Van Long Wetland Nature Reserve, Ninh Binh

At any time of the year, Van Long Wetland always attracts tourists. However, tourists can consider some times of the year such as:

• In May and June every year, the surface of Van Long is adorned with the vibrant pink color of blooming lotus flowers.
• From November to April of the following year is the ideal time to enjoy the beauty of flora and fauna. At this time, the entire Van Long Wetland is filled with white flocks of up to thousands of white birds flying into nest, creating a poetic scene.

From Hanoi, visitors can catch a bus at Giap Bat or My Dinh bus station to go to Ninh Binh bus station or use Limousine service with ticket prices ranging from 80,000 VND - 140,000 VND. Then take a taxi or rent a car to go to Van Long Wetland.

For those who like to go backpacking should ride motorbikes to be able to admire the beautiful scenery on both sides of their ways. Go along National Highway 1A, pass through Phu Ly, reach the Gian Khau intersection, then turn left and proceed on the road towards Nho Quan to the Gia Van commune in Gia Vien district. Here, you will encounter a dike, and Van Long Wetland is located right at the foot of that dike.

For travelers coming from provinces in the Western and Southern regions of Vietnam, they can take a flight to Noi Bai International Airport. If the travel company has booked a car, visitors can go straight to Ninh Binh or take a bus or limousine to Ninh Binh as instructed above.

Sightseeing fare:

• Adult: 20,000 VND each person
• Children under 1m: 10,000 VND each person
• Elder more than 60 years old: 10,000 VND each person

Boat fare:

• Adult: 50,000 VND each person
• Children under 1m: 25,000 VND each person
• Elder more than 60 years old: 25,000 VND each person

Let your soul paddle on the lake, temporarily forget all your troubles, what you will feel is the freshness and poetic scenery of Van Long Wetland. You will sit on a boat and glide across the calm lake surface.

Besides, that peaceful lake reflects the majestic limestone mountains and blue sky. All combine to create a vivid, poetic and lyrical natural picture.

Not only owning a nice landscape, but Van Long Wetland is also well-known for its affluent nature and spiritual places. Coming here, you should visit Thanh Mau Temple, Thanh Son Pagoda and Dich Long Temple.

If you have a chance to visit Van Long wetland, you can't forget to discover caves with sparkling stalactites downwards. The limestone mountains, caves have been eroded from years to years, creating many featured shapes. Here is also the residence of various fauna. You should try to visit Fish cave, Shadow cave, Tortoise cave and Chanh cave, etc.

Van Long Wetland is also the residence of nearly a hundred of white langurs which is an especially precious species in Vietnam’s red book and World’s red book.

Climbing the Ba Chon peak, from here, you can see the clouds drifting, hear white langurs quarreling, and listen to birds singing inside foliage.

Apart from the above destinations, tourists can visit 600-year-old diospyros decandra, pass rice fields or admire the stone pictures on Meo Cao cliffs. So many wonderful landscapes in Van Long wetland are waiting for you.

Coming to Van Long Wetland, visitors can watch the sunrise or sunset, so poetic and heavenly. The blue smoke trails with the wings of the stork hovering and flying over the river surface looking for food, all look extremely peaceful.

When visiting Vân Long Wetland, you shouldn't miss out on the authentic Ninh Binh cuisine. Here are some of the local dishes you should try:

When talking about Ninh Binh, it's impossible not to mention the delicious and aromatic scorched rice that no one visiting the area would want to miss. The unique flavor of Ninh Binh scorched rice also lies in the combination with accompanying foods often made from goat meat, or pork heart and kidney stir-fried with some vegetables such as onions, straw mushrooms and tomatoes. Sometimes, people choose a dipping sauce such as fermented shrimp paste. The accompanying sauce for scorched rice typically has a spicy and aromatic taste, with just the right thickness to soak into the scorched rice. Each family and restaurant in Ninh Binh has its own way of making and secret recipe for the sauce, creating distinctive flavors.

One of the most popular dishes in Ninh Binh is mountain goat meat. With characteristics of being firm, low in fat and fragrant, Ninh Binh mountain goats are like that because in Ninh Binh there are many rocky mountains and goats run and jump a lot, so their muscles are firm and much less fat than grazing goats. On the hill and also because of the typical terrain of flooded limestone mountains, there are many types of vegetables such as herbs such as cypress, gourd, cow's hooves, river wood... suitable as food for goats to grow and develop well, creates the quality and delicious taste of goat meat.

This type of catfish lives in flooded caves and is a precious specialty that attracts many food enthusiasts. Catfish here has a slim and meaty body. After being grilled on a charcoal stove, the fish is sprinkled with a layer of fried onions and onion fat. This is a dish that restaurants serve with vermicelli and herbs dipped in delicious fish sauce.

Surely you have tried many types of snails, river snails,... with Ninh Binh mountain snail dish, few people have probably tried it. Mountain snails are often located in Tam Diep limestone caves, and it is not easy for you to enjoy this dish, because snails only come out from April to August, for the rest of the year, they remain deep within the rock crevices.

If you want to eat this unique and delicious dish, you have to come at the right time to have the opportunity to enjoy it. With its firm, crunchy texture and natural sweetness, along with a hint of herbal flavor, you'll be captivated when you try simple steamed snails. Or you can also process snails into salads, steamed with ginger, stir-fried with tamarind...

Another Ninh Binh specialty that you should definitely try is eel vermicelli. The broth for this dish is made from eel bones and rib bones, which creates a sweet and savory flavor.

You will enjoy the fragrant and fatty pieces of eel meat. They are small but the meat is quite firm and delicious. The delicious dish will be served with shredded banana flowers, all blended together to become a famous specialty of this region.

In the Kim Son region during your trip to Ninh Binh, fish salad is a delicious dish that you should not forget to try. With a quite elaborate and delicate variation to remove the fishy smell of fish, combined with new sticky rice to create an extremely impressive delicacy.

The raw nhech has an appearance quite similar to an eel but has lighter colored skin and larger body size. Although the meat is delicious and contains many nutrients, the fish is difficult to catch, so the price per kilogram of fish is often very high, ranging from 500,000 to 600,000 VND/kg depending on the season.

A Ninh Binh specialty that you should buy as a gift for your trip, Yen Mac fermented pork rolls were created based on Hue royal spring rolls, with a different and unique flavor. Made from the lean part of thinly sliced pork butt combined with boiled pork skin, salt, then wrapped with guava leaves and banana leaves to add flavor to the delicious dish.

To enjoy the true taste of Yen Mac sour spring rolls, you should combine the spring rolls with polyscias fruticosa leaves, fig leaves or apricot leaves. As a delicious dish that combines the essence of nature, you should enjoy it on the spot and buy it as a gift.

Above are some interesting things that you can experience and explore in Van Long Wetland - Ninh Binh that Justfly has suggested for you. There are still many places waiting for you to explore. Hopefully these experiences will help you have a perfect travel destination with your family and relatives.