Converging all the beauty of rock, water, lotus lake and mountain shadow interspersed with shiny rice paddies, Mua Cave is both real and virtual in the middle of a mountainous region. This is actually a historical relic area with typical landscape near Tam Coc Ninh Binh. At the same time, this is the destination that domestic and foreign tourists take the most photos on social networks in recent years.
“The name is Mua Cave but the landscape is high mountains, in your eyes is a splendid view of the scenery and there are no caves” – this interesting comment of a foreign tourist published in the travel magazine The calendar makes people more curious about Hang Mua near Tam Coc Ninh Binh.
Ngoa Long mountain (also known as Mua mountain) now has a 486 stone steps from the foot of the mountain to the top for visitors to climb. The shape of the mountain itself is like a dragon, and the stone steps are winding, wild and beautiful. The ridges overlap each other, revealing the ravines overlooking the lotus lake, rice fields, creeks, flowing streams and wetlands. Young limestone mountains, green tropical vegetation. There are places where the limestone mountains have weathered (karst phenomenon) naturally into strange shapes, engulfed in dark blue smoke, making the whole area like a vast fantasy studio that no visual effects can do.
Because of the endless excitement when climbing 486 stone steps to the top of the mountain, few people find out where Mua Cave is actually located. This is a place associated with the historical period of King Tran Thai Tong (1218-1277), the first emperor of the Tran dynasty. When the king returned to Hoa Lu to establish Am Thai Vi (now known as Thai Vi Temple) about 2km from Tam Coc Ninh Binh wharf to worship his family, he brought the beautiful women and the king or held parties, singing and dancing in the village. in a cave at the foot of the mountain, where a boat can be easily accessed. The inside of the cave is like the heart of an upside-down bell, so it is very suitable to be used as a natural sound theater. Therefore, this cave was later called Mua Cave and became the name of the whole region.
Legend has it that this land is recorded as “the unsurpassed holy land of Thao Tu Son Liem”. In addition to the majestic natural scenery, on the top of Ngoa Long mountain, there are many towers and stone statues with architectural style of the Tran dynasty. The road leading to the mountain was built in the style of a city wall, with a section of the wall carved with both apricots and a pedestal, which looked like an ancient citadel. Hidden in the mountains are spiers, sightseeing floors, eagle statues, wild animals that have been silent for hundreds of years, making the landscape more attractive.
Interestingly, Mua Cave often welcomes young tourists who love to explore nature and hardly understand history, but when they come here, they all like to wear old-fashioned costumes to go up the mountain to take pictures. The reason is that the costumes are quite suitable for the scene here. Tens of thousands of photos of tourists dressed as dancing dancers with colorful, flying dresses that are very suitable for the somewhat wild landscape posted on social networks coincide with the land’s history unexpectedly. Just stepping foot to Ngoa Long Mountain near Tam Coc Ninh Binh, following the vines on the cliff side and slowly climbing up the mountain, we felt that we were lost in the ancient land with mossy, slightly legendary feelings. Especially sometimes, male and female tourists dress up in classic costumes up and down in the opposite direction, we suddenly feel like going back in history, like the shadow of the handsome young man and the landlady. This ancient capital of Trang An is still here.
During the revolutionary period, Mua cave was also used as a “field hospital” like many caves in the mountain in other resistance areas. The famous Mua Cave relic is partly due to the rapid transmission of social networks to a “first” area to take beautiful photos. Entering 2021 – the National Tourism Year, Ninh Binh launches a tourism photo composition contest to promote the destination, in which Hang Mua is a “focus” focus of photographers.
