By 8.15 am we were back sitting in the hotel lobby waiting for a bus to pick us up after demolishing some mango for breakfast. Thankfully, this time the bus arrived and we were on our way to Ninh Binh.
We arrived in Tam Coc, a town right next to Ninh Binh, at 12.30 pm, ready for some food. A quick look on Trip Advisor informed us that the joint across the road should be primo. We parked up with all our luggage and started the meal by smashing back a couple of mango smoothies (20,000 VND – $1.30 each). For lunch we had the lemon chicken (60,000 VND – $4) and the tofu noodle soup (30,000 VND – $2). Fantastic.
By the time we’d eaten we had managed to kill enough time to reach check-in at the homestay, so we caught a Grab taxi to our new crib. We were staying at Ninh Binh Mountain Views Homestay, which is out in the wops. To get there we had a 30 minute drive through limestone formations providing us with absolutely stunning views.
We stayed in a clean and cosy bungalow at the homestay where many family members were busying themselves around the yard. The homestay had a nice setup, with both indoor and outdoor dining areas and an honesty bar.
After sitting on the bus all morning we were keen to get out and do some exercise, so we dumped our bags and jumped on a couple of bicycles. The homestay was located right next to the huge Bai Dinh Pagoda, the largest religious site in Vietnam, so we smashed through the 2 km bike ride to get to the entrance (which was located on the very far side of the grounds!) to give us time to explore before dark.
A visit to the Pagoda was free, however ,we had to pay 15,000 VND for parking for each bicycle. They try to make more money by encouraging people to take an electric car back to the entrance on the other side, so you can walk one way through the grounds instead of doing a loop (“it’s very far, you can’t walk!” … yeah right). We thought it was all a bit of a joke and after a while walking around in circles due to the probably purposeful lack of signage, we managed to find a walking entrance to the grounds.
The site itself was impressive, with many different buildings scattering the grounds. The newer Pagoda, built with the majority of the rest of the complex in the 2000’s, is the tallest in Asia. We decided not to go up, instead spending our limited daylight hours to wander to the ancient Pagoda. The ancient Pagoda was in a cave, which we walked through until we emerged at the other side. We followed the steps all the way back down only to find ourselves at an overgrown path which appeared to head straight into the jungle. There were also a couple of buildings here which appeared to be inhabited but we couldn’t work out what they are used for.
We made it back to the hotel just before sunset, with enough time for a cold shower before dinner. As we were so far away from town, we opted to have dinner at the homestay, which cost 70,000 VND ($5) each for a vegetarian meal. Much like the boat tour, food just kept coming! It was served only for the two of us and the rounds seemed endless, and included tomato tofu, french fries, garlic fried morning glory, spring onion omelette, spring rolls and rice. Somehow we managed to get through it all (excluding the rice) but we were super full afterwards, although of course there was still enough room for some Bia Ha Nois to round out the day.
For dinner we sat in the courtyard outside. The property is covered in garden and surrounded by bush, so the mossies were out in full force. There were also frogs around which kept me entertained…
Kyley on Tour 