CONTENTS

Overview………………………………...5 Tam Coc………………………………... .6 Bich Dong Pagoda…………………….....7 Co Vien Lau……………………………. .8 Van Lam Embroidery Village…………..11 Burned Rice……………………………13 Ninh Binh Goat Meat …………………15 Kim Son Sticky Wine ………………….18 Hotel……………………………………20 Transport……………………………….21 Reference……………………………….22

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NINH BINH TOURISM MAP

Ninh Binh province is located as far as 100 kilometers South of Hanoi, sharing the common borders with Ha Nam to the North, Hoa Binh to the Northwest. Ninh Binh’s topography is divided into 3 main types: Limestone Mountains with many beautiful caves and grottos in the Northwest, the delta rose by Red River silt in the East and a coastline in the Southeast. Besides, Ninh Binh is also linked with the major transport systems as the national highway No 1A and the South – North railway. As a result, Ninh Binh not only becomes one of the most attractive destinations in the Northern of Viet Nam but also promotes to exchange trade, cultures and co-operate economy. Furthermore, Ninh Binh is a province that converge many classical, historical and charming sceneries. This brings to Ninh Binh a great potentiality to widen and develop the tourism. And there are many special dishes that attract tourists to visit Ninh Binh, such as: Burned rice, Goat meat, and Kim Son wine…..All of them are made from the valuable materials in Ninh Binh. For centuries ,though had thousands of changes in terms of nature and society, Ninh Binh province still maintains the original of the ancient historical relics, the natural painting of miraculous caves, grottos covered with impressive stalactites. Therfore, Ninh Binh is the charming land of myth and unique landscapes for both Vietnamese and foreigners to visit.

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Overview

TAM COC

oday, more and more people in the world have been coming here in various types of tours: ecological tours, culture, history, and festival tours. Noone could deny that Tam Coc has become a legend of rivers and mountains, a green pure and safe destination for every traveler. Tam Coc, which means “three caves”, about two hours driving to the south of Hanoi (about 110 kilometers). In the past, this region was the sea in many centuries, karst mountain was eroded to many odd shapes.

Visiting Tam Coc, tourists may feel excited due to a hidden fairy site. Tam Coc is about 3 kilometers from Van Lam wharf. Now just taking a boat from Van Lam wharf to reach the Tam Coc grotto, which consists of the Hang Ca, Hang Hai and Hang Ba caves. This might take you three hours on your small boat along the Ngo Dong river, beginning at the village of Van Lam and proceeding through a scenic landscape dominated by rice fields and karst towers.

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Hang Ca is considered the most picturesque one since it is the longest cave and the most fascinating natural arts deep inside. It is around 127 meters in length and 20 meters in width. A Vietnamese legendary tells that this was Heaven Land where the fishing man-flying above within the Heaven was a flock of faries in graceful white dresses! You may be surprised so much with the beautiful fairy landscape that you do not even think of coming back at that time.

Hang Hai is nearly 1 kilometer far from Hang Ca. This is the second stop-over on your water way journey where you can find series of colorful sparking stalactites falling from the cave ceiling. This cave is about 60 meters in length.

Hang Ba is the last but not least cave which about 50 meters in length with lower ceiling than the two above caves , looking like a plutonic cupola. Looking out the vast landscape, you can

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Getting out all three caves and looking out the vast landscape, you can see that a mighty mountainous and waterways are covering the limitless land.

Hang Hai

Hang Ba

Hang Ca

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Bich Dong is considered to be the Vietnam’s second nicest grotto after the Huong Tich Grotto in Ha Tay Province for its poetic and inspirational natural scenery.

It consists of three pagodas: Ha ( Lower) pagoda, Trung( Middle) pagoda, Thuong (Upper) pagoda in ascending order. The first destination to be visited is the Ha (Lower) Pagoda, which is situated in the right at the foot of the mountain. The Ha pagoda has five compartments with the special pattern of the roof which like the tail of phoenix. The Pagoda worships Tam Bao, Buddha and the three monks Tri Kien , Tri The, Tri Tam who had great contribution in constructing and upgrading this pagoda.

BICH DONG PAGODA

ich Dong - an old pagoda was built on the Ngu Nhac Mountain, in Dam Khe village, Ninh Hai Commune, Hoa Lu Distric and Ninh Binh Province

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From the Ha pagoda up to 120 steps is the impressive the Trung pagoda with a half of it was carved into mountain including three compartments. The main presbytery is the Buddha altar with a big calligraphic character, which has the inscription “Linh Son Phat Hoi. There are statues of Buddha in pagoda which are perfect works of art.

On the right hand side is a path leading to the Dark Grotto. Moving through the 20 steps, tourists will see a copper bell which was casted by two monks Tri Kien and Tri The in 1707. The strange and interesting shapes of stones in the Dark Grotto have become the part of folklore due to the imaginations of local people.The Dark Grotto worships the Buddha and the Mau Thuong Ngan.

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Up to 40 steps is the Thuong (Upper) pagoda located on the highest point nearby the top of the Bich Dong mountain.Because it only workship Phat Ba Quan Am so it is consider as the smallest-scale pagoda among the three pagodas mentioned here. The temples of the God of Mountain and of Land are located at the two sides of the pagoda. From there, you will have a wonderful view of the beautiful landscape, peaceful villages, the beauty of the mountain and forest that nature has blessed the land of Ninh Binh.

DOs O Wear long clothes, cover your neck O Walk quietly O Use the name “ Buddha Amitabha ” instead of the real name to greet monks in pagoda

Ø Don’t wear short sleeves shirt ,short pants… Ø Don’t swear or say dirty things within pagoda Ø Don’t run ,talk ,comment ,sit or lie down in or near the Buddha shrine Ø Don’t sneeze and spit around the Buddha shrine and Three Refuges area

DØn’ts

The good and the bad in pagoda

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Co vien lau

Co Vien Lau antique preservation and exhibition area looks like an ancient Vietnamese village with typical architectural features of the Northern region. Co Vien Lau has 20.000 square meters, the area consists of about 30 ancient houses built by Northern farmers hundreds of year ago. Mr Nguyen Minh Thoa is the founder of this village. He is devoted his life to Co Vien Lau for all these years.The ancient houses of Co Vien Lau create a miniature Vietnamese village with a section for rich families, a section for poor families, a tea shop and a communal house yard.

o Vien Lau is located by the Tam Coc- Bich Dong wharf in Hoa Lu district, Ninh Binh province. It leans against Cua Quen mountain, next to Thai Vi temple and near Tam Coc wharf.

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These houses look simple but very beautiful. Most Vietnamese people lived in here. They used the available materials such as mud and straw to build these houses. Each house has a worshipping, a living room, a dining room and a bedroom. There are some differences between poor houses and rich houses but they still have traditional features of an ancient Vietnamese house. In each rich house, it has

cupboard, plank bed…which are hundreds of years ago. These houses are suitable for ancient way of life. There are 3-4 generations live under the same roof. After going around Co Vien Lau, visitors can stop in front of a tea shop to drink tea and talk together. Especially, visitors can listen to folk singing in the front yard of the communal house. This is an activity to introduce their culture to the international friends.

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bout 7 kms from center Ninh Binh city, Van Lam embroidery traditional craft village always enchants guests for its beautiful and unique embroidered products. Van Lam village is located next to Tam Coc- Bich Dong tourist area. The village is not only a traditional craft village, but also an attractive destination for tourists. All around the year, the village is

more crowded with tourists. Many foreign tourists become loyal customer of this village due to the quality and aesthetical of the embroidered products. All the surprisingly beautiful products are made by “golden hands” of Van Lam craftsmen. Whether it is about natural or village life pictures, they are always lively pictures with nice colors.

VAN LAM EMBROIDERY VILLAGE

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ow it is not only embroidered pictures, the villagers also create many other products which can use in home decoration and daily life such as curtains, tablecloths, pillow covers, wallets, handbags, handkerchiefs, purses…A piece of fabrics and colorful threads in the skillful hand of the local

artisan turns into unique embroidered works. When tourists come to Van Lam, each family or showroom will be a visiting place for them. Especially they can learn embroidery under the guidance of the craftsmen. This will be an interesting experience for everyone when they come here.

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COM CHAY- BURNED RICE now as popular dish of Ninh Binh, Com chay (burned rice) is a favourite dish of guests here with crisp burned rice eaten with goat meat. When we talk to burned rice, people often think that it is the burned rice at the bottom of the pot. But actually they are made of unburned rice, which is flatted into a flat round. The process of making this dish is very great. In order to make a delicious dish, firstly, people will choose a good

kind of rice (they often choose ‘nep huong’) or combination between good kinds of rice. The special is that rice is put into a cast- iron pot with thick sole. According to experiences of the villagers, the rice will be softer and easier to take rice crust from the iron pot if you put rice into the pot after boiling water. The rice will be very good if it is cooked by charcoal. Next the rice crust will be fried on hot oil pan.

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The delicious burned rice is served with hot. The dish is best served with any other dishes especially with special sauce made of goat meat. When enjoying burned rice with this sauce, you can feel the soft and crisp of the burned rice, the sweet of goat meat. This perfect flavor will surely allure its diners.

Some tips for tourists when buy goods

DOs O Remember to bargain especially when purchasing souvenirs at the market or stores. O Make sure that you taste some piece of burned-rice before you buy it. O The various way of transport are taxis, the ‘hugging’ motorbike, or you can rent your own bike cycle to travell around the destinations.

DØn’ts Ø Buy or take goods from vendors without asking for price in advance Ø A short walk of window shopping through streets and markets are not recommended in the morning because shop owner deem it is a bad luck.

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inh Binh is well-known for many charming and poetic sights, but once you have not tried goat meat here, you supposedly have not been thoroughly aware of Ninh Binh. Being different from goats in other regions, Ninh Binh goats grow on limestone mountains, so goat meat is much more delicious than goat raised on hills in other provinces. In addition, Ninh Binh people also can prepare goat meat in many attractive dishes such as: rare goat meat mixed with lemon, stir-fried

goat meat, goat hotpot, goat gruel and roasted goat… However, the rare-goat meat is considered to be the most delicious one. After being burned, goat is disemboweled and mixed with holy basil leaves for more than 10 minutes. Then dipping unbowed goat meat in boiling water until rare and slicing it into thin pieces, which are mixed with roasted sesame, lemon leaves, ginger, chilly, lemon juice...

Ninh Binh Goat Meat

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When enjoying this dish, tourists can feel the sweet soft flavor combined with the crispy goatskin. The rare-goat meat is eaten with several kinds of fines herbs like basil, fig leaves. Besides, stir-fried goat meat is also another choice for tourists to taste. Goat meat is sliced and stir-fried on a span at very high temperature. This kind of preparation

alternatively makes you experience full delicious tastes of goat meat from tip of your tongue to esophagus. It is a true connoisseur if having goat meat served with soya-bean sauce which is famous in Hung Yen. Therefore, do not miss any chances to enjoy goat meat and these specialties when you come to Ninh Binh.

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Kim Son sticky Wine

im Son is a coastal village locating in South area of Ninh Binh province. The whole area is in the Red river delta.Kim Son is famous for making wine.

To make good wine, the techniques of raising and choosing rice are very special. Wine is made from rice under the skilled hands of the people, combined with natural water and alcoholic ferment and called winter- spring wine or harvest-season wine. Wine is always maintained in different weather and environment conditions to ensure the colour and fragrance’s wine. Another thing that makes the specification of Kim Son wine is length- maintaining time.

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Kim Son wine contributes greatly to the variety of Vietnamese food. Kim Son wine has 29.5- 40 % Vol in alcohol level and it is the vodka of high quality. Products are awarded gold metal “For public health” in 2004.

In Ninh Binh province, the majority families make wine; however, Kim Son wine is the most popular. Kim Son wine is well- known not only in South Vietnam but also the whole country, even overseas like Moscow, Tokyo or Perking.

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TRANSPORT

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inh Binh city is about 100km far from Ha Noi, so it’s a great distance for a journey. Coming to Ninh Binh province, tourists can move by public transports. If tourists start their trip from Ha Noi city, there are three means of transports: bus, car or train. Each transport has different schedules and ticket price. Ticket price usually ranges from 70 to 100 thousand dong. Therefore, visitors should consult and book ticket before going.

It will take about two hours to move from Ha Noi to Ninh Binh. Along the highway 1A, Tam Coc Bich Dong is far from the central of Ninh Binh city about 10 kilometers. So, tourists should use bicycles to go to visit Tam Coc – Bich Dong. This help visitors can arrange the time which is suitable to their schedule. When coming Tam Coc – Bich Dong, visitors will go to visit three beautiful caves by boats. You have to pay about 100 thousand dong to go by boats.

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HOTEL

Some of the best hotels as The Long hotel, Yen Nhi hotel, Thang Long hotel, Visa Ninh Binh hotel, Hoang Son Peace hotel… Each hotel has the different position. Yen Nhi hotel is located near Tam Coc – Bich Dong. Stay in here, you can visit Tam Coc – Bich Dong easily. Hoang Son Peace is one of the most expensive hotels in Ninh Binh.

During the trip, visitors can relax in hotel. All of the hotels provice best service. Visitors will be enjoyed in luxurious spaces and tasted the special dishes of Ninh Binh, such as: goat meat, burned rice …

The price of some hotels:

Yen Nhi hotel: 23 USD/night

The Long hotel: 24 USD/night

Nam Hoa hotel: 22 USD/night

Hoang Son Peace: 50

USD/night

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APPENDIX

1. Nguyen Thi Kim Cuc……………5,17,18 2. Phung Thi Huong……………… 6,7 3. Khuat Thi Thuy………………….8,9,10 4. Do Quynh Trang………………..11,12,19,20 5. Trinh Thi Tuyen………………...13,14,15,16 6. Duong Thi Son…………………..21,22

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http://dulich.dantri.com.vn/du-lich/ve-ninh-binh-thuong-thuc-dac-san-com-chay-gion-thom-816320.htm http://www.ninhbinhcst.org.vn/en/index.php?options=items&code=244 http://www.vietnam-beauty.com/top-destinations/destination-in-the-north/11-destination-in-the-north/61-tam-coc-bich-dong-south-second-nicest-grotto.html http://www.toursinvietnam.com/Ninh-Binh/ https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.toursinvietnam.com%2FNinh-Binh%2Fthings-to-eat%2Fwine-sticky-kim-son.html&h=BAQGWLfoe https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fdiaoconline.vn%2Fkham-pha%2Fkhong-gian-song-c7%2Fve-co-vien-lau-dam-minh-trong-khong-gian-viet-co-i39723&h=BAQGWLfoe https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tripadvisor.com%2FHotels-g303945-Ninh_Binh_Ninh_Binh_Province-Hotels.html&h=BAQGWLfoe https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.toursinvietnam.com%2FNinh-Binh%2Ftransportation%2Fninh-binh-transportation.html&h=BAQGWLfoe http://www.vietnamtourism.com/e_pages/country/province.asp?mt=8430&uid=1365 http://bichdongpagoda.visitwonders.com/en/activities-detail/bich-dong-pagoda-1-11-305.html

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