NINH BINH BLUES

---

We picked a good day to leave Cat Ba. The sun that we had enjoyed over the last few days had disappeared, the temperature had plummeted and the rain was constant. I couldn’t imagine being on a boat in this weather.

Rather than go back to Hanoi we chose to travel south on the bus to Nimh Bimh, but first we had another boat ride. This boat was far more basic than the one we arrived on. There was a piece of tarp for a roof and small plastic stools to sit on. We were very pleased to have our waterproof jackets with us. Our seats were at the back of the boat next to the mopeds. Not the driest spot but certainly dryer than the area at the front of the boat where all the luggage was kept. No ones bags got a soaking, they were protected by couple of amplifiers. Someone had perched them on top of the bags so they were taking the brunt of the waves - whoever did the packing really didn’t think it through!

Next we had a few hours on a bus. This was a massive test of our nerves. The driver spent most of the time on the wrong side of the road beeping his horn. He was clearly using the I’m bigger than everyone else so they will move out of my way method of driving. This worked fine for him for a while, but became less effective when a petrol tanker was coming towards us. All the travellers and holiday makers on the bus closed their eyes and hoped for the best. When we pulled into our lane we were so close to the tanker that I’m sure I could see the whites of the drivers eyes. All the locals didn’t even bat an eyelid - this was the normal every day driving for them.

On our bus there were two French ladies who had also been on the boat trip. They had already arranged their accommodation and someone from the hotel to collect them from the bus stop. Looking outside at the pouring rain as we approached Nimh Bimh we decided to ask the owner if he had room for us too. It really was the most miserable weather and with the grey sky for miles and miles we didn’t hold much hope for it stopping any time soon. We passed nothing of any interest on the way through town - unless you count the rather amusingly named shops such as Long Phuc and Phuc Vue.

We eventually arrived at the bus station and met Mr Xuan the hotel owner. He had plenty of room for us, but unfortunately he would not be able to offer us transport to the hotel. He couldn’t even offer transport to the French ladies because he had turned up on a moped! He said that it wouldn’t take long to walk, so we all strapped on our back packs and went for a walk in the puddles. Getting to the hotel was an experience that none of us will ever forget. Mr Xuan walked his moped through all the traffic and unless we wanted to get lost we had no other choice but follow him into the craziness. At one point we had to get from one side of the road to the other by walking through the centre of a busy crossroads. Traffic of all sizes from bicycles to artic lorries came at us from four directions. All we could do was walk very slowly and hope that it went round us. There were traffic lights at the cross roads, but they were purely for decoration purposes, no one actually paid any attention to them.

We arrived at the hotel dripping wet, but at least we were all in on piece. Mr Xuan showed us a variety of rooms in both of his hotels. It was a little strange because no matter how big the room was or how many beds there were, all the rooms were $15 in his new hotel and $12 in his older hotel just down the road. We went for the cheaper room. It was a little old fashioned, but then again so was the newer hotel. This is Vietnam so we cant expect the Ritz - not in our price range anyway. It was clean and tidy that’s all that mattered.

There was no restaurant at our hotel - I don’t think I ever saw a member of staff - so we walked to the new hotel for something to eat. All the reviews in our guide book and on-line said that Mrs Xuan’s cooking was legendary - they were all right. The spicy chicken and pork with fresh spring rolls were the best thing we had eaten since arriving in Vietnam.

After dinner we went for a walk around town. It was cold, wet and quite uninspiring. It didn’t take us long before we understood a lot of the reviews we had read on Nimh Bimh. For a fairly large place there seemed to be little choice of places to eat or drink. We knew it wasn’t going to be hugely touristy, but we were expecting a little more because there are so many tourist sights close by. There didn’t even seem to be many places for locals either - unless they had all packed up because of the rain. We went back to the hotel to enquire about a sight seeing trip for the following day and booked an overnight bus to Hue.

---