Blogs from Ninh Binh, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 4

Rano v pohode vstavam,balim sa,berem skuter a ide sa.Recepcny mi ukazuje ako sa to startuje,neni to vobec zlozite aj jazda je v pohodicke.Premavka neni husta.Idem tankovat,prichadzam na pumpu,hned ide ku mne pumparka a tankuje mi,kazem jej doplna,cca 5l za 105kD.Nejde mi to nastartovat,klucik sa mi neda potocit,ochotna pumparka mi to startuje.Uz mi nic nebrani k tomu aby som mohol vyrazit. Len tak jazdim,chcem sa dostat do Tam Com,ale nedari sa.Zistujem,ze so minul odbocku o 5km,vraciam sa spat ale i tak to nenachadzam,idem po polnej cesticke,parada,vsade same ryzove policka a pracujuci ludia,po ceste minam jednu dedinku,su tu samy kamenari,vyrabaju rozne veci z kamena,od soch az po altanky.Nadhera.Dostavam sa zazrakom do Tam Com,ale neviem kde poziciavaju lodky,vidim uz len konecny pristav,tak nic ,vozim sa dalej po okoli,idem popri rieke,ktoru lemuju vysoke sklay ako v yangshuo v ci... read more

I got picked up at 10.30 today for the Tam Coc tour. It's just north of Ninh Binh. Otherwise known as Halong Bay on land. Firstly we arived in Hao Lu, the ancient capital and the remaining two temples òf the kings. We then got a small river boat to take us along the river, which has a really scenic landscape surrounded by rice paddies and limnestone karsts. We went through the 3 caves, hang ca, hai and ba, the largest being 125m long and the cave ceiling about 2m above water. It took about 1.5hr to do the return trip and it was amazing! We were rowed by a vietnamese lady who used her feet to row. She made it look so easy! Before this we had a buffet lunch to get to know everyone ... read more

Day 17 Giao Xuan Woke up today at 6am. It was all quiet, except for the continual down pur of rain, and I could hear Mrs Tsin working away outside. The poor woman never stops! I got up and sat outside, the woman is a work machine. We have a shower rota, which I am at the end of, so I am just sat watching the world, (Mrs Tsin) go by until my turn! To day we are going on a country walk because the school is closed, I can't see it happening to be honest! This morning I was moved into a room on my own, due to my age! I am sure everyone else will be very happy due to my snoring!! Which I fully understand, but it does make me feel solitary at ... read more

Day 13 Up late last night doing blog, but that's ok as I was clean and comfy! We had thick stodgy looking pancakes for breakfast. I was considering passing on it, but considered anything was better than nothing! So I tucked in. To my utter delight, I found pineapple in it! This made me very happy, the stodginess w explained by the total lack of egg! Yes, they do not use egg or flour in the pancakes. Your guess is as good as mine as to what they do use, but this was also good news for Lilley. She has not eaten the pancakes due to not eating eggs; she can now have them with the rest of us. Today was a bit of a 'bus' day. We are going to a church and a temple. ... read more

Day 11 We had a good nights sleep lat night. This morning for breakfast we got pancakes......yayyyy....we all thought.....but then that was it, just pancakes, dry, with nothing to go on them. Lilley did manage to get us some sugar which really improved the situation. Although I was still hungry from last night, the single pancake really didn't suffice! We set off on the 3k trek through the forest/jungle to see the 700 yr old tree. It is a good job that no one relies on Kevin, as we noticed that Renske had been left behind, he didn't! What a disappointment, the tree isn't even standing! The walk was pleasant though. We all took plenty of pictures of bugs, spiders, caterpillars and butterflies. None of us saw much of Kevin, he was having a party on ... read more