Nguom Ngao Cave

 

In 1921, some locals and foreign travelers discovered the Nguom Ngao cave, and later, they determined its age to be around hundreds of millions of years old. Nguom Ngao, according to the Tay ethnic language meaning Tiger Cave. There are some legend stories about this cave that have been told in the community to explain more about the name of it. Some told this cave has been the place many tigers living for a long time before but some mentioned about the sound of the stream flowing in the cave reverberated into the stalactite walls created a sound of the roar of a Tiger. There are three main gates leading to the cave and all of them are Tay names including Nguom Ngao, Nguom Lom, and Nguom Ban Thuon. Each of the gates’ names if translated into official Vietnamese (Kinh people’s language) has its own meaningful story.

The more exploring deeper inside the cave, the more impressed that visitors feel when contemplating the amazing sparkling seven-colored stalactites hanging down from high stone cliffs. It is such a marvelous scenery on earth as nature has created stone statues in different shapes which look like human bodies, a fairy combining her hair, forest plant, a lotus bulb or animals, etc. Visitors sure can feel the great harmony between stone and water during the journey inside the cave. For a safe discovery, there are some things that should be prepared in your backpack before the visit: Warm clothes, good walking-shoes, hot drinks, medicines, and bandages in case of being wounded; contacts for emergency calls and tools for mountaineer can be also useful.

The ideal time to visit this cave is from June to September as it is also the best period to combine the trip to Ban Gioc Waterfall in your itinerary. The average temperature inside the cave is 18 to 25 degrees Celsius which makes you feel cool in the summer and warm in the water.

 

Traveling from Hanoi, you should reach Ban Gioc firstly before moving to visit Nguom Ngao Cave. The 2 routes for your most convenient way from the capital city is driving via Lang Son – Dong Khe – That Khe and via Thai Nguyen – Bac Kan – Cao Bang. Once arrival at Ban Gioc Waterfall, in order to change the traveling atmosphere, you can choose to visit Nguom Ngao by doing a short walking or rent a motorbike to enjoy the majestic mountainous scenery there.