Blogs from Ninh Binh, Red River Delta, Vietnam, Asia - page 8

To Vietnam we go! Day 12, the 11 October 2009 is for me an historic day. I’m 29 years old and I am lucky enough to have been to all 7 continents and today I was going to visit my 50 country. 50 countries by the age of 30. Naturally crossing over the border from Laos to Vietnam I took a photo to mark this momentous occasion. My dream was always to see 50 countries by the age of 30. Other people have dreams of becoming a millionaire by the age of 30. Luckily I was able to become both, without even trying for the latter. Exchanging $150 dollars at the boarder I become an instant multi millionaire, as i was the owner of 2.2million Dong, yes you read right 2,200,000 !! We spent all day ... read more

A typhoon was bearing down on the north coast of Vietnam but was hanging in the China Sea, gaining strength. It was the break we needed for a quick day trip to two sites..one was called Hoa Lu, a small temple complex with Buddhist backgrounds and still in use as a worship centre. The age of complex somehow escaped my ears. The drive there was in an absolutely packed minibus with an air-conditioning system that must have been turned off to add to the already diminished horsepower of the vehicle. This did not keep the driver from forcing his way out to pass and moving all of the oncoming traffic onto the left shoulder of the road...aw..what the heck, they were ' mostly ' motorbikes anyhow. After leaving the highway ( not in the literal sense ... read more

We arrived back in Ninh Binh on Friday for some some free time over the weekend. On Friday night me and Amy just chilled out because we were still exhaused from our trek and Amy had the beginnings of a cold. On Saturday morning Amy was still feeling a bit ropey so I joined the rest of the group and set out for the day's activities while Amy tried to sleep off her bug in the room. We had heard about some hot springs near Ninh Binh that sounded cool so Giang had organised a minibus to pick us up from the hotel at 10am and drive us to a jetty where we would catch a boat downriver to the village where the springs were. Quite a few people were hungover from the previous night's festivities ... read more

Day 36 Tuesday June 9, 2009 Happy 21st Birthday to Kali!!!! Began our 24 hour journey to Hoi An, Vietnam by taking a hydrofoil (130,000 VND) to Hai Phong and took a 3 hour bus trip to Ninh Binh for 25,000 VND ($1.43). I chatted with the local ladies at the bus station and even though they didn't speak hardly any English I managed to have a whole conversation with them regarding marriage and children=) The bus ride was hot and dusty but wasn't as bad as previous bus rides. We arrrived at the Ninh Binh bus station and noticed the drink and food vendors were more aggressive here than most places screaming hello at the top of their lungs and waving at us (that makes me want to buy something). So Cam and I put ... read more

But first…an evening in Ninh Binh That night in Ninh Binh the Dutch girls and I went out for some dinner. We struggled to find any restaurants and the Lonely Planet didn’t have any listed, although it did say that the local specialty was goat. Anyway, we stopped off in a street at a “café” but it didn’t serve any food, just nacks, beer and hot beverages. We were ostensibly looking for “bia hoi” or “fresh beer,” the cheapest beer on the planet, but they didn’t have it. We ended up getting served with a weird concoction of fruit salad, yoghurt and nuts and a whole bunch of other stuff in a glass which we had to blend ourselves. It was edible but looked strange and unappetizing. Then the local proprietor took a seat next to ... read more