We arrived in Ninh Binh late so headed straight out for something to eat. Our homestay was actually in a place called Tam Coc which is a small town just outside of Ninh Binh. The homestay was quiet but just what we needed after the busy and crazy Cat Ba.
Our first meal in Tam Coc was one of the best we have had since being away. We found a restaurant selling duck (sorry if you’re a vegetarian and reading this) so we thought as a change we will try this and wow it was amazing! (We even ended up going back the second night!)
We actually only had 1 full day in Ninh Binh as we spent the following day on a train. We woke up early, had breakfast and rented a motorbike from our homestay. We started the day by exploring the area, we drove to a couple of different parts of Ninh Binh (which were really beautiful) and then headed for the boat tour.
The boat tours in Ninh Binh are famous because of their amazing caves. We drove out of town towards the boat tour which took around 25 minutes. Once we got there we had lunch and then headed for the entrance of the tour. Now I’m not quite sure what I expected of the boat tour (apart from knowing I was going to see beautiful caves) but I don’t think it was this… The 3 hour tour (yes 3 hour) was on a tiny little rowing boar with 1 lady paddling with 2 awes, 3 big men and me. As soon as the lady saw the 3 grown men she immediately handed them each an awe and got them to paddle for the 3 hours too! (Georges face was not very pleased) We visited 9 different caves, saw 3 temples and visited where King Kong was filmed. Rowing through the caves on the tiny boat (whilst nearly bumping our heads) was quite amazing and neither of us had seen caves like this before so we were fascinated.
After the boat tour we headed towards the view point of Ninh Binh. We climbed 500 steps to reach the view point and unfortunately it was pretty cloudy and extremely busy at the top so it was a little disappointing. But if you are ever visiting you should head up in the morning for the sunrise on a clear day as it’s meant to be beautiful! The most entertaining part of visiting the view point was definitely seeing a man and women getting married at the top. The lady was literally walking up 500 steps in her white wedding dress, in 30 degrees heat and 100% humidity! Definitely not something I would be doing on my wedding day!!!
That evening we headed back to our favourite restaurant, packed up our bags and had an early night ready for the long train journey the following day. Ninh Binh was nice and relaxing compared to Cat Ba and it was nice to escape the busy city life for a couple of days. Next stop … Phong Nha!!
Adventure Awaits... 