The first view of Trang An catches people out. You step into a rowing boat, an old woman or man takes the oars, often with feet as well as hands, and the boat glides into a cave in a limestone cliff, comes out the other end into a hidden lagoon ringed by green peaks, and slides into another cave, and another, for a couple of hours. The Trang An Landscape Complex, in Ninh Bình province, is a maze of karst towers, flooded valleys, caves and rice fields, and it was listed by UNESCO in 2014 for both natural and cultural value.
The history is substantial. Hoa Lư, a short distance away, was the capital of Vietnam in the tenth century, under the Đinh and early Lê dynasties, when the new state first broke away from centuries of Chinese rule. The kings used the natural fortress of cliffs as a defence, and the temples dedicated to them are still in use. Caves in the area hold evidence of human occupation thousands of years old. Some of the scenes in a recent King Kong film were shot among the cliffs, which gave the place extra fame.
For riders, the main lesson is practical. Ninh Bình is about ninety kilometres south of Hanoi, and motorbikes are banned on the expressways in Vietnam, so you must take the older Highway 1, which is busy with trucks, buses and scooters, noisy, dusty, and slow. The roads around Trang An itself are quiet by comparison, flat and mostly well surfaced, running between rice paddies with karst peaks on every horizon, and a short ride from the boat station leads to quiet lanes along canals. Traffic can be chaotic in the town, and drivers do not always follow rules, so keep your speed down.
Ninh Bình has fuel, markets, guesthouses and many restaurants, and Bỉm Sơn, to the south, is a larger industrial town. The local speciality is goat meat, served in many ways, and com chay, crispy burnt rice, which is eaten with sauces. Boats leave from the visitor centre, tickets are sold in advance, and the trips last two to three hours, with several routes.
The best time is spring and autumn, when the weather is dry, though January and February can be cool and misty, and summers are hot and humid.