Ninh Binh by bike n boat

The group of twelve diminished to 6 after Hanoi, with Abbie, Nadine and Gee joining our crew. Not forgetting Elliot of course. So anyway, after acquiring our open bus pass we took a stop at Ninh Binh to see Tam Quoc. Tam Quoc is a rural area with a river running underneath the mountains. The gap that the boats go through is really slim and was defiantely low enough for us to have banged our heads at times. The journey cost us 60,000 Dong, which is just under 2 quid. Bargain. The rowers of the boats were professionals to say the least. They could even row with their feet which was very impressive to watch. I dont think I could have rowed the journey once without being worn out, these people (women aswell) were completing this 3km return journey 3 or 4 times a day. Hats off to the boaters of Tam Quoc for sure. The trip was lovely, you pass through simialr scenery to that of the Yunnan province in China. Only downer is, that Vietnam has far far more tourists than China. There were whiteys everywhere!




To get to Tam Quoc we hired motorbikes, me and Maj using manuals (they were cheaper) with a lady each and Elliot and Gee using automatics. We thought it would be good to teach the girls how to ride the manual bikes, and they did great. Until that is, Nadine thought she was a pro before her time and revved the bike before Maj was ready, causing him to hang on to the rear of the bike for his life, screaming like a little girl and trying desperately to reach for the handlebars. Any noobie to motorbikes (myself included) will realise that taking your hand off the revs is the best way to stop, instead of just breaking. Nadine cut her foot in the process but Maj was O.k (thats all that matters).




We did see two funny scenes in Ninh Binh, both involving animals being transported by motorbike. The first was about 50 geese all tied in a bundle to the back of one, with their little heads peeking out in all directions and they were quacking away. And the second was three huge pigs laid upside down on their backs on this cart being pulled by a bike, they were squeling away like crazy too. How funny would it be to see either of them pass you on Carlisle Street.




We also climbed up to a temple near Tam Quoc which went through caves and was pretty difficult to climb because of the sharpness of the rocks. You could also continue the climb to the top of the craggy hill for great views of the area. I'm sure I don't even need to tell you that we went up there. But yeah, we did. Me and Elliot had a good jump and climb about to release some energy. All in all it was another great day.

Ninh Binh Photo Link:


http://www3.snapfish.com/snapfish/thumbnailshare/AlbumID=4070259011/a=2264773011_2264773011/otsc=SHR/otsi=SALBlink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/