Blogs from Ninh Binh, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 3

And I'm back! So it's been what, three weeks since I left you hanging after my Yunnanese escapade. As I mentioned, I haven't gone far. It was just another trip back down to the Hekou-Lao Cai border with Vietnam (no 3h traffic jam this time though, thank goodness), followed by another 9h bus ride to the storied northern capital of Hanoi. And I've been here ever since. Why the long stay, you might ask. Well after the few days I'd spent here last year (in addition to the couple of times I'd visited even before, in the past), I developed the inkling to plan for a slightly more extended stay, just to explore the city in greater depth, like I've done for Bangkok in Thailand. So here I am. But this entry isn't about Hanoi. To ... read more

Today was a good day. I had my own personal motorbike driver to take me round the main sights of Nimh Binh. First being Tam Coc. This is the Ngo Dong River that runs through mountains and natural caves. It was cheaper for 2 people to go in a rowing boat and luckily there was a guy from New Zealand waiting at the paying booth. I didn't mind sharing. So we got in our rowing boat where a Vietnamese man rowed us down the river with his feet. It was so impressive. The sun was out and my surroundings were pretty amazing. We got to a point where there were many ladies in boats selling drinks and snacks. I was warned about this. They asked us to buy a drink for our rowing guy so I ... read more

And so there stood the American, upon the soil that the Americans had so tragically enriched with ash, ‘what are you to make of your legacy here?’ I pondered to myself. And where even was the rubble, had this war been a thousand years ago - where were all the people, the victims, the sad and weary peasants starved and bombed out? Well the wounds are still here, so deeply ingrained that many visitors can walk the streets with barely a notice given, but Vietnam has changed and if you aren’t one for facts, figures and the like, then allow me to bear witness personally on your behalf. Ninh Binh is a reflection of your average American city, albeit a small one whose residence are slightly younger and more commercially oriented, mind you - but if ... read more

I went to Ninh Binh with Linda, whom I met in a homestay in Sapa. We found a hotelroom, where we bargained a lot for the price, but it was not worth it, not even at the price, we ended up paying, since it wasn't a nice room, the toilet door couldn't close, it smelled and the lady, wholived there, kept touching my face and shoulders, which was really weird. The next day we rented some bicycles and went to the "Tam Coc cave", where we enjoyed the amazing scenery from a boat. the landscape was quite similar to "Ha Long Bay", except fr the fact that there down here weould be rice on each side of the boat during the rainy season. But even without the green rice on both sides it was a beautiful ... read more

After a brilliant few days in Cat Ba, we decided to carry on south to the small town of Ninh Binh, a journey which was supposed to take just 4 hours. Of course it took longer; we were on a hot, cramped bus loaded with big boxes so there was no room, and it kept stopping every few minutes to get locals on; at one point it did a detour to pick up some extra tyres were loaded onto the roof, and we finally got to Ninh Binh over 6 hours later Ninh Binh is not a pretty town, but most people come here to explore its scenic surroundings rather than stay in the town, which is what we intended to do as well, so after we found a hotel for the night we sorted out ... read more