Ninh Binh - Tam Coc

Ninh Binh Sunset

Monday 25th April

We have a few days off, so we decided to book a last minute trip to Ninh Binh. It's supposed to be like Ha Long Bay, only inland.

Foot rowing

Booking the train tickets turned out to be an absolute nightmare, it was Sunday so there was no one around in the Oxalis office to do it for us. First we tried a booking office in town but they wanted to charge us double the price. Surely we can book this online ourselves we thought, so we went to Bamboo cafe and tried, all we could manage was to select our tickets, but the 'buy button' wouldn't work. Next we tried another booking office we'd used them last year and their prices had been reasonable. Yes, they could do it, they said, sit down and wait, so we sat and waited. After twenty minutes we asked what was taking so long, it doesn't take that long to buy tickets, it takes time they said. So we waited another ten minutes, now getting frustrated we hassled them some more, eventually they told us they couldn't do it! The moral of this tale is don't trust the booking offices in Phong Nha, check prices online and if they make you wait too long they probably don't know what they are doing

Tam Coc cave

Now on the verge of giving up, we asked Mike from Easy Tiger bar. He let us use his computer, but I was unable to pay with my Vietnamese debit card, then I tried with my British credit card, still no joy so Mike rang up Phong Nha Farmstay who booked the tickets for us. We collected them at 9:30pm, a long day.

Scarecrow or very thin Vietnamese person

We caught the train from Dong Hoi to Ninh Binh, and from there a taxi to Tam Coc, a long day with over eight hours of travelling.

Going in

We arrived to a pleasant evening, our hotel was a little bit out of town but fortunately they had bikes and I had brought a light. It's dark out here!

Tam Coc river

Tuesday 26th

More scenery

A lovely hot and sunny day.

Which boat to chose, we chose the green one

One of the main attractions of the area is the boat rides through the rice fields, between the limestone tower karst, so our first activity of the day was this.

Wild horses couldn't drag me away from here

We wanted to time it so that we were on the water before the coach parties arrived from Ha Noi, so after an early breakfast we cycled into town, not quite early enough! A large coach party had got there before us.

"Humming Bird"

Despite following a thousand boats, it was a very pleasant ride. Basically, it's no more than two Westerners (or ten Vietnamese) to a small boat which is rowed by a single Vietnamese (usually a lady).

View of Tam Coc river from the top of the hill

Most of the time they row with their feet.

Panorama from the hill

The journey takes about two hours, during which time you pass through three small through caves and along flooded valleys with steep hills to either side.

Another view from the hill

After the third cave the boat turns around, but not before you are hassled by vendors trying to sell you drinks and tat.

Adventure caving at its best

They also try to get you to but a drink for the rower, which is then apparently sold back at half the price.

Mua Cave Sculpture Park

After the boat ride we had plenty of time to spare so we went on a short bike ride to Mua Cave.

Ninh Binh Scenery

This took some finding as it's 2 Km down some back streets with no signs until the last turn off, by which time it's visible anyway.

Bike trail

To get to the cave and the hill you have to walk through a "park", this is a typically Vietnamese affair, plastic horses and golden goats.

Second Tam Coc River

Plus of course a temple and some statues

This looks tight?

The cave itself is not really worth it but there is also a hill to climb, 430 steps, which offers good views of the surrounding hills and the Tam Coc boat ride.

It is tight, duck!

Partway up the hill Ruth spotted a Humming bird type of thing, it moved so fast it was difficult to get a good picture, but below is the best I could manage.

Evening light on the river

Still plenty of time left in the day so we continued our bike ride, travelling along some of the quieter lanes surrounding our Hotel.

Fishing tackle hanging out to dry

At four pm we boarded another boat, nearer to our Hotel, the idea being to hopefully catch the sunset.

Tiny waterways abound

Although we didn't manage this, the waterways traveled were totally different and the early evening light was really nice.

Reflections

This time we passed through two low caves, and hardly saw anyone except at the very beginning and just as we started back.