Thanh Binh Hotel Ninh Binh

... in a row boat with the other tourists. Tam Coc means three caves in Vietnamese - the idea was that you paid a local rower to take you down the river and through the caves. The views were as extraordinary as at Yangshou with the limestone crags towering out of the flat land as we floated by. Our paddle driver kept us entertained by occasionally saving the effort on his back by lying down and using his feet to cycle the oars like a bike! The caves themselves were fascinating - dark ...

... one shouts “hello” or “how do you do” and unlike other places we have been to, they didnt want any money, they were just being polite. Ninh Binh is not a popular place on the tourist trail and even less so the surrounding land, so i guess they dont see so many westies.stopping for lunch is very easy in Tam Coc people call you over every time you pass. We had Pho a Vietnamese noodle soup with greens, herbs and raw meat chucked in, for the hot water to cook the meat ...

... Pa.<br>Le lendemain, il fait beau et nous nous levons de bonne heure pour louer une moto et partir visiter les sites des environs.<br>Nous commencons par la reserve naturelle de Van Long ou nous nous baladons sur l eau, pousse par une petite dame sur une barque. On est fin seuls, c est extraordinaire. L eau est un mirroir et les pics de calcaire surgissent ici et la comme a Halong Bay. D ailleurs Ninh Binh a recu le nom d Halong Bay des rizieres et c est bien comprehensible. Apres plus ...

... them more than once!!!. Nath is hating the horns with a passion!<br> <br><br>The countryside is rice paddies &amp; limestone karst mountains with sheer cliffs that rise straight up out of the rice fields, houses are built adjoining them &amp; some homes even utilised the adjoining caves where possible. This area is called the "inland Halong Bay ...

... Paul and a motorbike and driver for me. The day was one of our most memorable in Vietnam so far. My driver, Mr. Hai, took such good care of both me and Paul, driving nice and slowly and constantly making sure Paul didn&#8217;t lag too far behind. Mr Hai took us around some of the back roads and villages and made sure we saw a real slice of Vietnamese country life. We knew we&#8217;d found one of the good guys and Mr Hai even paid ...

After the hustle and bustle of Hanoi, Ninh Binh was verrrry strange as it was still and quiet. <br><br>We only spent a couple of nights there and did everything in one day. We hired bikes and cycled to Tam Coc where we did a 1.5 hour boat trip through a series of caves. It was very similar to the trip to the perfume pagodas (except with caves!)... The scenery was beautiful and it was a very peaceful trip. <br><br>We then cycled to Bich Dong Pagoda ...

... in mud for half an hour, then hot springs, powerful spray massages, hot waterfalls then chilled at the swimming pool.... with an English couple I met at the hostel - lush, relaxing day and my skin felt amazing afterwards! I had my last lush meal - ate so much fresh, cheap seafood in Nha Trang = lush, then about 7pm caught the night bus to Hoi An.<br><br>The night bus was a sleeper bus - full of beds. As I was late booking, I was an unlucky one who got a bed ...

... a piedi, per permettere al pulman di superare la strada piena di grosse buche alleggerito da un po' di peso. Alla stazione di arrivo doveva esserci una persona mandata da Mr. Quan, il gestore dell' Hotel, per consegnarci i biglietti del bus e portarci con un taxi alla nuova stazione di partenza. Ad un semaforo una tizia si e' fatta riconoscere e ci ha fatti salire velocemente su due scooter ...

Well the bad news is my camera has broken :( For some reason it refused to switch on,, so I am now get to carry a brick around with me for a couple of months...My mood was enhanced less by the worst bus journey of my life. We had booked berths on an overnighter from Hanoi to Ninh Binh. From the moment we stepped on board the staff on the bus started pushing us around and shouting at us in Vietnamese. Therese had a bunk at the front, and mine was a cramped bunk right at the back on ...