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"Lovely Boy"
"Hey Lofty, is that green grass whispering"? Bye Bye Cat Ba and hello to yet another journey, this time heading to North Central Vietnam to Ninh Binh Province for what is supposed to be a very scenic part of Vietnam. Most of the other travellers that we'd met so far had no intention of going to NB nor had they heard of it (in most cases). From what we'd read it was supposed to be pretty spectacular so we set off in the hope that we'd find something that resembled the Vietnam that we'd imagined before coming here.
The journey took 6 hours and involved a local bus ride to a ferry point somewhere on Cat Ba? a local ferry to the massive port of Hai Phong, a minibus ride to the main Bus Station and finally a local bus to Ninh Binh City. Once again we were the only foreigners for most of the journey, at Hai Phong the locals waiting to board our bus discovered that we were English and proceeded to call Barry "A Hooligan" which they all thought was extremely funny!! We were then joined by two other foreigeners (girls) who jumped on the bus for the final leg of the trip. When
Tam Coc - Halong on the Paddies
The limestone karsts provide a stunning backdrop to our serene river trip we arrived in NB we decided to avoid the touts - of which there were plenty - and walk into town to find a decent place to stay. After walking around for about a distance of 1km in the blistering heat we found an oasis in the Than Thuy Hotel which at $7 was a bargain. The staff at the hotel were lovely and the Hotel itself was immaculate with good sized rooms, the receptionist was a young lad called Ha who doubled as the chef.....his food was excellent and cheap!!
We had a bit of a look around the town and settled by the river for an hour or so with a glass of freshly squeezed sugar cane juice while watching the barber at work on the pavement beside us. The people in NB city were so pleased to see foreigners and thought it hilarious that Barry bought and wore a Pith Helmet (just like Uncle Ho) around their city. Actually I now affectionately call him "LOFTY" from "IT AINT HALF HOT MUM"!!! Everywhere we went the kids shouted "Tay Oi" after us which means "Westerner". Like the rest of the country the people of NB are very patriotic
Fruit seller Ngo Dong River
Do you think she's "peddling" fruit? and the National Flag is flown everywhere, we were surprised at just how many flags there were lining the streets.
Day 2 we decided to hire a motorbike and get out and about in the coutryside while visiting some of the local attractions, armed with a hand drawn map from Ha we set off to Tam Coc - described in the travel guides as "Ha Long Bay on the rice paddies" The backroads were spectacular, again the local people were amazed to see two westerners riding around on a bike and we heard shouts of "Tay Oi" everywhere we went followed by smiles and waves. The scenery was beautiful, we passed lush rice paddies and field upon field of brilliant green crops that were being harvested by local ladies in conical hats.
Tam Coc means "Three Caves", each one can be accesed via the Ngo Dong River - we hired a small tin rowing boat with crew!! The crew being a Father and Daughter duo from the nearby village, they make their living navigating the river with their tiny boat packed with tourists and also by selling Embroidery and post cards. It rained during our stint on the river but
Tam Coc locals
As Granny would say..."If you can't fight, wear a big hat" luckily the Father had a spare raincoat for Barry and I managed to stay dry under an umbrella borrowed from the Daughter. The river trip lasted 2 hrs and was really relaxing, once again the scenery was amazing and so far on our travels this area has been the one that stands out as the "real" Vietnam for us.
Next on the agenda today was Hoa Lu which is 12km west of NB. Hoa Lu was the capital of Vietnam during the Din and Le Dynasties (968-1009). The ancient citadel of Hoa Lu once housed the Royal Family, unfortunately most of it has been destroyed but two temples remain. On the hillside above the temples lies the tomb of Dinh Tien Hoang - a steep climb but worth it for the views of the countryside and the nearby Yen Ngua Mountains. After a long hard day (and a very sore bum from the bike) we returned to the hotel for some more of Ha's cooking and an early night.
We must be gluttons for punishment (of the rear), we hired the bike again and set off on the 45km ride to Cuc Phuong National Park - home to the Endangered
Beautiful Scenery around Tam Coc
We came upon fields and fields of this stuff Primate Rescue Centre. On the way to the park school was out and we found ourselves surrounded by kids on bicycles eager to give us directions to our destination, which was just as well because the Vietnamese Tourist Board don't seem to do signs in this part of the country!! After spending a couple of hours at the Park and visiting the Primate Centre we thought it was time to head off again along the dusty roads before dusk. The sun was beginning to set so obviously the temperature had dropped and once again the locals came out to harvest the crops in their droves making excellent photo opportunities for us, the crops once harvested are laid out to dry by the roadside causing a few driving hazards on stretches of narrow country lanes - nothing that Barry couldn't handle and we made it back to Ninh Binh safe and sound.
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jeanniewigs
non-member comment
Looks like you saved the best until last, what a beautiful place! Loved the headgear Lofty!! The one you had on Bev looks like a lampshade iv'e just thrown away!! Can't wait to see pics of Cambodia, hope they are as good as the Vietnam ones. Take care. xxxxxxxx