Động Thiên Hà

Thien Ha Cave - Galaxy Cave

Useful Information

Location:	Sơn Hà, Nho Quan, Ninh Bình. (20.2187378, 105.8855244)
Open:
Fee:
Classification:	Karst Cave
Light:	Incandescent Coloured Light
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:
Accessibility:
Bibliography:
Address:	Mường Tours - Động Thiên Hà, Thôn Đồng Tâm, Nho Quan, Ninh Bình 08424, Tel: +84-962-056-866.
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

2007	cave discovered.
2008	traces of prehisotic Vietnamese inhabitation excavated by archaeologists.
2010	show cave opened to the public.
2010	cave surveyed by the Institute of Archeology and the Management Board of Trang An Landscape Complex.

Description

Động Thiên Hà (Dong Thien Ha, Galaxy Cave) is a rather new show cave. It was discovered in 2007 and was opened as a show cave in 2010, and is now recognized on the UNESCO World Heritage list. The forested hills in the delta of the Red River, right west of the province capital Ninh Binh, are karstified limestone which is full of caves. Numerous caves are accessible, but this one is actually a show cave, with trails, electric light and guided tours. However, this is too easy, and therefore there are some obstacles. For example, the cave is located in the middle of nowhere, there is no road to the entrance, and it's impossible to find it. Even Google Maps has difficulties locating it, and there are several locations given in completely different hills. We can only strongly recommend visiting the cave in a day trip with a local guide. There are locals with boats which will bring you to the cave entrance and the guide knows all the whereabouts.

The cave is located at the edge of the Thung Nham Ecotourism Zone, but it is not part of this zone, which actually has three show caves open to the public. So this is the fourth show cave in the area, but not located inside the Ecotourism Zone. But one of the caves, a river cave named Buddha Cave crosses the mountain, and they offer boat tours through this cave which bring their guests on the other side to the entrance of Galaxy cave. For this option, please contact the lodge at the Thung Nham Ecotourism Area.

The official access is from Muong Tho Ha village, Son Ha commune. This small village in the middle of flat fields is reached from QL128, through the village at the far end a road leads straight to the Ben Dang river. At the shore of this river is a visitor center with a wharf. The boats cross the river and follow a canal towards the cave entrance. From the end of the canal it's a 500m long walk on a gravel road along the foot of Tuong mountain to reach the cave entrance.