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Had a lovely trip to Tam Coc to take in some scenery, and had a great history lesson thrown in!
Tam Coc is set on the rice paddies of the countryside surrounding Ninh Binh; huge imposing rocks rise from the ground, and a river runs underneath some of them - leading to the name Tam Coc (3 caves). It's the main attraction for the area, so I was keen to get over there and see if it really did compare to Halong Bay.
I did a trip from my hotel with 3 other Brits; Laura, Crystal and Laura 2. They're from Norwich and have also been bemused by the Vietnamese fascination with white skin (although they've just come from China which is by all accounts much tougher to travel, so they're hardy now!). We got up early and set off to reach the caves ahead of the other tourists, as we'd heard it gets a bit like Alton Towers later in the day. A quick warning from our guide about potential scams and pestering from the rowers (there's lots of tales of travellers being talked into buying a load of rubbish from the peddlers who row up alongside the boats) we were fully briefed and ready to go. The river was peaceful as we set off, gliding through the water, admiring the stunning views and ooh-and-aah-ing at the low ceiling-ed caves. It really is gorgeous there.
After a leisurely time on the lake, we headed for Thai Vi Temple, built to worship four kings of the Tran Dynasty and Queen Thuan Thien. Our guide was a bit of an adventurer, so in a style very much like Grandad when he does his scenic routes, we trotted off through the rice paddies. I'd decided to get some wear out of my walking boots thankfully, but the girls flip flops didn't fare so well - lots of mud and giggles later we were all washing ourselves down in the well. The guide was great, telling us all about the attacks Vietnam has faced, explaining the symbols of the images in the temple, and telling us about the country's ancient history. There's a photo of a big bell; apparently bells are sacred as they represent the luck of the country. If a country is invaded, the bell should not be removed as it will take bad luck to the country it is moved to.
The temple was out in the middle of no-where, yet was laden with offerings - the guardian gave us some of the bananas people had left as a gift. We saw carved turtles (which represent intellect), lions (bravery and war) and dragons (which seem to be sacred to the Vietnamese for all number of reasons - lots of men are named Lon which means dragon).
Lunch was a local delicacy (Heather, don't read this bit) - goat. Yes, goat meat is really prized here, signs for restaurants proudly display images of the poor little things outside to advertise their dishes. Well I had to try it... sizzling on a hot plate, sprinkled with sesame seeds and served with a DIY kit to make fresh spring rolls it looked delicious. I rolled up a lime leaf, some pineapple, starfruit and green banana, along with some meat, in rice paper and tentatively nibbled... it was lovely!
Feeling full and sleepy we faced out next task - a 200 step climb up a rock face to Bich Dong, a beautiful pagoda in the countryside. Its set over a series of little caves, and each one had its own little buddha with burning incense and fruit offerings all laid out. We climbed up, up, up and eventually settled right at the top of the hill, looking out over the beautiful countryside (and attracting a few curious glances from the locals).
The last destination was really something; Hoa Lu waas the original Vietnamese capital city, during the Dinh and early Le dynasties (between about 968 and 1009). The king was protected at all sides by the mountains, and there were half-moon shaped lily ponds, pavilions and temples. Its now pretty much a big tourist trap (who goes to a temple to buy an electronic toy dog?). The king our gudie told us about was loved as he fought off invasion on 3 seperate occasions - poor Vietnam it would seem, has very bad neighbours.
I learnt so much from our guide, it was a great day. Totally exhausted, we headed back to the hotel for a dinner of... breakfast foods (the food in Ninh Binh looked pretty grim so we played it safe) and I set off for my first sleeper bus experience to Hue. So far, it's rainy....
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- comments
Grandad Don't faint but we are online! Loving your blog and photos. Love Grandad and Nanna xxx Wow, that's great! Have added you on facebook. I will send you a message on there to arrange a day and time to skype you so we can talk :) Looking forward to seeing you online. Love you both xx