After two tense examinations for the race of medals, participating students of IChO 2014 had a trip to Ninh Binh to visit the landscape complex of Trang An and Bai Dinh pagoda, the biggest pagoda in South East Asia.
After two tense examinations for the race of medals, participating students of IChO 2014 had a trip to Ninh Binh to visit the landscape complex of Trang An and Bai Dinh pagoda, the biggest pagoda in South East Asia. After two hours of excitement on cars, our teams finally arrived at Trang An, also known as Ha Long Bay on land. Getting on plain boats, they experienced another two hours alongside the river of Sao Khe. Throughout the trip, these boats carried our curious and animated students through nine different caves. Fanciful sceneries shaped by the nature overwhelmed the attendees. Sharing her own thought on these interesting landscapes, Árný Jóhannesdóttir from Iceland team said: “The whole trip was beautiful, I have been in some dry caves but sincerely, I have never experienced any water caves before. They are very amazing”. Floating alongside the river, students also have chance to contemplate some ancient temples of mandarins in Dinh age, imposing scenes of mountains and also the verdant rice paddle. All of them make up a charming landscape, leaving a strong impression in participants. The weather in the morning quite supported our participants. Indeed, it was cool as the forthcoming rain. Therefore, students still feel buoyant during two hours on boats.
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Students on boats floating along the river of Sao Khe
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Posing with “Non La” (The traditional hat of Vietnam) is even more beautiful in the imposing background of Trang An
Árný Jóhannesdóttir from Iceland beautifully smiling when being asked about the trip
Fortunately, no sooner did students get on coaches than it started raining. Leaving Trang An, students had lunch at Hoang Son hotel, one of the finest hotel in Ninh Binh to put themselves together in order to prepare for the upcoming trip in the afternoon to Bai Dinh Pagoda. When they got to the pagoda, it was raining quite heavily, forcing the trip to be shorter than the planned schedule. However, participants were still amazed when visiting a sacred place of Buddhists. Most students when being asked admitted that they do not know much about Buddhism but they are overwhelmed by the architect there, by Kuan Yin Hall, Arhan corridor, and so forth. They acclaimed that never in their life have they witnessed such a big pagoda like this one.
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Students visiting Bai Dinh Pagoda
In conclusion, the trip left many good memories for participants, providing them some knowledge on Ninh Binh, where is the former capital of Vietnam.