From Hanoi to Ninh Binh (Day 3)

We exited the city for some needed peace and quiet. Ninh Binh was where we headed to.

We hopped on a tour van heading down south and they dropped us off at Ninh Binh enroute. It’s almost a three hour ride there. We made one stop at a highway souvenir shop that sold everything overpriced. These highway stops are one of the reasons why we stay clear of tours. They will try to con and fish whatever money you have from selling super expensive drinks to excessively priced souvenirs! Touts swamped at us the moment we got off the van selling plastic bags of mandarin oranges for USD2! Skeptics as we are, we both think they probably plucked the mandarins from stray trees. Did we say we do not fancy going on tours?!

Ninh Binh is a quiet town with its own affections. There’ plenty to do here from canal rides to trekking at the Cuc Phong National Park to visiting the local floating village. Not to mention Ninh Binh is has more than a handful of temples that come in all shapes and sizes. We soon found out that behind every limestone cave there’s bound to be one of two.

Without hesitation this time, I agreed to sit pillion while Terence rode the bike to explore the small town. We hired a motorcycle from our hotel, got hold of a map as it was definitely necessary. Sign boards are sparse and people literally remember roads by landmarks such as a mountain or a small bridge! Having two choices at hand – Tam Coc or Thrang An cave, we decided on the latter. Tam Coc as locals put is a lot more touristy and less serene. Thrang An on the other hand is quieter and more peaceful, and definitely less touts. We scooted our way down about 20kms, paid 60,000d per person and was ushered to a small green boat with a lady rower. We were both so amazed by her endurance and strength and did I mention, her muscles must have been that of Mike Tyson!

The canal ride took us about 2 ½ hours cruising along narrow rivers and into 4-5 different caves. Towering limestone mountains hovered over us. The ride into the caves was something else as the canals were extremely narrow at certain times and we had to watch our heads while careening in. The waters were green and emerald. Little life was found in the water, only a variety of sea weeds and grass. We were rewarded with sights of mountain goats and white stalks along the way. Hopping in and off the boat we climbed to different temples, that was where we discovered that all the trails led to one temple or another. Nonetheless the climb was worth it just for a stretch.



























The hotel receptionist advised us to be back before nightfall, that’s about 530pm. Since we still had an hour to spare, we whizzed around the town to look for some street food. After some rounds and corners we found a night market tucked away in an alley. We didn’t get any street food from the market but we caught some bizarre pictures of what they sold in the market. Take a look!




They sell DOGS!