The site surpassed other renowned spots in Ninh Binh like Trang An, Tam Coc –Bich Dong or Bai Dinh pagoda to be is listed among top five must-seedestinations in the province by international tourism website TripAdvisor.
The Mua Cave Complex - an area composed of intricate cave systems and limestonemountains – is located at the foot of Mua mountain within the eco-tourism areaof Ninh Xuan commune in Hoa Lu district.
In the centre of the complex is a crystal moss-green coloured human-made lake,surrounded by rows of trees.
Legend has it that the Tran Kings used to visit the area to watch the imperialmaids sing and dance, giving the area its name, Mua or ‘dancing’.
There is a rocky hill dotted with nearly 500 steps leading to the top. Awinding road running around the mountain leads to the top, which is covered intowers, making it look like a miniature Great Wall. Two sides of the road aredecorated with sophisticated stone statues of dragons and phoenixes that werebuilt in the Tran Dynasty (1225-1400)’s artistic style.
Mua cave itself is not impressive, but panoramic views from the peak above.With absolute greenery on all the sides, visitors can see the rocky hillsgrouped leading up to the horizon, with the river navigating in between. They willfeel so tranquil when they sit on a rock at the top.
Tourists to this place often try to conquer the peak of the mountain from whereit could bring them up to the one of the most iconic views in Vietnam - an panoramicview of scenic limestone mountain ranges and paddy fields. In particular, tothe west is the Ngo Dong river winding through Tam Coc, the other sides afforda view of lush rice fields.
Visitors should not miss Mua cave when visiting Tam Coc – Bich Dong. Climbingto the top of the mountain, they will see the ancient capital of Hoa Lu, whichis solid and beautiful, and will understand why this place was chosen as thecapital of the ancient Vietnam.
Ninh Binh has been listed as one of the 50 best spots to visit in 2018 by UStravel site Insider.
The province is striving to become one of the tourism hubs of Vietnam by 2020and to turn tourism into a spearhead industry of the local economy by 2030.This is the goal of the province’s master plan on tourism development until2025, with a vision to 2030.
Ninh Binh looks to attract 1 million foreign arrivals and 7 million domesticvisitors by 2020, 1.5 million and 9 million by 2025, and 2.1 million and 11.2million by 2030. Meanwhile, tourism revenue is expected at over 4.2 trillionVND (179.7 million USD), 11.8 trillion VND (504.8 million USD), and 27 trillionVND (1.15 billion USD), respectively.
The province welcomed more than 7 million visitors and earned over 2.5 trillionVND (107 million USD) from this industry in 2017, respectively rising by 9.5percent and 43 percent year on year.
In the first nine months of this year, the number of tourist arrivals to NinhBinh hit 6.3 million, up 4.9 percent year on year.
The province’s tourism sector earned 2.4 trillion VND (102 million USD) intotal revenue in the reviewed period, a year-on-year increase of 18.9 percent. -VNA