River dance: Local farmers take to the nearby Hoang Long River for their annual procession. This is a traditional practice to pray for a bumper crop and good health in the new year. VNSPhoto Trong Duc

by Thanh Ha - Van Manh

Nguyen Thi Thu says that a dip in the Kenh Ga hot mineral springs cured her son from the scabies that caused him to itch for a year.

Thu, from Ha Noi's Hai Ba Trung District, took the five-year old to the spa in Ninh Binh Province, north of the capital, after a friend had been similarly cured.

"I don't know what the water contains but I thank god that my son is now healthy and can play with his friends without disturbing us," she says.

Kenh Ga is just 21km north-west of Ninh Binh Town.

"It's easy to reach by bus, motorbike or boat," says Tourism Promotion Centre Bui Van Manh.

"The boat takes you up the legendary Hoang Long River to the freshness of the mountains, rice fields and the Kenh Ga floating village and hot springs.

"The landscape is very beautiful and travellers can enjoy the province's river life."

The French tested the spring during the 1940s.

They found its temperature was a a constant 53 Celsius and the water contains carbon dioxide, sodium, and bicarbonates.

The water is excellent for skin ailments such as scabies and vitiligo.

Villager Truong Chi Binh swears that drinking from Kenh Ga spring cures a variety of stomach ailments and obesity.

Elderly Luong Thi Chi recalls that in the 1960s visitors included Chinese from Viet Nam’s northern border who took to the spa for their health.

The flow of people was so great that they built their camps at the foot of Hang Ca Mountain on the left bank of the Hoang Long River, source of the springs.

There the water bubbles and steams.

It tastes of salt and acid, Chi says.

People queue for days to a take a bottle of it home with them.

The Dich Long Temple at Kenh Ga is built 80m up a mountain of the same name.

Dich means flute and Long means wind.

On its right is a grotto where people pray to statues of the Buddha amid colourful stalactites of different shapes and sizes.

On its left is the Toi or dark grotto with a big, round and very smooth stalagmite rising from the ground that looks like a women's breast.

Entering the cave gives the feeling of entering a work of art that has been carved by a hand carved by a hand so skilful, no man could ever emulate.

Tranquil: A man cleans off mud at the lotus lake. Tour groups also take in the many grottoes that add to the attractions of the hot water springs. VNS Photo Truong Van Quan

Beyond the Toi is the Sang, or light, grotto that carries the name because it opens to the wind. When a breeze plays on the conical limestone formations they sound like flutes.

The Dich Long festival begins on the sixth day of the first lunar month and goes until the end of March.

In addition to Dich Long, the Kenh Ga springs are also close to two other popular sites in Ninh Binh Province, Van Trinh and Van Long.

Van Trinh cavern, is just 30 minutes from Kenh Ga by boat and at 3,500sq.m matches the Thien Cung Cave in Ha Long Bay.

Van Trinh, or as the locals call it, Giang Tien, is located in Mo Mountain in Nho Quan District's Thuong Hoa Commune.

Legend says that a young fairy wanting to help the local people feed their children found the place so marvellous that she chose the cave as her living quarters.

The fairy's swimming pool inside the cave is always filled with clear water.

The poor sought the fairy's help by leaving a piece of cloth in the temple as an offering.

When they returned, they found the cloth had been replaced with a baby's jacket that helped the child grow quickly.

The people repaid the fairy by building a temple in her honour at the foot of Mo Mountain.

The Van Long Forest hosts many species of flora and fauna including conifers, Tibetan bear and the king cobra.

It has a range of mountains – Nghien, Hom Sach, Da Ban, Meo Cao, Co Tien, Voi Dung, Canh Cong and Mo Coi – reachable reached by boat.

Van Long also boasts 32 caves. The most attractive is the Ca (Fish) at the foot of Hoang Quyen Mountain. — VNS