Roughly 100 kilometers south of Hanoi, in Vietnam’s northern province of Ninh Binh is a place called Trang An. Trang An is a UNESCO World Heritage site recognized both for its natural beauty, but also its cultural significance. Trang An is also the filming location of the 2017 movie “Kong: Skull Island.” It is a place I have now visited two times, once in February 2021 during a time of calm in Vietnam, when it had shut itself off from an outside world gripped by existential fear. The second time was last summer, with Vietnam’s tourism back in full swing, a vastly different story that I will cover in a separate post.
The first stop for any visitor to Trang An is the ticket office and boat dock. On my first trip here I remember the buildings being nice and new, but no other shops were open, and besides a dozen or so employees there was no one else around. It was a quiet mid afternoon and we took our ticket to the old lady at the boat dock, and we took off in her little green rowboat.
Going down the river I am entranced by the towering limestone peaks, rising out of the lush jungle around us. I read later that this type of landscape is called karst, and that it is when the rock is eroded by acidic river water. At the time I could not help but imagine King Kong stepping out from behind one of the limestone mountains. I imagine how easily he could walk through the dense jungle, which seemed near impossible for humans to pass through without tremendous effort and a lot of machete swinging.
I imagine myself on an expedition, tracking Kong by boat and searching for a path into the jungle. From ground level, you wouldn’t be able to see anything through the dense forest. I try to see the world through Kong’s eyes, looking out over a vast jungle valley. To be able to appreciate the magnificence of the place, and to see so clearly that which is withheld from us mere humans at the forest floor.
I am interrupted from my day dreams with a call to duck down, as we are about to enter a cave. I didn't expect a cave, but apparently there are a few complex cave systems here, which is actually quite common in karst landscapes.
The ceiling is low, so we have to slouch down to avoid hitting our heads on the low hanging stalactites. There are lights at different parts of the cave, so it is not as spooky as it could be, but it is still cool to go through. As soon as you come out the other side, I am transported back to my fairytale expedition, venturing ever deeper into the mysterious jungles of Skull Island.
Eventually the winding river takes us to a clearing, with major points of interests to either side. From the river side you can see a little temple built in the middle of the water, with a mountain landscape behind it known as the Rising Phoenix. With the sun starting to set, and the light shining behind the mountains, I gaze in wonder at the epic and aptly named phoenix spreading its wings and rising out of the jungle.
Facing this stunning landscape from the opposite shore of the river is a beautiful temple and some altars that seem perfectly placed to bask in the orange glow of the setting sun. This place feels like another world, orderly and manicured to perfection, and in stark contrast to the wild jungle just outside its perimeter.
As it is starting to get late, we rejoin our boat lady and follow the river around, approaching the ticket office from the opposite side of the island as our launch point.
In the near future I plan to write a follow up of this post talking about how much things have changed since my first visit. All of the photos were taken by me.
I hope you enjoyed reading about my journey to Vietnam’s land of Kong, Trang An.