Tam Coc the Halong Bay of the Paddy Fields

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26th April 2009

We all met for breakfast in the hotel at 7:30am, followed by the hiring of two automatic mopeds for our planned day out in Tam Coc. All fingers were crossed that the storms wouldn’t continue and ruin the day.

Pili took first turn with driving the bike through the crazy traffic as I wanted to take photos while clinging onto the back. We stopped to top up on petrol and Jonathan and Lucy were approached by an old Vietnamese guy in pale blue pyjamas; they had know idea what he wanted and I don’t think he really had a clue either, anyway I got a cheeky photo out of it.

We were surprised that we didn’t encounter more tourists when we arrived in Tam Coc’s market square after purchasing our National Park entrance tickets. We were immediatly hit for a parking fee which is a first for us here in South East Asia. We had a huge choice of boats to choose from but still everybody seemed in a little bit of a hurry. TThe riverside village was very scenic and we were surrounded with great images there for the taking, I’m really pleased with some of my photos.

Our boat team consisted of a little old lady and a much younger guy. She was very friendly from the get go, asking us where we were from and telling myself and Pili how handsome we were. We both spotted the sweetening up hustle and smiled to each other knowingly. The guy at the back of the boat was doing most of the work and using the unusual rowing technique that is common in Vietnam of rowing with his feet. Pili was soon offered a chance to row by the old lady which she jumped at, little did she know that twenty minutes later she’s still rowing us through the vertical cliffs and green rice paddy fields of the Ngo Dong River.

The scenery is quite breathtaking and I definitely would recommend it over Halong Bay any day of the week. We felt like we’d finally arrived in the Vietnam that we’d been looking for. The countryside was fresh and green with butterflies, dragonflies and kingfishers going about their business along our route. We saw farmers working the paddy fields with the back drop of the magnificent hills, I suppose living in this enviroment you'd probably just take it for granted, you certainly couldn't ignore it though. We passed several local tourists, six to eight to a boat, we were told that only two people were allowed in the boats at a time, again naively taken in. Everybody shouted greetings to us and waved frantically. The natives make me smile, they all ask where we are from (they all support Man Utd when I tell them I'm English), how many children do we have and are we married. When I tell them we have no children and are not married we always recieve a puzzled, why?

Towards the end of the route we steered through several low caves and eventually came to the point where we had to turn around and make the return trip. Waiting for us was a fleet of hawkers sat in boats full of food snacks and trinkets, none of which we were the slightest bit interested in and generally we were a little disappointed to be led into an ambush like that. Jonathan and Lucy had already succumbed to the pressure and had bought drinks for their guides which looking back we should have done also but at the time we were pissed with the agressive approach taken towards us, we held firm. As we were about to head back our friendly old lady transformed into a determined sales woman and started shoving embrodied items under Pili’s nose, they were obviously mass produced and were not of her own handiwork even though she claimed they were. Pili was very polite and explained why we couldn’t buy souvenirs to carry on our travels. This just made the old woman more persistent and rude to the point where Pili had to just turn away and ignore her. Finally she got the message and an uneasy quiet settle across the bows of our river craft. Our trip was supposed to be 2hrs, it was actually exactly 90minutes. As we approached the shore the old woman came back to life asking us for a tip, I’ll give her credit for her tenacity and nerve, not only was our trip thirty minutes short, Pili had rowed a third of it, we’d been rudely hassled and then slagged off in Vietnamese and now she wanted a tip. I thought Pili was about to give her a tip, good advise tip that is, but she reined herself in and with a big smile said thank you and strode ashore. We both had a laugh about it and it didn’t spoil a wonderful experience, and the day was still young.

Next on our agenda was a stroll down from the Van Lan Village where we’d left the bikes to the ‘Bich Dong Pagoda’. The walk was about 1km, it was getting very hot and Pili and Jonathan decided half way there to go and get the bikes, which seemed a little pointless to me. Lucy decided to stick with me and do the walk.

The paddy fields were alive with beautiful, large and exotically coloured Butterflies and the masters of the skies the ancient Dragonflies. I was in my element and again and took some excellent close up shots while informing Lucy of these incredible insects’ life histories. I do hope I didn’t bore her, I don’t think so as Lucy seemed genuinely interested. Lucy and I arrived at the Pagoda before the bikes arrived and sat in the shade underneath a large tree, talking and watching the birds. I spotted a small flycatcher hawking for Damselflies, these birds are so damn fast and aerobatic, I admit I failed miserably trying to get a action photo before Pili and Jon arrived.

We only spent about ten minutes at the Pagoda, admiring its ornate carving of dragons and other mythical creatures of legend. To be honest we’ve seen so many now that it’s all a bit of the same-same.

I decided it was my turn to drive and I led the way back the market square at Van Lan Village, time for lunch and a beer.

Refreshed with our average noodles and cold beer we just sat for twenty minutes. This gave Pili some time to go and purchase a few genuine hand made embroidery pieces (she even had a go herself). We then set off on the next part of our adventure.

About 2km from Tam Coc is the ‘Bich Dong’ cave with a temple built inside. This was very popular with the local tourists and coaches were pulling up regularly. We parked our bikes, again for a small fee and started the climb to the cave. Lucy and I were accosted by some Vietnamese tourists asking us for photos with us outside the cave which we again found very amusing. It really is nice to meet friendly people again, it restores my faith in human nature which unfortunately had taken a bit of a beating in recent weeks as you may have realised.

We finally caught up with Jonathan and Pili at the temple deep inside the cave. Jonathan was having a photo session with a local woman. He seemed quite flattered until I told him he had been suckered, the woman then tried to get money out of him for the pictures. I think poor Jonathan was a little embarrassed by being naively taken in. I pointed out that the woman had an old style film camera and had taken at least 20 photos of him posing around the cave and temple. Where was she going to get the pictures developed and is she really going to use up all that film without a definite customer? Of course there isn’t even a film in the camera, she’d have taken payment or at least a deposit and then given him a ticket to collect the pictures later in the day and then disappear to find another sucker!!

Jonathan if you read this I don’t mean you any offence, we’ve been hustled all through our trip and our guard still slips occasionally, you made me laugh a lot during our brief time together and I’m sure looking back to this day will make you smile.

Pili was also accosted by a Vietnamese family for some souvenir photos. The wife of a drunken older guy eagerly encouraged Pili to have a photo with this old lush, of course we thoroughly encouraged it much to Pili’s horror. Pili drew the line when she was asked to pose while sat on the guys lap, I’m going to have to start charging a small fee to all these photo hungry tourists, I have quite a commodity in my senorita!

The next part of the day was my favourite experience so far while in Vietnam. We drove the couple of km to the ‘Mua Cave’ (it had a very poor model of a Tiger in it for some reason) but the main attraction was the views over Tam Coc and the Ngo Dong river where we’d been this morning. On the way there we did get a little lost but eventually found our way through the local villages, along deeply pot holed roads and avoiding a group of aggressive kids who actually threw rocks to Pili and I as we passed them on the side of the road. We stopped off for a few photos at the ornamental lake at the bottom of the hill and then climbed the 470 stone steps to the top of the near vertical mount. (Pili counted the steps) On top was yet another shrine but we were there for the views and we were not disappointed in the slightest (see photos) Poor Lucy was not in any way excited about the climb and sulked a little and just took her time. She did eventually get to the top and I’m sure she was really pleased she did, we certainly were as it’s a magical place and needs to be shared with friends. I almost forgot, at the bottom of the steps there is an exquisitely carved Dragon facing down the last twenty or so steps. All brightly hand painted and guarding the entrance to the cave and the mountain. If I could take anything home from Vietnam it would be this dragon. I can see myself now at the airport “anything to declare sir?” “Weeeeeell I did pick up this small garden ornament for my mom”.

We are all getting a little weary but agreed we had one more place to visit, the ‘Ban Long Pagoda’. Much the same as the others we’ve encountered, very brightly painted with lots of intricatley carved mythical animals from the cultural history of Vietnam. It was also very nice to hear the frog chorus start up as the light was fading across the paddy fields.

It was time to head back, especially as our friends were leaving tonight on a sleeper coach and they needed some time to shower and rest up. (We let them use our room for the showers as they’d checked out at breakfast). Pili and I went out for some supplies while our friends were showering and on our return we quickly freshened up and then ate together in the hotel restaurant and waited for the arrival of our friends’ coach.

It’s a shame that again we had so little time with another great couple we’ve met on the road but that’s travelling and is one of the reasons we love it. On the road you not only have your own amazing adventures but you also share so much with the people you’d never meet back home. Pili and I sincerely hope we get to meet up again with some of the couples we’ve met on our journey, they’ve all made our time on the road all that more special.

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