Ninh Binh - Day Trip

We took a day trip to Ninh Binh today. At 7:30AM, the tour guide picked us up from the hotel. He arrived in a bike. When you stay in Hanoi old quarter, tour buses cannot reach all the small streets so it is normal to walk a short distance to your bus. The tour guide, Son, said the bus was a little far and offered us to ride on his bike. My immediate reaction was - NO! 

I am still not used to the crazy traffic in Hanoi where every time I walk on the streets, I felt like I am a cat testing its nine lives. The walkway literally filled with bikes and shops that forced you to walk on the streets with just 1mm next to the bikes zooming in and out from all directions. Some vendors even use the streets to display their goods which forced you to walk on the opposite side of the road into the incoming traffic. To be riding in one of those scary bikes is beyond me. 

I wasn't sure what happened but the next minute, two of us were on the bike with him. Then he gestured for S to take the bike too. Which made us 4 on the bike! I closed my eyes as we swerved along the busy streets. Please...please...let me be alive....

We made it to the bus and Son left to pick up the other passengers before we make our way to Ninh Binh. The journey passed through rural Ninh Binh and suddenly out of nowhere I saw a magnificent palace looking like it came out from a fairy tale. A palace in the middle of a village? Later, I found out that, this is not a typical palace but a palace built by a tycoon for himself! He named it Thanh Thang Palace after his sons. Check out its interesting story and the beauty of the Thanh Thang palace. 

Introduction

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Hoa Lu Ancient Capital

Finally, we reached our first destination. Our first activity was cycling across the Ninh Binh countryside. It started to drizzle as we arrived and it was a little demotivating. I almost skipped the cycling but luckily I did not! We got our disposable rain coat and started riding on the roadside for about 10 minutes until we reached Hoa Lu. Hoa Lu was the old capital of Vietnam until the capital was shifted to Hanoi. The city was demolished, leaving only this temple as a commemoration of the old city. 

We parked our bike and entered the Hoa Lu temple. It was a small temple thus a little bit crowded. The drizzle stopped when we exited the place and resumed our bike riding into the village. 

It was another hazy day but the cool air hitting our faces as we rode gave us back some motivation. We entered into a scenic rice field with the mountains as the backdrop. The scene looked like what you see from countryside paintings. There was a little bit of elevation and I saw two of our tourmates pushing the bike. I joined them due to the lack of leg muscle power. Lol! We started racing each other along the way. Out from the village, we entered into the tar road again. We cycled for another 15 minutes and I was huffing and puffing while forcing myself to ride up the slightly elevated road. Then, we reached the bridge where everyone got down for a picture before we headed back to the starting point to return the bikes. After the bike ride, a buffet lunch was served at the top floor. We made friend with a fellow tour mate, Po, who came from the UK. 

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After lunch, we boarded the bus again and headed to the highlight of today's trip - Trang An. 

Trang An is a UNESCO site, also known as the Ha Long bay on land. Instead of ships, one can take a rowing boat / sampan to explore the scenic landscape. The most interesting part was boating into the impressive caving systems. I think we explored 3 caves with our little sampan. The caves were so low where its ceiling will probably hit your head if you did not duck. I heard the movie King Kong was filmed here too. The scenery would have been perfect if not for the haze!

We made a stop to explore the temple grounds of Trang An. Just remember the boat number as you will need to take the same boat back. 

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After the boat ride, we boarded the bus for our final destination. Dang the movie made it impossible to use this word without thinking about dying. We arrived at Hang Mua cave which is a popular site in Ninh Binh. One must scale up the 500 stone steps to reach the top. 

While the others climbed, I explored the Lotus ponds. OK, it was not what I expected as all the lotuses were dead and the pond sort of stunk with mold. However, the place gave me a good view of the mountains. 

There were cafes, restaurants and areas for your Insta if you choose not to hike. 

You can stay here too...

I sat down to relax with my ice cream (VND25K). I took a bite and I was busy taking pictures of how I am "relaxing" with my ice cream when the whole ice cream decided to drop to the floor. My chill moment was cut short as I need to clean up my shirt and table with the mess. Haiz... 

The sun almost set when we departed from Mua Cave back to Hanoi. It was yet another memorable experience in Ninh Binh. 

Tour from Klook