David –
Our last morning in Hanoi started with a now routine coconut iced coffee – we set off by train, south through the dense city. Families eating breakfast, shop fronts and crowded peak hour traffic rushing past us for the first half the 3 hour journey towards Ninh Binh – a city on the red river delta set against towering limestone, rice paddies, snaking rivers and cave systems.
We had chosen this area over trekking in Sapa for a number of reasons – the first being that many of the treks were now so busy and popular that lots of rubbish, traffic and construction had diminished much of the areas charm, secondly it required an 8hr over night train both ways and many reviews suggested that this was very uncomfortable and tiring.
When we arrived at our accommodation at Wonderland Homestay we quickly felt that we’d made the right decision to come here. Our host greeted us with cinnamon tea, fruits, refreshing cold towels and we checked in early to stunning views overlooking green rice paddies.
A wander into town for lunch – the town of Tam Coc is clearly warming up to the tourism potential of the area but still most shops are mum and dad’s cooking local dishes from in the back of the house, some better than others, with a few questionable 5 star reviews online. A pork sandwich is not a Ba Minh (it was actually just a sandwich, much to our disappointment). Upon our return to our bamboo bungalows we again were welcomed by tea and the recommendation to ride bikes down the little lane towards the temple for sunset.
Upon our return (more tea) we sought advise on where to get dinner – “look for the rotating roast duck, best place in town”. It was obvious when we saw it, lines out into the street and 6 golden ducks spinning on a charcoal grill that we found the right place!
Returning home we were greated not by just tea but also a foot spa (which also came with another tea, this time lime, lemon grass and honey) while our feet soaked in what looked like a tea of another variety – we all slept well and the foot spa’s became a nightly routine.
On day two we hired scooters to get us around to Trang An, the best boat rafting available in Ninh Binh. We arrived early and beat any queues as well as the afternoon heat. The huge limestone outcrops amazed us and we were in awe of the lush jungle clinging to the steep cliffs. It wasn’t long until we started to help the local woman paddle our boat along one of the three routes (we chose #3 because it had the longest tunnel – 1000m from end to end). King Kong Skull Island (terrible film) was shot here, it was easy to imagine a mythical creature living here.
The scooters were a great choice for transport, the wind was a welcome relief from the stifling humidity. The drive around to the ancient capital and pagoda was fun but our bodies were feeling sore after a day in the saddle.
We wound down in the afternoon with a pizza, beers and coconut coffees. The last part of the afternoon was spent by the pool watching the world go by (and drinking tea), playing Cambio and finished with an amazing Indian dinner (Lamb coconut curry) and of course a foot spa!
The start to our final full day in Tam Coc was delayed by rain for most of the morning – a sleep in, coffees and cake passed the time perfectly. By lunch we again used the scooters to explore. We headed south around the national park and explored a 7th century temple overgrown under a cliff.
Further on we ventured into the “bird sanctuary” which lacked any actual birds and was eerily empty for a place with multiple restaurants, hotels and many many gardeners tending to fields, flowers, fruit trees. The park featured a cave but it was only 1.2m high and required a sort of crab walk – we quickly gave up on the cave and the park for the cool wind of the scooter.
Our welcome teas were of course waiting for us back at our accommodation. After a short turn around we headed back out watch the sunset from atop the Mua Caves. We climbed 500 very steep, very sweaty and very busy steps to reach the best view of all of Ninh Binh. The stunning panoramas were well worth it!
The drive home in the dark was quite fun – although there was much less traffic the ride was slow which let us take in the laid back vibe with local families sitting outside enjoying dinners in the warm night.
During the walk we measured our physical exertion in potential Naan bread consumption and so of course we inevitably ended up at the same Indian restaurant and the night before (no regrets). With our final tea, last foot spa and scooter ride over, we packed and made arrangements for a 6am taxi the next morning to start our next adventure in Halong!
Far Away From Home 