Location: Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh Province
Ideal for: Hiking
Height: 88 meters
Time to summit: 1 day
Difficulty level: Very Easy

This article is a complete travel guide to Mua Cave, with essential tips to make the best of your trip to this beautiful spot.

General information about Mua Cave

Recently, one of the most attractive tourist spots near Hanoi – Ninh Binh and its karst surroundings. There are many beautiful tourist spots around Ninh Binh town, mostly in Trang An Scenic Complex. One of these places in this complex are the Mua Caves (Hang Múa) and its peak/mountain from which is a fascinating view to the nearby surroundings.

This is one of the most visited places in the area that you should not miss. There are about 500 steps on the 2 peaks and viewpoints. The highest viewpoint is the Lying Dragon Mountain (Núi Ngoạ Long) with its Stone statue of Quan Am (The Goddess of Mercy), this is also a populr selfie spot in Ninh Binh.

Why this place is called Mua Caves? Hang Mua = Dancing cave. The name of this place was taken from a folk tales saying that the King Tran came to Hoa Lu Ancient Capital to establish Thai Vi temple (about 1 km from the Mua Peak), and often went to the cave below the peak to hear the beautiful female singers singing and dancing. 

So the local people called this place Hang Mua (Dancing cave) after this story. Lying Dragon Mountain (Núi Ngoạ Long) – there is a lying dragon on the top of Mua Peak, a popular selfie spot. The stairs are bordered by the imitation of the Great Wall of China.

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

Tips for visiting Mua Cave

  • Where to stay: I stayed at Hang Mua homestay and loved it! 
  • What to wear: lightweight, athletic shoes for easy climbing
  • What to bring: Bring a bottle of mineral water because you will need it
  • Best time to visit: morning or afternoon (before 5 pm)
  • Parking: You should go straight to the gate to buy tickets and enjoy free parking. Don’t stop at the parking places before the gate. 
  • Toilet tips: Go to the toilet first if you don’t want to climb twice
  • Safety rule: Don’t push and jostle when taking photos. Also, it’s quite challenging to hike up 500 steps, so you need to be healthy. 

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 

How to get to Mua Cave

How to get to Mua Caves from Tam Coc

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

Since Mua Caves is only located 4 – 4,5 kilometers away from Tam Coc, it’s super easy to get there. You can either go by foot, bike, motorbike, or taxi. I would definitely suggest you to go by motorbike. It’s honestly so much fun!

This is how to get to Mua Caves from Tam Coc:

  • Follow the big road towards Ninh Binh
  • Turn left when you see a temple
  • Follow this road straight until it ends next to a small river
  • Follow the road next to the river until you see a road on the left with a sign that says “Hang Mua”
  • Drive all the way to the end of this road, and here you’ll find parking spots and the entrance

How to get to Mua Caves from Ninh Binh

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

It’s also easy to get from Ninh Binh to Mua Caves. But since it’s 8 kilometers away, you might not want to go by bicycle or by foot from here. Just drive towards the big road to Tam Coc, turn right when you see a temple, and follow the above steps from the “how to get there from Tam Coc”-section.

Watch out for the parking scams!

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

I’ve visited Mua Caves twice, and the most ridiculous thing happened to us the first time. We were cutting it close for sunset, which meant we were in a hurry to make it to the top of Hang Mua peak before the sun was gone.

When we turned down the road towards the Mua Caves, a man stopped us on our motorbike. He told us that we had to park here. Because we were a bit stressed to make it to Mua Caves by sunset, we didn’t think twice about it and naively put our motorbike in his parking lot. We then paid a parking fee and started making our way down to the entrance.

This is when we realized we’d been scammed.

The beginning of the road to the Mua Caves entrance is 500 meters long – of which we now had to walk… During our little walk, we saw more than 20 different places to park on the way. We also paid more to park 500 meters away than what it would have cost us to park right next to the entrance.

Da*n it! Even though we’d been traveling for months, we were still proned to being scammed.

The second time we visited Mua Caves, we knew that we had to drive to the end of the road and park there. However, while we were driving down the road, a very persistent lady with a whistle jumped in front of our motorbike and tried to stop us. She wanted us to park in her parking lot.

Madam, just because you have a whistle doesn’t mean you can dictate where people park! We eventually just went around the whistle-lady because this time we knew it was a scam.

Just ride to the end of the road and park your bike here. Don’t get fooled into parking 500 meters away from the actual attraction and to pay a bigger parking fee. Rookie mistake!

Mua Caves opening hours & Entrance fee (2021) 

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

Mua Caves opening hours

The opening hours are a bit vague and I can’t find anything official online. I’ve heard of people visiting from 5 AM (to experience the sunrise), and I know for a fact that you can’t visit after sunset. On our way back from the viewpoint, a woman was told not to visit because it was getting dark and thus she wouldn’t be able to see anything.

So just visit the Mua Caves any time between sunrise and sunset (5 AM – 5 PM), and you’ll make it there during opening hours.

Mua Caves entrance fee

The Mua Caves entrance fee is 100.000 VND.

Best time to visit Mua Cave

You can visit the Mua Caves – Hang Mua throughout the year. The most beautiful pictures are in the summer or in the period before rice harvesting in the area of Ninh Binh. Opening time of Mua Caves is from 7am – 5pm. Rice harvest season is from September – October, these months are very good for visiting this area.

The best time to visit Mua Cave is from the end of April to May, when Tam Coc is in the golden season of ripe rice.

The golden color of the rice field merging with the green water creates beautiful natural scenery.

Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

Exploring Mua Cave Ninh Binh

Unlike the other hustle and bustle tourist areas, Mua Cave has its own charming and peaceful beauty. 

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

The road to the top of the mountain is quite similar to China’s Great Wall architecture.  From the bottom of the mountain, you can see the white stone steps leading to the top.

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

On the two sides of the stairs, the ornate stone lines have dragon or phoenix figures carved with the elegant and beautiful art of the Tran dynasty.

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

Hiking up the mountain, I was amazed by the beauty of the Tam Coc area – a famous scenic spot in Ninh Binh.

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

With 486 challenging steps, Mua Cave opens with a spectacular view that embraces the whole landscape of Ninh Binh.

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

 Mua Caves - The glamorous 'queen' of Trang An, Ninh Binh - All Tips Guide (2021)

Besides hiking up the peak of the mountain, I enjoyed walking around the area. The ecolodge is beautiful with sitting areas and a waterfall. 

What to eat in Ninh Binh

Mountain goat and scorched rice are the most famous dishes in Ninh Binh. You can find a few restaurants along the way from Trang An to Mua Cave. 

What to eat in Ninh Binh

What to eat in Ninh Binh

What to eat in Ninh Binh

What to eat in Ninh Binh

What to eat in Ninh Binh

Will we return to the Mua caves on our next trip to Ninh Binh?

YES!

Together with the Trang An Boat Tour and Bai Dinh Pagoda, the Mua Caves was my favorite attraction in all of Ninh Binh. Therefore, I will for sure be back again in the future. There is just something so satisfying about climbing all those steps up to the Mua Caves viewpoint and see the incredible landscapes of Tam Coc and the Ninh Binh province.

However, since I’ve visited twice during the crowded sunset, I never felt like I could really appreciate the serenity of the place. So next time I will try to stay one night at the Hang Mua Ecolodge and go for sunrise at the viewpoint.

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