Day 5 - Ninh Binh

Woke up bright and early. Breakfast. Were given a roughly-drawn map of the route we'll be taking. Interesting. Especially since we'll be taking the backroads. I have a feeling we're gonna get lost.


Proposed Itinerary:

Tam Coc & the Bich Dong Pagoda - Hoa Lu & the Ancient Citadel, Dinh Tien Hoang Temple, Le Dai Hanh Temple, Tomb of Dinh Tien Hoang - Kenh Ga Floating Village - Van Long Nature Reserve.

Tam Coc or the 'Halong Bay of the Rice Paddies', is about 10km from Ninh Binh and features lime stone moutains emerging from the padi fields. Getting there was easy enough though I absolutely dreaded the first 7 km which had to be done on the dusty main road with the cars and trucks.


For 50kD per person, we were taken down the Boi river by 26 yr-old Ninh (who's got a sister named Binh!!) and her mother. (Not surprisingly, I was asked if I was G's wife.)

The two-hour boat ride took us through the 3 caves from which the area derived it's name, and a lazy cruise past small isolated houses that dotted the river bank. Truly breathtaking scenery.

The locals here make a living herding goats and rearing ducks, as well as selling their embroidery to tourists. They'd cleverly bundled up their wares and stacked them in the boat before we even boarded, then pounced on us on the trip back with everything they had, from T-shirts, to tables cloths and we were pressed to buy something 'in support' of them. Got myself a tastefully embroided T-shirt that said Vietnam for US$3 *shrug*


Cycled along the backroads through the country side to get to Hoa Lu. Took us sometime to find the track though since there weren't any sign boards. And asking for directions didn't really help either initially. G. had trouble understanding the first guy. All he could get was that we'd have to turn left somewhere by a tall house, then we'll come to a mountain and finally cross a bridge.


*The modern architecture here is a curious copy of houses in Hanoi; Tall and narrow, with barely any or no windows on the sides, and only the front facade painted. It's understandable in Hanoi where houses are squeezed very closely together and there really isn't any room for elaborate balconies on the sides and pointless to have windows opening out into your neighbours wall. But on the outskirts where they have all the space they could possibly want, it's odd to see them build exact replicas of those in the capital.


Anyway, more help from a woman mixing cement farther up the road. (the women here do back-breaking work!) We rode through a housing area and had children waving at us and shouting 'Hello' whenever we passed. We were the only crazy tourists cycling for awhile, not even sure where we were, or if we were even on the right track, until we crossed paths with 2 caucasians coming in the opposite direction. Whew! We're not lost! We soon left the more 'urban' area and found ourselves faced with miles of padi fields and believe it or not, silence! There were no cars, no trucks, only a handful of motorbikes, which meant no honking! Everyone else were on bicycles. Women were stooped in the fields, water buffalos wallowed and soaked in the water, men walked by with fishing rods in hand. More children waving and smiling.

Arrived at another housing area. Finally a signboard! We're still ok. Pushed on till we came to what looked like a temple. Still not sure which one that was. Turned the corner and bumped into 2 backpackers who were also putting up at the Queen Mini, sitting under a tree and drinking Vietnamese coffee prepared by an old lady. We decided to stop for a chat and join them for coffee and wafers. One from the Czech Republic and the other from Slovenia and they'd travelled from Eastern Europe overland, stopping for a maximum of 3 days in each city of the countries they went through.


Checked out the temple after our coffee then proceeded along a dirt road. Eventually came to a cross road. Ahead was a huge hole blasted into a mountain and to the right was a pebbled road that led into a village. Figured it would be better if we rode through the village. It later dawned on us that that was the mountain the guy was telling us about earlier. We linked up with the dirtroad again anyway. Was not long till we came to the bridge and finally Hoa Lu. Lunch was pho.

Did a quick look around. Like I said earlier, once you've seen one pagoda you've seen them all. Unless you're a history / cultural buff. Was intrigued by what was at the top of a very long set of steps cut into mountain. But we'd spent so much time on the road that we weren't sure if we could afford half an hour getting up there. Decided to give it a miss. No regrets though. I thoroughly enjoyed the bike ride and was glad I did it.

Decided to skip Kenh Ga Floating Village and the Nature Reserve since we'd already taken a boat ride and we would need a good few hours to see them.

Took a different route back. It was harvest time and the roads were lined with padi that lay drying in the sun, and rows of guni sacks stacked beside in which the padi will be stored. Left the countryside and linked up with the damn mainroad again. Came across an accident. Car and motorbike. *shudder*

Arrived back at The Queen Mini with an hour to spare. Great! Still have time for a shower. I must have an inch of grime and dust on me. There's a 1530hrs bus that stops outside the hotel but I really wanted my shower :p Walked over to the bus station and caught the next minibus to Hanoi for 28kD. It stops somewhere in the South of Hanoi which was a bit of a distance from G's place so took a taxi. Starting price 11kD. Final cost 60Kd.

I'm gald we went to Ninh Binh. I realised I like the adventure kind of holiday and the cycling and boat ride was right up my alley.