Ninh Binh, Vietnam
We arrived in Ninh Binh from Hanoi, using a company called Truly Hagiang, booked through 12goasia. They dropped us in the centre of Tam Coc, right by the lake where you can board the river cruise, so we chose to grab a quick banh mi before heading to our accommodation which was a little further out of town. I chose a tofu and peanut butter sandwich, while Fab chose the egg, tomato and mushroom option. We agreed that these were arguably two of the best baguettes we had so far, with some Vietnamese tea and coffee, and hopped into our lift to where we were staying. We chose Greenland because of the free breakfast and bicycle hire - I had read that the main activities in Ninh Binh were the boat trips and cycling amongst the rice paddies, so these seemed like good options to have already included in our accommodation.
We arrived and were welcomed warmly by our host, and shown to our lovely clean room. After settling in, we decided to explore the area before sunset, which is set amongst many huge rock formations (they seem random, and are quite spectacular to see against the dropping sun!) We were lucky to see a sunset on this evening, as our next two days were pretty grey and overcast.
Day 1
After a yummy breakfast, we headed off through the paddy fields on our bicycles. We decided to head towards the ancient capital, Hoa Lu, around 5.5km from our homestay.
Hoa Lu was beautiful; over 1000 years old, the pagodas have been restored to full beauty. We spent around 2 hours exploring the tranquility of the area, full of koi carp ponds and various shrines around every corner. I feel that a lot is lost in translation in Ninh Binh - a lot less English is spoken and signs are often only in Vietnamese. Nevertheless, we were so happy to see such a quiet beautiful expanse of history.
We moved onwards to Bai Dinh Pagoda, a further 11.5km away; this has free entry, but is recommendable to pay 30,000d each, each way, to use their electric car transport service. This saves you walking another 4km to the foot of the pagoda site. Bai Dinh is vast - home to its own hotel complex, restaurant and around 21 points of interest to explore. The map we were given from our homestay suggested 3 hours would be enough to spend here, however with the fading light at 4pm, we only spent around 90 minutes exploring the main points of interest. I partially recommend going early and spending the initial part of your day there, but because we just chanced up on it, I’m still glad we got to see the huge scale of their tradition and religious history here in Ninh Binh.
Day 2
After a long day of cycling yesterday, we decided to have dinner at our homestay - which, to be honest, I would take or leave - a good feed for breakfast and head on out again to see more of the area of Ninh Binh.
Alex, our host, recommended that we take the Trang An boat tour, lasting around 3 hours, as it is one of the most popular activities in the town and the main reason that people come to visit. Taking his advice, we cycled around 10 minutes to the entrance, where we paid 250,000d each to board a boat with another couple and explore the amazing UNESCO heritage site. We opted for route 1, which involved 9 different caves (some up to 1km long!) and 3 temples to disembark your little boat and explore around.
Although this activity seems so touristy at first (I can imagine in the height of summer the queues and numbers of tourists are insane) the crowds soon break up, and at times we were the only boat in sight, which was pretty special. When researching Ninh Binh, I read that the King King films had been made here, and it’s easy to see why; the raw, rugged and untouched area is breathtaking, and I’ve never seen anything quite like the amazing landscape with complete flat paddies and awesome rock formations appearing from almost nowhere.
After grabbing some noodles at Nha Hang Kien Trang - our favourite spot in Ninh Binh (their drinks and food menus are mixed up, their prices are completely wrong and some food items are a little lost in translation - but honestly, order their fried noodles. You can thank me later!) we headed back to our homestay, who had let us borrow their bicycles again and leave our baggage for the day, did some work on their rapid wifi, and headed into Tam Coc where our overnight bus journey to Hue was waiting.
I booked this through Baolao which was recommended by Lonely Planet, and hosted by the Queen Cafe Bus sleeper. I was particularly nervous about how the journey would unfold, as it seems that every time I step aboard a long-term vehicle I instantly need a wee! I’m happy to say, however, that I slept like a baby after watching a few Netflix downloads, and arrived safely in Hue after a smooth 10-hour journey.
