pagoda dates back hundreds of years ago. There’s a large amount of contradictory information online about when the first layer of the pagoda was actually built. Some sources stick very persistently to the year 1428 but let’s say it was built around 600 years ago.
A few hundred years later, in the 18th century, two monks, Tri Kien and Tri Khe, found the hidden temple and decided to renovate and expand it to the three tiers that it is today.
Bich Dong Pagoda, Tam Coc
As mentioned before, the pagoda consists of three tiers. The first one was built around 600 years ago while the middle tier and the top tier have been built in the 18th century. the three tiers are named Ha pagoda (Lower pagoda), Trung Pagoda (Middle pagoda) and Thuong Pagoda (Upper pagoda).
tam coc-bich dong
The Ha Pagoda is the first pagoda you’ll see after walking over the lovely bridge and through the entrance gate. Take a short walk to reach a peaceful courtyard that is surrounded by a few buildings and an outdoor seating area. You can find the pagoda perched against the rocks by taking a few steps up.
This wood and stone-built pagoda has five chambers and a two-story roof and is shaped like the Chinese word “Dinh” (工). Inside you can find several buddha statues and a lot of burning incense.
After you have finished exploring Ha pagoda, look for a stone 120-step staircase to your left which will lead you to the second level Trung Pagoda. This was my favorite level of the Bich Dong Pagoda because it boasts some scenic views over the surrounding area.
Bich Dong Pagoda – second level
The Trung Pagoda is also somewhat special because it is divided into two areas. One section of the pagoda is located outside and the other section is located inside a cave. Just like Ha pagoda, it is built out of stone and wood. Inside the cave, you can see a three centuries old bronze bell.
When you walk through the cave and take the stone steps up, you’ll arrive at the top pagoda, called Thuong Pagoda. The pagoda located here on the top is really small. Next to it is also a small shrine with a Buddha statue.
To my surprise, there was a security guy here, overlooking the premises. My boyfriend and I were trying to make a little joke about stealing the money that was donated to the Buddha statue but he couldn’t laugh about it and looked really offended. The Vietnamese can be really humorous people, but apparently not inside a pagoda!
Cave inside the Bich dong Pagoda
Aside from the regular things like taking enough water, and wearing sunscreen and a hat when it’s 30 degrees Celsius outside, here are two important things to know before visiting the Bich Dong Pagoda.
Scamming with parking is a well-known thing in Vietnam and it is no different here at the Bich Dong Pagoda. When you arrive with your motorbike or bicycle you’ll probably be directed to a parking space on the right-hand side from the stone bridge that leads to the entrance of the Bich Dong Pagoda.
They will give you a ticket and charge you for parking your vehicle, but there isn’t any fixed price on the ticket. This is already alarming and indicated that this is no official parking space because an official parking space would surely mention the price on the ticket.
I and my boyfriend refrained from parking our bicycles in the parking space and drove back to the street where a few restaurants are located and parked our bikes there and chained them up with our locks. Why would we pay for a parking space that we don’t actually need?
However, the guy got really upset and was making eyes at our bicycles when we entered the pagoda. After five minutes inside, we got so scared that he would tamper with our bicycles that we went out again to check if they were still okay.
They were, but, if you want my advice: don’t drive your bicycle or motorbike all the way to the entrance gate but park them near the restaurants and walk from there.
Also, if you are offered free bikes at your guesthouse, ask them for locks. That way, you don’t need to park them is a so-called “secured” space.
Pagodas are sacred places and therefore, as a conscious traveler, you must dress accordingly. Wear a T-shirt or scarf that covers your shoulders and make sure your skirt or pants are long enough to cover your knees. This is a common rule throughout Asia when you visit sacred places.
Tam Coc-Bich Dong
Often, when entering sacred places in South-East Asia, there are scarfs for rent or that can be used for free at the entrance. Unfortunately, this is not the case at the Bich Dong Pagoda so make sure you are dressed properly.
Here are the websites I personally use whenever I travel to Vietnam:
Booking.com: For the best cheap guesthouses, homestays or small hotels
Hostelworld: To find the best hostels located in the cities
Homestay: For unique immersive homestays in the cities as well as in the Vietnamese countryside
12GO and Bookaway: The best transport websites for long-distance buses and train travel in Vietnam and Southeast Asia
GRAB: for taxi rides in cities and nearby attractions
Skyscanner: For affordable flights to Vietnam
Eatwith: Dine with locals inside their home for an immersive foodie experience
Withlocals: Experience cities in Vietnam with local people that show you around. This is a good idea if you want to stray off the beaten path!
Viator and Get Your Guide: For (vegan) food tours, street food tours, and tours in general
Get your Visa for Vietnam online through the Evisa website
If you’re looking for travel insurance, the one with the best benefits online is without a doubt Heymondo! It’s very easy to ask for a quote on the website and if you book with this link you’ll get 5% off!
Get access to mobile data straight away when entering the country with a Vietnam E-sim or an Asialink E-sim when traveling through multiple countries.
At first glance, it seems that the Bich Dong Pagoda can be accessed day and night because it’s very easy to cross the bridge and walk toward the gate. They do however lock it up at night.
There are no fixed opening hours for the Bich Dong Pagoda which is quite frustrating. Reading reviews, I’ve noticed that people who wanted to visit after 5 P.M. found the gate already closed. Other visitors mentioned that they visited at 9 A.M. and had the place to themselves.
It’s safe to say that going between 9 A.M. and 5 P.M. is a good choice. Too bad however that this means that the temple is not accessible to watch sunrise and sunset.
The entrance fee to visit the Bich Dong Pagoda is completely free. Do be aware that, aside from the parking scammers, there will also be individuals hanging around that will try to sell you fake entrance tickets. Don’t fall into that trap!
I visited the Bich Dong Pagoda in late December. The temperature during the winter months is nice during the day, hovering around 20 degrees Celsius. It’s great weather to cycle around in the area but the only downside is that it stays very cloudy most days.
It is not advised to visit the area around Tam Coc during the summer months. During summer, there is a lot of rainfall and it’s the peak season for Vietnamese tourists so the pagoda will be packed with domestic travelers.
The best time to visit is probably March and April or October and November when it’s still sunny and relatively dry weather.
Tam Coc, Ninh Binh province
The Bich Dong Pagoda is a part of the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex and is close to Tam Coc, Trang An, and Ninh Binh City. The padoga can also easily be visited on a day trip from Hanoi but there are so many other attractions in the area like the Mua Caves, Trang An, and Van Long that it is absolutely worth it to stay in the area for a few days.
I spent two weeks in Trang An and Tam Coc and had a lovely time slow traveling in the area. Where you stay however is completely up to you. Here are some suggestions!
From Hanoi, you can choose to visit the Bich Dong Pagoda independently on a day trip or by taking an organized full-day tour that includes Bich Dong.
If you want to visit the area independently, you’ll first have to take a train or bus to Ninh Binh city and take a taxi from there. You find and book buses and trains easily on the website of 12GoAsia.
If you check carefully, you will even see that there are a few buses that go all the way to the center of Tam Coc and drop you off near the lake. That is convenient because, from there, you can walk to the Bich Dong Pagoda in a little over half an hour.
If you have little time on your hand, taking an organized tour might be a good idea. Here is the one I would suggest:
This tour includes a visit to the Bich Dong Pagoda but also a boat tour of the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex.
This is a good choice because most tours that leave from Hanoi stop for a boat tour in Tam Coc. The Tam Coc boat tours however are a complete tourist trap in which you will be forced to buy overpriced drinks and food in the middle of your tour and you will be asked for huge tips from the boatmen before even arriving back at the dock. Don’t do this.
On the other hand, the boat tours at Trang An are run by a professional organization. It’s a protected UNESCO World Heritage Site and the official site to visit to experience the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex.
Tam Coc is the best place to stay in the area to visit the Bich Dong Pagoda. It’s only a little over half an hour’s walk from the center of Tam Coc to the pagoda and Tam Coc has a nice variety of tourist facilities and lovely restaurants.
Trang is another village in the vicinity of the Bich Dong pagoda. It is closer located to the Trang An boat wharf than Tam Coc and also a more convenient location if you want to visit sights that are further afield like the Van Long Wetland Reserve.
There is a decent amount of guesthouses and homestays in Trang An but don’t expect to find a lively atmosphere during the evening. There also aren’t that many actual restaurants. Most restaurants you’ll find are the restaurants of some guesthouses and homestays.
A lot of travelers think that staying in the city of Ninh Binh is a better option and that there will be more facilities there for tourists. Having visited Ninh Binh, I can say for sure that there aren’t more tourist facilities there, neither better restaurant options nor a more lively vibe than in the countryside.
It is a pretty dusty city that completely lacks charm and it’s also further away from all the sights and attractions in the area. Staying in Trang An or Tam Coc is definitely the better option here.
Cycling is the best way to get around the area
Getting to the Bich Dong pagoda is relatively easy no matter if you’re staying in Tam Coc, Trang An or Ninh Binh.
Cycling is the most convenient and also the most eco-friendly option to get around the area. In between the beautiful karst mountains, the whole terrain is flat so you won’t have to work up your sweat.
A lot of the guesthouses and homestays in Trang An and Tam Coc rent out bicycles for free or for a very small fee (50 000 VND).
While it’s too far to walk to the Bich Dong Pagoda from Trang An and Ninh Binh, it’s perfectly doable to just use your feet to get there. The trip is 2,8 kilometers and it takes you a little over half an hour to get there on foot.
Renting a motorbike is another way to get around the area. It’s convenient but remember that riding a bicycle is a better choice ecologically.
Tam Coc is peaceful in itself but I found that the throngs of tourists driving motorbikes up and down the street in Tam Coc took that serenity away, especially on the main street.
If you want to rent a motorbike for the day, this should cost you around 150 000 VND.
If you don’t feel comfortable driving a bicycle or a motorbike you can opt to visit the Bich Dong Pagoda by taxi. Based on previous taxi experiences in South-East Asia, I wouldn’t recommend hailing a taxi on the street but rather arranging one through your accommodation so you will get a correct price.
A lot of taxi scams happen in Sout-East Asia in which Western tourists get overcharged dramatically, so be careful.
If you hire a private driver, it might be a good idea to visit a few other attractions in the area as well. When I was staying in Tam Coc I arranged a private driver to visit nearby Cuc Phuong National Park and the Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary and the price for this private tour was 900 000 VND.
Cuc Phuong is 45 kilometers away from Tam Coc so I assume that doing a private tour, incorporating sights in the more direct area in Tam Coc, will probably come a bit cheaper.
There are a dozen of tour agencies in the center of Tam Coc that arrange bus tickets and motorbikes but also local tours. You can book a tour at the agency directly or ask your accommodation if they work together with a local agent to arrange a tour.
As said before, the best area to stay to visit the Bich Dong Pagoda is Tam Coc or Trang An. Trang An is the better option if you like a more local vibe. Tam Coc is the best choice if you like to have a lot of restaurant options and tourist facilities.
Here are my recommendations for staying in Trang An and Tam Coc:
TRANG AN:
TAM COC:
Tam Coc and its surroundings is a wonderful region to explore and there are many more sights and attractions to explore in the area. I’ll list a few of them below but, for a more comprehensive guide, read my post about the 15 best things to do in Tam Coc.
Mua caves viewpoint, Ninh Binh, Vietnam
While the actual name of Mua Viewpoint is Mua Caves, the reason why people visit this attraction is not because of the caves. Visitors come here to climb the steep stairs to two amazing viewpoints from which you have a breathtaking panoramic view over Tam Coc and Ninh Binh.
Read my comprehensive guide to Hang Mua Viewpoint to find out everything you need to know about this attraction.
Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex
As said before, don’t let yourself get scammed at the Tam Coc boat wharf but make your way to Trang An to discover the Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex.
I’ve put together a guide with everything you need to know about taking a boat tour in Trang An.
Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve
Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve boosts the same scenic mountains and lunch vegetation as Trang An but is much more quieter. It’s located 17 kilometers from Trang An and is a great place to spot wildlife, especially the critically endangered Delacour’s langur.
You can read everything you need to know to visit Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve on the blog.
Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary
A lot of travelers are not aware of this, but on the way to Cuc Phuong National Park, lies the Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary. This Sanctuary operates as a center that rescues Asiatic Black Bears and Moon Bears from Bear bile farming, a horrendous practice that unfortunately still exists in Vietnam.
Read my full guide to the Ninh Binh Bear Sanctuary and learn how you can help to give the bears the forever home they deserve.
As said before, The Tam Coc boat rides are a tourist trap and don’t visit the actual official UNESCO -protected World Heritage Site of Trang An Scenic Landscape Complex.
Aside from that, I was also very disappointed in visiting Thung Nham Bird Park. This park is advertised as an ecotourism destination and one of the best places in Vietnam to see birds. The entrance fee is high for Vietnamese standards and costs 150 000 VND/per person.
I was willing to pay that because it is an eco-tourism area but when I entered the park I was shocked by what I found. This is not an eco-tourism destination that is focused on the wellness of the birds that live here, but an amusement park with a hotel and restaurants, and noisy tourist boats that go up and down the lakes.
There you go! I hope you enjoyed this Bich Dong Pagoda review. As you can see is the Bich Dong Pagoda absolutely worth a visit when you are traveling through the north of Vietnam.
I hope you enjoyed this guide! If you have any more questions, please leave them in the comments below or drop me a message through my contact page!
Also, don’t forget to check out my resources page with my favorite booking platforms and tips to start planning your trip. Additionally, have a look at my favorite travel gear if you want to pack more consciously!
ENJOY!
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Hi! I am Annelies and this is Travelers & Dreamers, a blog about conscious travel which means traveling in a more mindful way, with a positive impact on the world and yourself!
On this website, I cover different topics like slow travel, plant-based food guides, responsible travel, sustainable packing, eco-travel, and more!
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