Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [243]
The cathedral was conceived and designed by Father Tran Luc (also known as Father Sau), whose tomb lies behind the bell tower, and was more than ten years in the preparation, as stone and wood were transported from the provinces of Thanh Hoa and Nghe An, though it apparently took a mere three months to build in 1891. During the French War, the Catholic Church formed a powerful political group in Vietnam, virtually independent of the French administration but also opposed to the Communists. The then bishop of Phat Diem, Monseigneur Le Huu Tu, was outspokenly anti-French and an avowed nationalist, but, as his diocese lay on the edge of government-held territory, the French supplied him with sufficient arms to maintain a militia of two thousand men in return for containing Viet Minh infiltration. However, in December 1951 the Viet Minh launched a major assault on the village and took it – with suspicious ease for French tastes, who felt the Catholics were withholding information on enemy activities in the area, if not actually assisting them. When paratroops came in to regain control, the Viet Minh withdrew, taking with them a valuable supply of weapons. The author Graham Greene was in Phat Diem at the time, on an assignment for Life Magazine, and watched the battle from the bell tower of the cathedral – later using the scene in The Quiet American.
The central provinces - Part 2 | Ninh Binh and around | Phat Diem |
Practicalities
Day-trips from Hanoi start at $8 per person on a minibus. Frequent public buses depart from Ninh Binh bus station for the hour’s journey to Kim Son, though note that the last bus back leaves around 3.30pm. Otherwise, it’s near enough to reach by rented motorbike, or the return trip by xe om will cost around 100,000đ. If you’re riding here yourself, take the road heading straight east from Ninh Binh’s Lim Bridge and, when you get to Kim Son Village, 100m after passing an elegant covered bridge, take a right turn to the cathedral; follow the compound wall anticlockwise to reach the entrance, where you can buy a small but informative booklet explaining the cathedral’s colourful history. The bell is rung daily at noon, and visitors are allowed to accompany the bell-ringer up the stairs (block your ears though).
The central provinces - Part 2 | Ninh Binh and around |
Cuc Phuong National Park
In 1962 Vietnam’s first national park was established around a narrow valley between forested limestone hills on the borders of Ninh Binh, Thanh Hoa and Hoa Binh provinces, containing over two hundred square kilometres of tropical evergreen rainforest. Cuc Phuong is well set up for tourism and sees a steady stream of visitors, attracted principally by the excellent primate rescue centre, but also by the easy access to impressively ancient trees. With more time, you can walk into the park interior, overnight in a Muong village and experience the multi-layered forest. The most enjoyable time for walking in these hills is October to January, when mosquitoes and leeches take a break and temperatures are relatively cool – but this is also peak season. Flowers are at their best during February and March, while April to May are the months when lepidopterists can enjoy the “butterfly festival” as thousands of butterflies colour the forest.
Even now the park has not been fully surveyed but is estimated to contain approximately three hundred bird species and ninety mammal species, some of which were first discovered in Cuc Phuong, such as red-bellied squirrels and a fish that lives in underground rivers. Several species of bat and monkey, including the critically endangered Delacour’s langur, inhabit the park, while bears and leopards roam its upper reaches. Hunting has taken its toll, though, and you’re really only likely to see butterflies, birds and perhaps a civet cat or a tree squirrel, rather than the more exotic