We checked out from our hostel early morning and headed for Ninh Binh, where lies the infamous Tam Coc Grottoes, a.k.a Halong Bay on land. Flushed with a dire need of adventure, we decided to expore Ninh Binh on our own, instead of joining a US$25 tour to Ninh Binh. (Actually we only wanted to see the grottoes, and skip the Hoa Lu Citadel and the cycling thing, which obviously Jessica was too lazy to partake)
The trip from Hanoi's bus station to Ninh Binh in a shabby bus (only 60000 dongs!) took around 90 minutes, mainly because the speed limit in Vietnam is only 80 km/hr and the condition of the road (full of loopholes). There had been a few instances when Jess and i just had to hold our breath and pray for our lives when the driver starts insanely overtaking the trucks and trailers ahead. And there were a few very close shaves too!
Having arrived at Ninh Binh, we made our way to a small hotel (can't remember what the name is) which is located fairly near to the train station, to rent a motorbike. Honestly, it had been quite some time when I had actually driven a motorbike, and I have got to say, biking in the streets of Ninh Binh was certainly challenging, albeit the traffic wasn't as heavy as Hanoi / Saigon. First of all, unlike Malaysia, Vietnamese use right side of the lane instead of the left; secondly, they honk for everything! Watch out! Coming through! I'm stopping! Make way! Turning left! Hello there! Goodbye! Don't stop! Stop! And finally, I was carrying a heavy load who confessed to me she has never sat on a motorbike before! *facepalmed*
After reassuring Jessica that she will not die on the road in my hands, she eventually agreed to sit on the bike. What other options did she have? It's either she sits on the bike, or she walks there alone, 10 kilometers towards the grottoes. Nonetheless, it was drizzling that day with a temperature of 14-16 celcius. And there we were, two crazy fools biking in the rain, shivering and freezing, making our way towards the grottoes on a Honda C-70! I swear that it was so cold that I could feel my face freeze and my jaw rattling; I was so scared that my nose and ears would end up having frostbites!
We eventually found our way to the Tam Coc grottoes, having passed by several foreign tourists who decided to cycle 10 kilos in the awful cold rain! I was glad we did not cycle in the first place, or else we would have been dead with hypothermia. We found a sweet spot to park our bike (charged US$1 but at least I don't have to worry the bike will get stolen) and marched towards the ticket office. Well, it seemed that foreigners pay ten times the price of what locals pay, but still it was worth the price.
We hopped onto a small boat that was paddled by an old Vietnamese gentleman, of which I was relieved initially, as I had read about pestering old Vietnamese women who would bug you to buy their stuffs at a ripped-off price! Our old boatmen paddled his way with his feet (Yes, everyone paddles the boat with his or her feet!) and to my dismay, he stopped halfway and some old Vietnamese lady boarded on the boat.
The scenery was fabulous as the limestone mountains appeared to be beautifully carved, surrounded by greenish paddy fields (not really that green as it was still early spring and they had just begun planting paddy), and you could see local Vietnamese people farming, doing laundry by the riverside, or just sitting in the cold looking at us watching them! And there were already so many of us (even though we arrived early and beat the tourists tours nonetheless!) just like a troupe of ants making a single file.
As the boat slowly made its way downstream, we gasped at the marvelous limestone karsts and the picturesque scenery Tam Coc grottoes offered us. The boat slowly drifted into the caves where we could see the bizzare stalactites and stalagmites (can't really beat the ones in Halong Bay but the scenery itself was fantastic). Too bad there were no bats in the cave; I would love to hear Jessica scream. Water buffalos munched and trudge their way in the fields, and all sorts of water fowls hovering above us. We even saw a mountain goat at the distant!
Along the way we persistently said no to peddling boats who offered to take photos for us at a ripped off price or persuading us to buy cold drinks to our boatsmen (don't bother to do so, as the boatsmen will just sell the drinks back to them). We learnt a few useful phrases from our Vietnamese friend back in Hanoi, which somehow was effective in shrugging off those peddlars. If not for the boatsmen who reinforced to them that we were foreign tourists I swear they almost believed we were local Vietnamese too!
I attempted to befriend our boatsmen during our 2 hours journey so as to avoid being ripped off and we made some small conversations, still eventually they pestered us for tips. Nonetheless, we were a bit grateful as those two devillish old folks did not kept us stranded until we bought their stuffs (we saw 2 foreigners being threatened that way on the way back). They were not really tenacious bout their goods but were so persistent on the tipping part that I had to give them US$2 each just to make them go away!
The 2 hours boat ride was fantastic and the weather was kind to us; at least it was not scorching hot! The trip left me wondering whether Halong Bay's limestones would be as awesome as what we saw here. (of course they were more awesome!) We got on our bike and started paving our way for our next few stop.
It was still drizzling though and we continue shivering as we paved our way towards our next few stops via a small path which linked us with the other attraction sites in Ninh Binh. We decided to skip the Hoa Lu Citadel, which our researched told us that it wasn't worth the ticket prices, and the temple in the caves; too many caves for a day! We eventually reach the Trang Ann grottoes but to our dismay it was already swarmed with tourists! (By noon, Ninh Binh will be overrun by tour groups from Hanoi) We decided to call it a day and made our way back to the town and catch the bus back to Hanoi,
Starving and freezing, we replenished ourselves with warmth and food at a nearby restaurant that caters much to foreigners. The food tasted awesome (mainly because we were famished and freezing) and I could hardly raise my chopsticks as my hands were frozen! We caught a 3.00 pm bus back to Hanoi and the journey back was as painstaking as the morning ride and I can feel my psoas muscles cramping intermittently! We were a bit too exhausted to worry bout our lives on the way back and we took turns taking 40 winks as we still had a long day to go.
Having arrived back in Hanoi almost 5pm, we were stranded in the rush hour again. We walked our way to the train station (yes, walk!) only to realize that we had actually walked 6 kilometers! Still the walk was quite rewarding as we manage to catch a glimpse at the insane traffic of Hanoi, with the awful honkings and endless streams of motorbikes zooming here and there. We arrived in the train station without getting us killed, and waited for our train ride to Sapa. It was Friday night and almost every in Hanoi was heading towards Sapa, hence we could only get ourselves 2 hard seats.
The train ride in Vietnamese was also an eye-opener. With the train itself already packed like sardine cans, you could still see new passengers boarding on the train with each of them carrying a small stool on their hands; they would practically sit on the small stool in the walkways for hours until they reached their destination! Vietnamese basically have no courtesy on train, sad to say, and we had to chase a rude couple off for trying to occupy our seats even though it was so clear that we had the tickets to our seats!
I basically doze off later in the train like a corpse, and when I woke up, we were only a few hours away to Sapa.
Having arrived at Ninh Binh, we made our way to a small hotel (can't remember what the name is) which is located fairly near to the train station, to rent a motorbike. Honestly, it had been quite some time when I had actually driven a motorbike, and I have got to say, biking in the streets of Ninh Binh was certainly challenging, albeit the traffic wasn't as heavy as Hanoi / Saigon. First of all, unlike Malaysia, Vietnamese use right side of the lane instead of the left; secondly, they honk for everything! Watch out! Coming through! I'm stopping! Make way! Turning left! Hello there! Goodbye! Don't stop! Stop! And finally, I was carrying a heavy load who confessed to me she has never sat on a motorbike before! *facepalmed*
After reassuring Jessica that she will not die on the road in my hands, she eventually agreed to sit on the bike. What other options did she have? It's either she sits on the bike, or she walks there alone, 10 kilometers towards the grottoes. Nonetheless, it was drizzling that day with a temperature of 14-16 celcius. And there we were, two crazy fools biking in the rain, shivering and freezing, making our way towards the grottoes on a Honda C-70! I swear that it was so cold that I could feel my face freeze and my jaw rattling; I was so scared that my nose and ears would end up having frostbites!
We eventually found our way to the Tam Coc grottoes, having passed by several foreign tourists who decided to cycle 10 kilos in the awful cold rain! I was glad we did not cycle in the first place, or else we would have been dead with hypothermia. We found a sweet spot to park our bike (charged US$1 but at least I don't have to worry the bike will get stolen) and marched towards the ticket office. Well, it seemed that foreigners pay ten times the price of what locals pay, but still it was worth the price.
We hopped onto a small boat that was paddled by an old Vietnamese gentleman, of which I was relieved initially, as I had read about pestering old Vietnamese women who would bug you to buy their stuffs at a ripped-off price! Our old boatmen paddled his way with his feet (Yes, everyone paddles the boat with his or her feet!) and to my dismay, he stopped halfway and some old Vietnamese lady boarded on the boat.
The scenery was fabulous as the limestone mountains appeared to be beautifully carved, surrounded by greenish paddy fields (not really that green as it was still early spring and they had just begun planting paddy), and you could see local Vietnamese people farming, doing laundry by the riverside, or just sitting in the cold looking at us watching them! And there were already so many of us (even though we arrived early and beat the tourists tours nonetheless!) just like a troupe of ants making a single file.
As the boat slowly made its way downstream, we gasped at the marvelous limestone karsts and the picturesque scenery Tam Coc grottoes offered us. The boat slowly drifted into the caves where we could see the bizzare stalactites and stalagmites (can't really beat the ones in Halong Bay but the scenery itself was fantastic). Too bad there were no bats in the cave; I would love to hear Jessica scream. Water buffalos munched and trudge their way in the fields, and all sorts of water fowls hovering above us. We even saw a mountain goat at the distant!
Along the way we persistently said no to peddling boats who offered to take photos for us at a ripped off price or persuading us to buy cold drinks to our boatsmen (don't bother to do so, as the boatsmen will just sell the drinks back to them). We learnt a few useful phrases from our Vietnamese friend back in Hanoi, which somehow was effective in shrugging off those peddlars. If not for the boatsmen who reinforced to them that we were foreign tourists I swear they almost believed we were local Vietnamese too!
I attempted to befriend our boatsmen during our 2 hours journey so as to avoid being ripped off and we made some small conversations, still eventually they pestered us for tips. Nonetheless, we were a bit grateful as those two devillish old folks did not kept us stranded until we bought their stuffs (we saw 2 foreigners being threatened that way on the way back). They were not really tenacious bout their goods but were so persistent on the tipping part that I had to give them US$2 each just to make them go away!
The 2 hours boat ride was fantastic and the weather was kind to us; at least it was not scorching hot! The trip left me wondering whether Halong Bay's limestones would be as awesome as what we saw here. (of course they were more awesome!) We got on our bike and started paving our way for our next few stop.
It was still drizzling though and we continue shivering as we paved our way towards our next few stops via a small path which linked us with the other attraction sites in Ninh Binh. We decided to skip the Hoa Lu Citadel, which our researched told us that it wasn't worth the ticket prices, and the temple in the caves; too many caves for a day! We eventually reach the Trang Ann grottoes but to our dismay it was already swarmed with tourists! (By noon, Ninh Binh will be overrun by tour groups from Hanoi) We decided to call it a day and made our way back to the town and catch the bus back to Hanoi,
Starving and freezing, we replenished ourselves with warmth and food at a nearby restaurant that caters much to foreigners. The food tasted awesome (mainly because we were famished and freezing) and I could hardly raise my chopsticks as my hands were frozen! We caught a 3.00 pm bus back to Hanoi and the journey back was as painstaking as the morning ride and I can feel my psoas muscles cramping intermittently! We were a bit too exhausted to worry bout our lives on the way back and we took turns taking 40 winks as we still had a long day to go.
Having arrived back in Hanoi almost 5pm, we were stranded in the rush hour again. We walked our way to the train station (yes, walk!) only to realize that we had actually walked 6 kilometers! Still the walk was quite rewarding as we manage to catch a glimpse at the insane traffic of Hanoi, with the awful honkings and endless streams of motorbikes zooming here and there. We arrived in the train station without getting us killed, and waited for our train ride to Sapa. It was Friday night and almost every in Hanoi was heading towards Sapa, hence we could only get ourselves 2 hard seats.
The train ride in Vietnamese was also an eye-opener. With the train itself already packed like sardine cans, you could still see new passengers boarding on the train with each of them carrying a small stool on their hands; they would practically sit on the small stool in the walkways for hours until they reached their destination! Vietnamese basically have no courtesy on train, sad to say, and we had to chase a rude couple off for trying to occupy our seats even though it was so clear that we had the tickets to our seats!
I basically doze off later in the train like a corpse, and when I woke up, we were only a few hours away to Sapa.
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