The studio where parts of the film “Kong: Skull Island” was shot is now a highlight of tourist route No.2 in the Trang An Landscape Complex in the northern province of Ninh Binh. With the world heritage site of Trang An, Van Long Wetland Reserve and Emeralda Resort Ninh Binh have become a more fascinating place for both domestic and foreign tourists.
The Skull Island Village in the World Heritage Site
After showing for more than one month, the film “Kong: Skull Island” broke all previous records at the local box offices. To promote tourism, on April 15, 2017, the Trang An Landscape Management Board announced the restoration of the original backlot of the film on a total area of 10ha that consists of the tribal village with about 40 rattan tents set up with decorative items and models of a ship and airplane.
To help visitors feel the magnificence of the film, more than 50 locals who played indigenous people are invited to reproduce the scenes in the film.
“Hollywood’s Indigenous man” Nguyen Huu Van said that although he and others only appeared in a scene of less than a minute in the film, they had to work with the film crew for more than a month.
Thanks to short-term trainings provided by the film crew, these actors now reproduce successfully scenes of the film with different nuances so that visitors feel like they were in the real village in the film.
Trang An with a New Appearance
The Trang An Landscape Complex, located more than 90km south of Ha Noi, was recognised as Vietnam’s first mixed natural and cultural heritage by UNESCO in 2014 based on the principles of the Convention on the Protection of World Culture and Natural Heritages, including cultural, aesthetical, and geological-geomorphic values and the preservation of heritage.
In the eyes of talented young director Jordan Vogt-Roberts, Trang An is a spectacular landscape of limestone karst peaks permeated with valleys. Therefore, he decided to select the place in Ninh Binh and others in the two provinces of Quang Binh and Ha Long, to shoot the film.
Only one day after the film was released, travel companies domestically and abroad opened a new tour visiting the site which attracted a large number of tourists.
The pristine beauty and wonderful culture raised the prospects for the Ninh Binh tourism industry.
Now, the film “Kong: Skull Island”, the first Hollywood film done in Viet Nam, and its renovated studio promise to raise the prospects even higher.
Follow Kong’s Footsteps in the Van Long Wetland
Following Kong’s footsteps, tourists will arrive in the five-star Emeralda Resort in Gia Van Commune, Gia Vien District, Ninh Binh where the film crew stayed in Ninh Binh while shooting the film.
The resort, covering 16ha, has the lush, green scenery of a northern countryside with 172 luxury rooms, satisfying any guests. Now, the resort also provides tourists with impressive tours, including “amazing Van Long”.
The tour gives tourists special experiences in the submerged reserve. Tourists have a chance to see the wild beauty of Van Long in rustic wooden boats. During the trip, tourists will be fascinated by mysterious caves, rare Vooc (langur) and flocks of storks fluttering in the sky.
The trip to Trang An and Van Long in the Trang An Landscape Complex will surely impress anyone going there with its harmonious combination of western and oriental culture.