Trang AN Hotel Ninh Binh

... see the sun come up over the countryside surrounding Ninh Binh though which was pretty impressive for reasons which will becime apparent soon.

Now, I realise that it was probably a bit ambitous to think that I could see the sights and head for Hanoi that evening but I thought it would be more or less possible. I was very very wrong. I had a quick reassessment and realised that if I didn't find somewhere to sleep right away I was ...

... around and everyone smiled to us. We stopped at one place and there was a old man smoking this long metal pipe, he first passed it to our boat man and then offered it to us, Banj and Brad declined instantly but it would be rude to turn an offer down so i stepped up. I don't think it had anything to dodgy in it, just tobacco but it was still pretty strong and i was coughing for a good 20 seconds after, don't think i'll be buying one! After spending an hour or ...

... for the caves. We then got a boat through the caves which lasted about an hour. After that we headed back to our hotel. I had a wicked day so thankyou very much to the tour guides. The whole area was absolutely incredible and is the best thing i've seen so far on my travels, you need to see the place yourself! In the evening we got a sleeper bus to Dong Ha which is were we got the bus to Hanoi when we first entered Vietna

... case in Vietnam, breakfast revolved around a baguette and eggs. Emma spiced her's up by adding some dairylea cheese, oh the variety is frightening! We set off around 9am and drove straight to the HaproMart for supplies. Our next destination would be Highway 1A, the backbone of Vietnam. Armed with a full tank, we should easily make it their and back with plenty to spare. Motoring along at 40 km/h our first challenge would be to try ...

... buffalo and kids shouting 'Hello'. We stumbled upon Hang Mua, a shrine on top of a very steep hill, we paid 20,000 to the man and walked past his goats and down a path next to a deep pond. In the next field there was a little hidden temple and the monks (who had zipped past us earlier on their mopeds) were praying and striking a gong which echoed off the karsts surrounding us. We hiked up around 400 very steep, very high steps and the view from the top was worth it ...

... instead of the overly touristy Tam Coc, we headed to Trang An, a little-known series of waterways and caves surrounded by soaring Limestone outcrops. For 2 hours, we were rowed around and through this amazing landscape with often no other tourists in sight. This 2 hour trip redeemed Ninh Binh and we left that night feeling happy that we had stopped there, albeit with sore behinds from yet another cycling adventure

... run up and down the road would be prudent, so I hopped on, found first and accelerated ... pretty fast, then grabbed for the brake and slammed into a pile of sand, and then the ground. Paul said it was quite impressive - at the moment he's playing Born in the USA by the Boss on the Ipod speakers (very funny if you watched Top Gear Vietnam). I am a bit bruised and I have a graze on my elbow like a 9 year old, but worst of ...

... bearings. Having read all the signs we worked out which counter to get the ticket at and I went to buy 2 singles to Ninh Binh whilst Paul watched the bags. Two helpful men followed me and said lots of things to each other whilst I was buying the tickets. I worked out that the bus left at 6.30am, it was 5.20 so we had an hour to shut our eyes - or so we thought. The helpful men kept persistently coming and urging us to follow them, taking our bags and after 5 ...

... day and took this opportunity to research about our next destination, update our blog, and downloading movies. Luckily enough the next day turned out better, the rain stopped and so we took a taxi to Tam Coc. This place is similar to Halong bay but this time the rock formations jut out from rice paddies. As it is customary for the tourists, who come here, we rented a river boat ...

... Must have been 38 to 40 degrees!! Our afternoon was taken up by a row boat trip on the inland waters - our lady rowed with her feet - but complained that they were sore! She picked up her daughter on the way got the hard sell later but its what we expect now! The scenery was stunning and so quiet - where we got the boat we all thought - my god were going out on a duck pond! It looked so ...