August 25th, 2019
After the awesome free breakfast at our hostel in Hanoi we rented a motorbike and decided to go to Ninh Binh for a couple of nights. It is a province close to 3 hours away from Hanoi and known as “Halong Bay on Land” and is filled with jutting limestone cliffs, mountains and caves. This was another place that some of my favorite bloggers did not really talk about. My plan was to spend the rest of our time in Vietnam north of Hanoi (this town is south) but after talking to several other travelers who came to Ninh Binh and loving Halong Bay so much, I knew we needed to make this part of our trip.
In hindsight I would have done things a little different to get here. I thought the motorbike would be fun and have beautiful scenery, but it was actually three hours of driving on a highway that always had traffic and nothing pretty to look at. It actually reminded me of Pacific Ave or Highway 99 in Washington and Oregon. Just a more rundown, industrial highway for three long hours. It did not get pretty until we got to Ninh Binh and Tam Coc, (a tiny town outside of Ninh Binh city that is among rice fields, cliffs and mountains). We stored our big bags at the hostel in Hanoi and packed a backpack with just our stuff for two nights and our valuables. Somehow this pack was still extremely heavy and the seat on the back of the bike was really uncomfortable. If I did it again I would have definitely taken a bus from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, and then rented the motorbike once we got here. As it turned out, all of my discomfort was forgotten once we got here and it was another absolute treasure of a place.
We checked into Tam Coc Homestay and got a great room with a patio and swinging chair that looks out over the bright green rice paddies. The homestay is backed right up to beautiful cliffs and they have a great swimming pool. They have rooms that are actually inside caves that looked really cool but unfortunately those were booked. Our room was $16 per night and had two giant beds and included breakfast. We went swimming and then had lunch here. We ended up talking to some other travelers for a while who have been to the places we are going next, so we got some good tips. We enjoyed the company and then set out to go to a viewpoint for sunset.
This viewpoint we went to was called Mua Cave and was absolutely gorgeous. It required just shy of 600 stairs to reach the top and two separate lookouts. Of course, it was very hot but worth it. The stairs seemed to go pretty quick despite the heat and the views from the top were just amazing. We stayed up there for quite a while taking it all in. Down at the bottom they also had a beautiful water lily pond with a little bridge going through it. Felt like scenes from a movie and I also fell in love with this place.
After that we drove through the little town and walked around a bit. There is a lake in the center of town where all the ladies’ row little boats using their feet. It was just a really cute place. Our ride back to the homestay was pretty bumpy as we had to take narrow dirt paths with lots of potholes you can’t see at night. We made it back though and are looking forward to another day in this beautiful area tomorrow. So far, I am totally blown away with the natural beauty in northern Vietnam!
The landscape looks like something from a fairytale, don’t think I’d believe it wasn’t a work of CGI had you not been there to take the pictures! That is SO Interesting how you have mountains of rock but not in a range with a ridge line! The images are breathtaking so in real life they must be beyond Incredible! I LOVE the pics of you and B on the scooter and at a lookout, those are priceless. If it wasn’t for the heat and bugs we’d probably wanna move there and live in one of those palaces for $50 a month!
So enchantingly beautiful, love the path through the lily pond, so inviting and peaceful. Such an amazing adventure you 2 are on. And the time you spend blogging, and capturing these thoughts will prove to be priceless in your memories.
Thank you! An incredible journey for sure! It has especially been interesting to go to places and towns we have never heard of (like Tam Coc) until we arrive somewhere and see signs, or hear from other travelers or locals. There have been several things that are complete “highlights” of our trip that we would have never even known existed until we got to a certain place. It is really cool.