VIETNAM has a TEMPLE built into a MOUNTAIN!

[Music] this is a pineapple carrot smoothie  it’s more like a juice though um for 30k   which is just over a dollar and then you got  a banana smoothie it’s pretty thin how’s it taste like banana and that was just under  a dollar at 20K and at this restaurant they  

Also gave two free bananas and it says on  the wall that you get a free water this is   what Charley got fried noodle with tofu  and vegetables 40K so just under $2 and   I ordered the noodle soup with tofu and  vegetables which is a f and uh it’s about  

$150 at 35k D let’s see what it looks like  okay so here’s my vegetable f it does look   in fact filled with vegetables which is what  I was craving is there noodles in yours oh yeah does come with lots of balloon  inside rice noodle and there’s some  

Actual chilies and lime no basket of Veggie  Stu by that’s okay it’s in there but look at Charlie’s ooh that smells so good and she did bring over two bottles of Water [Music] very hot no [Music] good more flattering [Music] that’s very good nice lightly sweet  broth lots of flavors we picked these   up at a roadside Fruit Stand they’re  manderin oranges and they’re still   on the vine they’re really beautiful and  they were 40,000 dong a kilo which works  

Out to $165 USD we’ll use those to  Snack Off on while we’re here and editing or Daydreaming so this is a gas station in Vietnam you pull your   bike up and somebody will come and uh  pour some gas into your tank from those bottles Interesting Vietnam has a deep history compounded  with many layers it is here in the heart of Nuna   Mountain that a certain place in time seemed  to be well preserved and Frozen in medieval history oh [Music] wow this is beautiful the first Stones were laid here  for construction in the year

1428 to build what is now known as B dong Pagod this was during the reign of Emperor Lee Tao Lee Tao LED Vietnam to independence  from China during these times in the Middle Ages don’t know what this is but  I know that first word is no several hundred years later around  the year 1705 two devout Buddhist monks  

From a nearby Province encountered each  other and swore to each other Brotherhood in a mission to spread awareness of Buddhism these   two impassioned monks chose to commence  their life’s work right here in New Mar Mountain [Music] and so began  a series of reparations and  

Additions to three tiers of pagodas  in and around the Serene spiritual [Music] Mountain [Music] [Music] for [Music] [Music] oh Oh [Music] it’s Temple is inside the Cave [Music] Oh [Music] in Nuno mountain in a  cave still hangs the bronze Bell   that was hung by these very two monks in  [Music] 1707 bells in Buddhism signify the   voice of the Buddha which is Awakening  and can lead one down the very path to Enlightenment [Music] there’s an up close  of the flow Stone inside the 0:10:59.040,1193:02:47.295 [Music] cave [Music] beautiful [Music] there is much we have to learn  about Buddhism and we can tell   you this place had a strange sense of peace to it exploring this mountainous Temple was  both Serene and much like that of a sounding

Bell its hum led us to all its hidden [Music]  secrets the ones that were fading in [Music] time like that distant echo of a chiming Bell  carrying with it the ancient chantings of monks   and Brotherhood [Music] just trying to make  their voices [Music] heard along with their

[Music] teachings for as long as time will [Music] get we didn’t see this one on the way up [Music] was hidden around the corner so they have uh because you you  can’t wear shorts or sleeveless shirts   they have these uh garments that you  can put over your shorts like these  

People are wearing [Music]  here banana [Music] trees yeah I believe that’s a [Music] gravestone oh  there’s more of the uh apple snail eggs right here oh apple snails are an invasive species  that live in the water and they come out of  

The water to lay eggs like that and they are  that color because they are poisonous too animals it’s a beautiful [Music] area so we tried to film a lot without  people and as you can see there is a lot of  

People here wow wow that is cool is that just a  plant growing on my tree or it might be a Vine   yeah that is so cool looking that is awesome while  we were here we noticed there was people walking  

Up this this other Trail and the other Trail is  actually not in so there’s the parking lot over   there there’s the bridge where everybody walks  to go into the the Buddhist temples but if you   walk this is really hard cuz it’s backwards on my  phone if you walk under this little bike holder  

Area and along here and then down this way you can  get alongside of the Buddhist temple assumingly   for free and uh there’s it looks like there’s  a trail to a lookout up here alongside let’s  

Get it and then I don’t know if it LO around but  it looks like there’s another Trail this way and   some cool little Limestone caves along the way but  we’re going to huff and puff up these stairs over  

Here and uh see you guys at the top like I said  huff and puff just came up a bunch of stairs next   to the pagota area and uh this sign says the  entrance to the cave of Heaven now I have no  

Clue what’s up this way but we’ll find out these  stairs are very uneven and some of them are knee height we got this guys we got [Music] this who looks like we’re going  back [Music] down this is [Music] beautiful yeah okay going down so so we’ve  entered this Valley covered in goat Poop oh this is a couple  kids right [Music] there hey [Music] kids what are you guys doing  see CIA open all their little [Music] [Music] foot [Music] [Music] s [Music] beautiful yelling is very beautiful it says uh yelling is very [Music]

Beautiful okay so the guy behind us there  he said something like money pay to go in   the cave um but we’re just walking  we asked a couple other tourists to   walk by how muggy it is I’m all fogged  up uh if uh they paid and they said no  

But just walking through this little  Valley here is beautiful check this out Oh I see so there’s a cave  over here that you pay to go [Music] in look at these massive [Music] rocks okay so they do offer a boat ride  uh not sure how much the boat ride is but there   is a a cave over there and she said 50 each or  50 for the both of us so a dollar each to enter  

The cave which is not a bad deal we would want  to share it with you guys if we were going to   do it and there’s no light in the cave so we  couldn’t share it with you guys so since you  

Guys have to miss out we’re going to miss  out as well um got our exercise in with a   little hike over the mountain here um but uh  just the valley in here that these people live   in is amazing it’s like completely surrounded  by uh by mountains and uh that’s their that’s  

Their home and um it’s just gorgeous so if  you guys make it to Vietnam and you guys   come here send us a link to your video of this  little cave to [Music] Heaven um because we’re

[Music] curious okay that’s the uh way we just  came from from the the cave to Heaven um that   we didn’t go into there’s another road going  this way next to this large field probably bug   Central and come comeo Ro comeo Zak Z I don’t  know it’s garbage oh this might be somebody’s

Home we’ll find out let’s  let’s investigate this might be bathrooms this might be very old bathrooms all right what do you guys see nothing yet this looks like it would be bathrooms oh  wow talk about a bathroom with a [Music] view  

It is and it’s really easy to look past  the G garbage piles and see the beauty   here looks like there’s something  in the oh it’s just more rocked um so if these were Old Eastern bathrooms they would have like a little floor   toilet in them unless they’re  super old and uh watching for

Snakes plus they’re super  old and they just went on the floor I don’t know but now you know what’s this way and now we  know what this way whoa that road just broke on me and we’re probably above water here considering  there’s water on that side and Marsh on this

Side and there’s little fish or tadpoles in here and these purple plants are just  beautiful I don’t know what they are   but they’re just growing everywhere out of  the cliffs I should look them up so my app   the little the seek app that I use for  identifying plants and animals and bugs  

And stuff identifies these as Moses in the  cradle and apparently they bloom with white flowers but they’re everywhere  along the uh the hills here and   they’re just beautiful little little  blotches of purple all throughout here just adding color to this already colorful Place Vietnam is

Beautiful okay so here’s the ticketing office  and it’s not really clear cuz it shows a boat   in a cave and that I don’t know what the last  word was but uh the first two is crosswater so   I don’t know if it’s crosswater money money  to cross the water or what but we’ve been  

Standing here for a little bit and there is  people paying but they’re paying for parking I don’t know what that was about but uh  most of the people are just paying for parking so not seeing people paying to actually  go in and we walked here all the way from Tam  

So so uh yeah that was our that was our payment  walking and now we got to walk back actually we   don’t have to walk back we could probably pay  one of these things to take us back to tamco  

But we don’t want to let’s find out how much  they are so it’s either two or $4 for us to   get a ride back on there uh they they asked if  we had a ticket and we said no and then I said  

How much and he’s they said 50 uh I’m not  sure if that’s per person which $50 is $2   um we’ve already walked five miles today yeah  we’ve already done five miles what’s another   five yeah 11,000 still yeah we’re definitely  getting it in today and it was supposed to be  

A rainy day today so we’re at we just stopped  at the um basically the furthest food stand   from the uh the the temple and or the pagodas  and uh I just wanted to show you what the food  

Prices are right next to a very touristy Place  uh so you got coffee for 30k 30k is like a$1 25ish we ordered the uh mango smoothie for 30k so   it’ll be 60k for our smoothies which  [Music] is $225 is I’ll put the price there then these are the other things

Beer is less than a dollar for uh domestic and for   an import of hinin it’s like just  over a dollar uh you can order just fruit for less than a dollar and you got uh some b  m here we like the Bon Me with the egg just over a

Dollar and then you got some  fried noodles cooked noodles   stir fried noodles with beef uh 70 is just under $3 you got French fries here for  two bucks and then you got your fuzz uh far is just a  vegetable um soup just over a dollar spring rolls two Bucks got your fried Rices for just just  over $2 and $2 and just regular rice is   under a dollar fried tofu tofu stuffed with  meat that sounds interesting yeah for $2 you   usually don’t see tofu stuff with me yeah  uh and your vegetarian food okay thank you  

M thank you thank you no and then these are  our smoothies our mango smoothies that we got pretty good um so they give you the ice which  cools the drink down the drink is actually not   cold yet but it will be and smoothies here  aren’t exactly like super thick but they’re  

Still pretty good I mean for just over a dollar  for a smoothie that she literally just grabbed   the fruit off that table over there yeah it’s real  fresh mango yeah um back to the menu vegetarian  

Food $2 and under per meal um more sandwiches  this I’m not sure how uh Pate is a vegetarian food but okay spring roll bread that’s interesting  but again these are under a dollar for a sandwich and then you [Music] got  ice cream for under a dollar coffee  

For oh it looks like they’ve  changed it to 30k from 20 no no uh one thing I want to talk about the ice so  we might want to drink this fast um you want   to what you want to look for for ice if  you’re just visiting and you aren’t used  

To the water is you want to get the  ice with the holes in the center is   a Telltale sign that it’s filtered water  this looks like homemade ice so not sure   but you know drink it fast before it all  melts yeah and then you got some juices for

30k uh you can buy bottle small bottle of water or  a large bottle water for 50 uh you got some other   beers here for a dollar this one’s just over a  dollar cuz she changed it to 30 I think that’s  

Technically 30 um soft drinks for 50 cents soft  drink for 50 cents at a restaurant yeah crazy and   it’s name brand that I’ve seen it’s all been  like Coca-Cola panta yeah and it’s it is it’s  

Coca-Cola uh Diet Coke or actually they call it  Coca-Cola light here um you got all sorts of teas   and other things oh these are the cigarette packs  here and uh cigarettes here are only like a dollar  

Something a pack it’s crazy um but yeah this is uh  the restaurant they also sell souvenirs here and   chips and uh they even have fresh coconuts well  that was fun that was so much fun thank you guys  

For watching don’t forget to like And subscribe  and we will see you next time bye now bye now mat s that that yeah

Just a few kilometers out of Tam Cốc, Vietnam is a mountain covered with temples a d even a cave system. it is called Bich Dong Pagoda and it’s history dates back to medieval times. Join us as we explore this amazing buddhist temple with all its surrounding natural beauty. This was a completely free tour as well.

Help Support our Adventures and get bonus content on Patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/theadventurecloset

Donations: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=9PXTF35AX58AN

Find more at:
WEB: www.theadventurecloset.com
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theadventurecloset
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/THEADVENTURECLOSET
Facebook: facebook.com/THEADVENTURECLOSET
TikTok: https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMeR5XSgv/
Threads: https://www.threads.net/@theadventurecloset

OUR MORNING REGGAE PLAYLIST ON SPOTIFY: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4n5ZbZ1mPkxbcFYk1dCb2H?si=84f9a4f07ba1427b

Support us by purchasing artwork:
www.charlieduncanphotography.com

Charlie Duncan Photography’s YouTube Channel:
https://youtube.com/user/duncandphoto

Write us at (We love fan mail!): PO Box 937 Darrington, WA 98241

Frequently asked questions:

1) What kind of van is Opal?

She is a DIY converted camper and is a 2007 Chrysler Town & Country minivan (similar to Dodge Caravan)

2) When did you start minivanlife?

September 2021

3) Camera Gear Used:

Samsung Note 20 Ultra
Samsung Note 9
GoPro Hero 9
GoPro Hero 7
Canon M50
Canon EOS R
DJI Mavic Mini 2
DJI Mavic Pro 2
DJI Mic
DJI Osmo Mobile 6

34 Comments

  1. I'm good with 2nd one here. I'm always really looking forward to the new vids. It's odd to see the menu in bold English. Looks yumalicious! The first Pagoda of the day is beautiful & I enjoy hearing the history, if you ever write a book about your travels here they will let others hear of times past in this often misunderstood country. I would live as close to one of these or an old monastery just for the peace. That was very sweet of you to not go where we couldn't go with you! It was a fantastic place. Do you see many of those huge Cranes like at the end. The goats are always adorable but it's cool to see other creatures that live there. Stay safe. Hugs!

  2. The pagodas were absolutely amazing. It’s hard to imagine the amount of time and effort it must have taken to construct them, particularly 600 years ago. Although they look nothing alike, the complex reminded me of the great cathedral after Europe, with their various side chapels and artworks. Thanks for bringing us along.

  3. I see a lot of gold paint on building and statues, sure is shiny and pretty 🙂 The mountains are beautiful with their unique rounded tops. Menu food blows my mind away. Great prices and all of it looks amazing and healthy ! Thanks for taking us along to such a magical place

  4. That temple was beautiful! Or pagodas! Built so long ago and still standing! That's crazy! And the limestone caves are just magical! So amazing and nature is absolutely the very best artist! Wow! And you guys and the distance you hike is nuts! In that humidity too! You are such amazing physically fit people! I would have dropped dead in that humidity! No questions about it! I can barely breathe if the air is humid, not even hot! But you add both and someone is calling me an ambulance for sure! Heat I'm fine with as long as it's a dry heat, like in the desert. I'm fine with high temps and no humidity! But thankfully there are people like you two who can experience this for me, and film it too! You guys are awesome! Thank you! ❤

  5. Beautiful !! Very tranquil, love the music inserted ❤❤ ..btw, the words " cam do rac.. " means don't trash here..!"

  6. 5:00 the temple was built during the reign of Le Thai To (pronounced Leh-Thai-Toh), not Ly Thai To (Lee-Thai-Toh) which is 400 years earlier. In Vietnam, Thai To is used for the first emperor of a dynasty, followed by Thai Tong(the second), Thanh Tong (the third), Nhan Tong (the forth), etc… Le Thai To was the emperor who freed Vietnam from the Ming dynasty, while Ly Thai To moved the capital city from Hoa Lu (the place you're visiting) to Thang Long (now Hanoi) in 1010, and his some of his descendent fled the country and became the Hwasan Lee clan in Korea
    5:22 it is actually a stone Khanh (aka bianqing, an ancient percussion instrument, usually made from metal). the plank just said "don't strike the khanh"
    12:30 the Trung and Thuong in the name of the temple is actually indicate the position of that part of the Bich Dong pagoda. there should be 3 parts: Ha (chinese: xia, means under), Trung (chinese: zhong, means middle) and Thuong (chinese: shang, means upper). people visiting a pagoda have to go from Ha, to Trung, then Thuong.
    13:00 this is the place where people pay respect to the god of that land
    23:50 Ninh Binh is famous for the reed, because Dinh Tien Hoang (the first Vietnamese emperor) used to play mock battle there using reed as his flag when he was a kid
    26:37 its a ticket booth for the boat trip to Xuyen Thuy cave (Xuyen Thuy Dong is the chinese way to say it, Vietnamese usually use chinese way to make some word/places more intriguing
    32:52 the ice with hole in the middle is actually factory made. they let the cold air running through a metal tube and let the water running on the outside of the tube until it froze

  7. Seems like every temple here is on top of a mountain, in a deep valley or canyon or in some kind of cave……all very odd places for sure….nice hike and very pretty there😃

  8. Great video you guys. The pagoda and temple are in such a wonderful part of VN and their accompanying history is equally wonderful. Also, very good of you to respect the local custom and take off your shoes before entering the temple/house.

  9. Been following for a while now and y'all are sure looking good! Losing lots of weight, looks great on you guys!

  10. Donated. Ppl maintained the environment for you. 😊
    The text said, plz do not liter. 😊
    Beautiful environment.😮
    Thanks 4 sharing.😅

  11. 5:25 That, cái khánh, is an instrument to make sound similar to a bell. It is made of stone or, later, metal.

  12. That temple was a lot of work , crazy they did that back then , that hike to heaven looked a lil rough , how those little legs got up those steps 🤣that was a nice walk around , Yall made a big deal about soft drinks for .50 , what about Beer for a dollar whattttt

  13. Excellent video! The pinned comment was a very respectful and thoughtful comment. I found it to be very helpful for the video. You two do walk quite a bit in all your videos (silly comment someone else left). I imagine even more so now that Opal and Goat are resting up. We would never know if you decided to visit the cave. I say go do it!! I know I would 😄 Those purple plants i have in my home. A very resilient plant. We call them Wandering Jew plants. Its crazy how much cheaper the soda is. At one of my previous jobs, I was in charge of ordering soda, and there was no way I could bring in soda to sell at that price. It must be based on the market. Just shows a lot of these businesses stick it to us because they can and they know(or think) we can afford it. Silly question, but dont they have trash cans and dumpsters set up for people to use? Or do they choose not to use them? I mean I can see around the city. But, their parks surely must have some? Thanks for sharing! Fart on!

  14. I think that quote about the flower at the end was referencing a Bhudda sermon. This was nice guys! I'm like that meme of Jack Nickolson at the end of The Shining movie. Dealing with some frozen pipes. Jeff's saw is frozen… with antifreeze! I thought I lived in the south! GO AWAY north pole!!! Yeah you guys picked the BEST time of year to leave the USA lol.

  15. Wow guys… very cool places… 😮😮😮 thank you for sharing!🥰 amazing video

  16. Shari and I just got done watching , I think its slowly getting her to want to visit . That Temple is really cool , I love stuff like that , but you know me anything history or religion I am into. And weird way to follow up that sentence where those old bathrooms ? or what were they did you ever find out 100% .

    Great video guys loving the travels

  17. Wow, it must feel incredibly surreal and amazing to be in such an ancient place! Just incredible. The cave formations were so cool!
    Your “cinematography” is fantastic! I love all the views when you film!

  18. Wow what a beautiful and serene setting. i am sure tons of tourists go there. Glad you found a walk around, at least you had that to yourself and got a good workout. I don't like to go into caves that are dark, that is were the snakes like to live and breed, no thank you. I love the colors of that pink flower. it looked neon. and that vine on the tree make it look shaggy. You guys are doing a fantastic job. thanks for taking us with you.

  19. Ninh Bình là quê hương của tôi.Nhưng nhà tôi cách nơi này khoảng 30 km.Ninh Bình có đặc sản là Thịt Dê Cơm Cháy.Tôi có thể gợi ý 2 bạn là hãy đi một khu chợ truyền thống ở địa phương vào buổi sáng,sẽ có rất nhiều loại bánh để thưởng thức và khám phá khu chợ,chắc đó cũng là một video hấp dẫn người xem.Cám ơn 2 bạn

Write A Comment