Breakfast of banana and honey pancakes, vegetarian pho, a mango smoothie and a banana smoothie was included at the homestay. It was nice to be able to roll out of bed into the courtyard for a fresh cooked breakfast and the food was tasty!
Today was our only full day in Ninh Binh so the agenda was packed. After breakfast we hired a scooter (for 130,000 VND – $9) and left to explore the sites of Ninh Binh. Just being on the scooter as we weaved through the scenic limestone formations was epic!
The first stop on the agenda was the Hang Mua Temple. We had been skeptical about visiting this but the owner of the homestay ensured us it was not to be missed. Luckily, she was right! The temple itself was in caves and nothing particularly exciting or different from what we had seen previously. However, there was a climb of 500 steps above the temple to the top of a cliff which provided stunning views over the surrounding landscapes. This included a bird’s eye view over the rice patties that the Tam Coc boat ride passes through, which made us feel satisfied with our decision to skip that one! It cost 100,000 VND ($7) to get into the temple and 10,000 ($0.70) for parking. It was interesting driving into the temple as there were multiple parking scammers lining the street towards the entrance, trying to get visitors to park in their areas and pay excessive fees. One guy was particularly aggressive, trying to stand in front of the bike as we approached the temple entrance.
From the cave we had a drive through the town of Tam Coc to the Bich Dong Pagoda. The drive was scenic with rice patties and more limestone formations lining the road. It was also entertaining as Kyle and a bus continually overtook each other.
The Bich Dong Pagoda didn’t have an entry fee, but did have a parking fee. To avoid this we parked at a restaurant down the road for a Coke and mango juice. It was nice to cool down after climbing all of those stairs in such high humidity! Again the Pagoda itself was in a cave and didn’t really have anything to offer additional to what we’d already seen at others. One thing that was weird was the numerous disused toilet stalls around the back of the site. We spotted three… Following the path that took us past these led us over the cliff past the Pagoda and down to a lake. It was a peaceful area as there were hardly any tourists here compared to at the Pagoda. However, there was a local standing by a hut staring everyone down so we didn’t hang around for long. We were both starving by this point so it was time to get lunch!
For lunch we went to the same place as the day before. It was good and cheap, why risk average food elsewhere?! This time we had the tofu and rice, sweet and sour pork and fried garlic and mushroom morning glory, washed down with a mango smoothie and an orange juice. Again, it was bloody tasty!
It was then time for the highlight of the day, the Trang An boat ride. For 200,000 VND ($14) each, we climbed aboard a boat with one other couple and the rower, and journeyed out to explore ‘route 2’. The boat ride lasted 2.5 hours, taking us around the limestone formations, through 4 caves, to 3 temples and finally to a filming location from King Kong Skull Island. The scenery was jaw dropping, and the rowing pace was slow which made for a relaxing trip. For Kyle it was too slow, so he had an extra paddle and was going hard for most of the trip to help the rower.
Following the boat ride we were back on the scooter to the homestay, making it just before sunset. After a big day we were quick to crack open some Bia Ha Nois to savour while we waited for dinner. This time the spread included tomato soup with the infamous local dish overburnt rice (similar to rice crispies), fried tofu, regular rice, a potato and tomato dish, fried cabbage, carrot and mung beans, and cucumber and pineapple salad. Again we somehow polished it all off apart from the rice….
Dinner time was also when we found ourselves trying to organise a bus to leave Ninh Binh for the next day. Being a Vietnamese holiday it was difficult and expensive to get a spot on a bus. In the end we got two seats, for 550,000 VND ($38) each, to Quang Tri, which is around 1.5 hours drive from Hue. The homestay host Jasmine was super kind and helped us sort it all out, without taking a commission. What a legend!
After a much needed sleep in (for me while Kyle watched basketball) we had banana pancakes and green tea for our final breakfast in Ninh Binh.
Our bus wasn’t until 8.30 pm and we still had a lot of gas in the scooter from the previous day, so after checking out from the homestay we hit the road to explore some more. However, first on the agenda was to make the most of the quiet roads by having my first scooter driving lesson. Turns out it’s super easy and I don’t know why I’ve been so afraid to get on a scooter in the past …
We decided to follow our favourite scenic road again before heading into Ninh Binh town for a nosey. The town was big and the mainstreet busy, however, the side streets were completely deserted which was a bit eerie. It wasn’t set up for tourists compared to the neighbouring Tam Coc, so after a supermarket and ATM stop we found ourselves back on the scooter heading towards our favourite lunch spot.
We decided ‘why stray from what we know is good?!’, so had our second round of fried tofu and rice and fried garlic and mushroom morning glory. Today we also discovered fruit salad and yoghurt on the menu. It was bloody good and we were gutted we didn’t know about it for the previous two days!
After lunch the sky was dark grey and it was already 3 pm so we thought we’d better head back to the homestay. We almost made it in time, but not quite, getting caught on the scooter for the first five minutes of the thunderstorm. Poor Kyle was getting absolutely hammered as the driver. It was windy as well so the drops hit hard. By the time we arrived at the homestay he was soaked! They were really helpful and gave us towels and access to a room to have a shower.
Dinner this night was a bit smaller than the previous evenings (phew) but just as good. We had spring rolls, fried vegetable noodles and cabbage and mung bean vermicelli.
After dinner it was into the taxi to head to the bus station. Another night spent on a sleeping bus… Yay….
Kyley on Tour 