Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
Hello from Ninh Binh.
We decided to get the local bus from Hanoi to Ninh Binh as it seemed to be the cheaper option. On arriving at the bus station we seemed to be the only westerners there. We were told the bus would leave at 12.30pm and take about 2hours. At 1.30pm the bus still hasn't left the bus car park, but people were jumping on and off, buses were blasting their horns, we didn't really have a clue what was going on but we sat tight and eventually we started moving.
Once we finally arrived in Ninh Binh we booked into a hotel advised in the LonelyPlanet book and then went out for some food which was excellent, the noodles here are amazing.
The following day we hired two guys with their mopeds to drive us around to the local sights. Our first stop was a boat ride along the Tam Coc River. We were a bit weary as we heard that you get hassled a lot here with people trying to sell you things and they can get quite aggressive. The views here was breath taking, it was so peaceful. You were surrounded by limestone mountains and sailing through the rice paddies. When we reached the end, there were some people selling things but we bought some Pineapple from them and they went away.
We then set off to Mua Cave, which wasn't very impressive but it was the view at the top of the mountain that was supposed to make it worth the visit. So we set off up the 500 steps. It was the hottest day we have seen so far, around 35-40 degrees. We both found it a struggle to get up the steps, standing in every bit of shade we could find. But once we got to the top it was all worth it. The views were unbelievable. At one side you were overlooking the Tam Coc river and watching all the boats sail down. The other side you could see the city in distance and rice fields everywhere. It was amazing. The climb down was almost just as hard, it was still just as hot.
On our way back to the hotel, our drivers took us through a local village. There were water buffalos submerged in a small lake so we stopped to take some photos. We attracted the attention of the 15 near by children playing beside the lake. They came over and asked Jonny what his name was. He replied then asked the young lads which was How. Jonny then said "HOW" out loud in a deep voice like an Indian which got them all giggling madly. One of the lads had a flat football with him so Jonny started to do keepy uppys. One little lad tried to then kick the ball out off his foot in doing so slipped and fell right on his butt which received an equally loud laugh from the rest of them. We then were chased up the dirt track road whilst we waved goodbye and our drivers took us back to our hotel.
That night we booked our onward bus for the following day to Hue which takes about 10 hours and is an overnight journey. It will be our first experience with the Vietnamese sleeper buses, we will let you know how it goes. I am sure there will be a story.
J + B
- comments