Ninh Binh, Vietnam
On Wednesday (31 January) morning I finally left Hanoi and took the bus to Ninh Binh about 90 km south of Hanoi. Ninh Binh doesn't have as many tourists as the other 3 cities I had been to in Vietnam which was a nice change of pace. This means there are fewer touts harassing you for "motorbike ride", "sir, room", etc. I checked into a dorm room at the Queen Mini Hotel which was nice enough for $3/night. After lunch I rented a motorbike and rode out to the city of Phat Diem and the Phat Diem cathedral. It was a pleasant if slightly busier than I was expecting 30-km ride. The cathedral complex was not very busy and I didn't see any other westeners there. I spent about 30 minutes walking around before driving back. Back in Ninh Binh I took a stroll through the local market and then went back to the guesthouse for the rest of the evening. The food at the guesthouse was so good and cheap I ended up eating all 5 of my meals there. This was also due partly to the fact that there are very few tourist-friendly restaurants in Ninh Binh.
Thursday (1 February) morning I walked the 100 feet down the road from the guesthouse to the train station to try to book a ticket leaving Ninh Binh that evening for Hoi An. They told me to come back one hour later for some reason but I didn't feel like waiting around so I again rented a motorbike for the day and rode out to Tam Coc, "3 caves". Tam Coc is about 10 km from Ninh Binh and has amazing scenery. The Ngo Dong river flows through flooded rice paddies set between more beautiful karsts. They call it the Halong Bay of the rice paddies and I really wasn't expecting such beautiful scenery. The thing to do in the Ninh Binh area is to hire a row boat and driver to row you down the Ngo Dong river which flows through 3 different caves. It was amazing. Most of the rowers are women and the woman on my boat rowed for 1 hour straight up the river, took a 3 minute break after the last cave and then rowed for 1 hour back down the river. Some of the locals there paddle with their feet which is pretty amazing to watch.
After Tam Coc I went back to the train station but this time they were out to lunch for another 2 hours! I said enough of that monkey business and just booked a bus ticket through my guesthouse. I wasn't even sure there would be a bed on the train to risk waiting until later in the afternoon. Then I took a ride through some back roads around Ninh Binh trying to reach another popular site of the area. But I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up back in town and unable to find my destination. It was a great ride nonetheless. Along the way I came across a little 'park' - called Hang Mua resort - that had stairs up to the top of one of the karsts (~100 meters) which afforded fantastic if hazy views of the area and the Ngo Dong river, which I had boated down earlier. Back in town early that afternoon I walked around Ninh Binh a bit more and was happy to be leaving that night as the town doesn't have much going on.
My bus to Hoi An left around 10 PM that evening. It was a pretty shitty bus ride all together. We stopped way to freaking often and our second stop of the night was a 'dinner break' at 2 AM. I didn't sleep much that night. 14+ hours later I arrived in Hoi An, Vietnam around noon on Friday (2 February). I'm really going to make every effort to try to take the train on the next journey south.
Thursday (1 February) morning I walked the 100 feet down the road from the guesthouse to the train station to try to book a ticket leaving Ninh Binh that evening for Hoi An. They told me to come back one hour later for some reason but I didn't feel like waiting around so I again rented a motorbike for the day and rode out to Tam Coc, "3 caves". Tam Coc is about 10 km from Ninh Binh and has amazing scenery. The Ngo Dong river flows through flooded rice paddies set between more beautiful karsts. They call it the Halong Bay of the rice paddies and I really wasn't expecting such beautiful scenery. The thing to do in the Ninh Binh area is to hire a row boat and driver to row you down the Ngo Dong river which flows through 3 different caves. It was amazing. Most of the rowers are women and the woman on my boat rowed for 1 hour straight up the river, took a 3 minute break after the last cave and then rowed for 1 hour back down the river. Some of the locals there paddle with their feet which is pretty amazing to watch.
After Tam Coc I went back to the train station but this time they were out to lunch for another 2 hours! I said enough of that monkey business and just booked a bus ticket through my guesthouse. I wasn't even sure there would be a bed on the train to risk waiting until later in the afternoon. Then I took a ride through some back roads around Ninh Binh trying to reach another popular site of the area. But I took a wrong turn somewhere and ended up back in town and unable to find my destination. It was a great ride nonetheless. Along the way I came across a little 'park' - called Hang Mua resort - that had stairs up to the top of one of the karsts (~100 meters) which afforded fantastic if hazy views of the area and the Ngo Dong river, which I had boated down earlier. Back in town early that afternoon I walked around Ninh Binh a bit more and was happy to be leaving that night as the town doesn't have much going on.
My bus to Hoi An left around 10 PM that evening. It was a pretty shitty bus ride all together. We stopped way to freaking often and our second stop of the night was a 'dinner break' at 2 AM. I didn't sleep much that night. 14+ hours later I arrived in Hoi An, Vietnam around noon on Friday (2 February). I'm really going to make every effort to try to take the train on the next journey south.
posted by Dustin at 9:01 PM
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