:>>Vietnam's Culture - Dong Son culture

Dong Son culture is a Bronze age culture that was centered at the Red River Valley of Vietnam from about 1000 to 1 BC. The Dong Son people was skilled at cultivating rice, feeding buffalos and pigs, fishing and sailing with long dug-out canoes. They also were skilled bronze casters as can be seen in the famous Dong Son drums, which has been found widely in Southeast Asia.

Dong Son is identified with the Van Lang ruling dynasty, the first ruling dynasty of Vietnam. The Dong Son culture is linked to the Tibeto - Burman culture, the Dai culture in Yunnan and Laos, the Mon - Khmer cultures and the culture associated with the Plain of Jars in Laos. Similar artifacts have been found in Cambodia along the Mekong River dating back to the 4th millennium B.C. Dong Son influence is seen throughout South-East Asia, from the moko drum of Alor, Indonesia to the design of the Malaysian keris knife.

The sampan takes you thru three caves. The boat can also stop to visit some pagodas if you wish. eturn to the harbor after a two-hour boat trip and lunch will be served at a local restaurant with RVietnamese food. After lunch, take a short bike/drive on country side peaceful road to Bich Dong cave, which was conferred by a King the title “Vietnam’s second most beautiful grotto”. You will climb up to the Truong Yen Mountain (Buddha’s palm), charmed by the marvelous scenery offered by the mountains, rivers and pagodas. Overnight in Ninh Binh.
Optional visit in Ninh Binh: There are many interesting landscapes in Ninh Binh and our other suggestions are Bai Dinh Pagoda and Trang An Grottos. Angkor Wat was built in the first half of the 12th century. Estimated construction time of the temple is 30 years by King Suryavarman II, dedicated to Vishnu (Hindu), replica of Angkor Thom style of art. Angkor Wat is the largest monument of the Angkor group and the best preserved. It’s really an architectural masterpiece. Its perfection in composition, balance, proportions, relief's and sculpture make it one of the finest monuments in the world.
Angkor Thom is undeniably an expression of the highest genius. It is, in three dimensions and on a scale worthy of an entire nation, the materialization of Buddhist cosmology, representing ideas that only great painters would dare to portray.