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Sunday, October 15, 2023

Day Trip / Tour to Ninh Binh via Klook @ Vietnam

People who travelled to Hanoi would make it a point to travel out; to usually to Halong Bay / Sapa but in our case, our first day trip out of the capital city was to the province of Ninh Binh! 

Detailed Postings for the Day Trip
It was drizzling earlier in the morning, and I was hoping the rain clouds wouldn't accompany us all the way to Ninh Binh, a distance of about a hundred kilometers! 

P stands for parking and the notice stated the parking rate for bicycle and motorbike, and for both day and night parking. How do I know? I used Google Translate app. 

Hanoi Opera House - our original intention was to stay nearer to this area and I am glad we moved over to the district that's even closer to the action of the old quarter. 

Introducing to you Harry, our tour guide of the day! A young 23 years old chap, I had a pretty hard time understanding his English pronunciation and caught only bits and pieces. Our entourage included local Vietnamese and he had to grapple with both languages for the entire tour.

Anyway, Harry started sharing what we would expect out of the day tour and also explained a bit about Ninh Binh, which is one of only four places in Northern Vietnam where you can secure tours every single day. He also talked about the flag colors, which I can't catch given my poor grasp of accent.

A complimentary bottle of mineral water. 
Better keep it for the hikes later.

Foggy day, where you can vaguely see the outline of a not too far building. 

Always happy to see cemeteries when I am travelling overseas. 
The problem is whether I would check them out.

Herds of water buffaloes; scenes you would see when you get out of the city and travel to the rural parts of a Southeast Asia country, except for Singapore which is too small to support a large agricultural industry. 

Padi fields?

Bamboo Cotton Factory - touted as a toilet stop, we were require to go through the store although there wasn't any hard selling involved. The cotton made from bamboo was said to have better protection against the sun and virus / bacteria resistant. 

Continuing our journey.
Seat in front of me had a band aid. 

I was wondering why the clouds were hanging so low for the above. A closer look revealed that there was a factory blowing our huge mushroom of smoke into the sky.

Entrance for the Mưỡu Giáp Catholic Church.

Squirming my eyes at the strange structure that didn't appear to be part of the natural landscape. Turned out to be man-made, likely part of the factory we saw earlier.

Crossing the Hoàng Long river. 

Random photos on another cemetery and also the landscape of Ninh Binh, Harry recommended spending a few days in Ninh Binh next time as weather is nice, things are cheaper and you get to experience history, culture and nature. 

Reaching our first stop - Mua Cave! 

Mua Cave - where reaching the two summits matter more than checking out the cave! Do check out the separate post on Mua Cave where more details are shared, with more photographs too! Note that if you only have time for one summit, my recommendation is to go with the taller one instead of the shorter one. 

Got a hotdog right outside the attraction.
Didn't taste any difference from the frozen ones at home. 

Frankly, if given a chance, I would like to spend more time at Mua Cave as it was a bit of a rushed trip for me! I didn't even have time to check out the lotus lake. 

On the coach towards the second attraction at Ninh Binh and wondering if the above was a hotel. It would be nice to stay there. Reminded me of this beautiful hotel I stayed at in Guizhou. 

Hoa Lu - Ancient Capital of Vietnam. With a history spanning over a thousand years, the old capital felt much emptier with just city gates, walls and a few temples honoring past kings.

Harry warned us beforehand to take care of our belongings and be mindful of "friendly" photographers who would accost you to engage their services. 

I see a mountain, and nothing else.

To the locals, they were much more attuned to see beyond the rocks, bushes and trees! According to Harry, there were three mountain goats, and I could only spot two! 

On the road again.

Time for lunch at Nhà hàng Minh Quân Ninh Bình; specialty of the day would be having some wild mountain goat meat! For me, the highlights were the peanuts. 

More random photos. In the nice, cool spring weather, I would think it would be nice to just cycle or even walk from attraction to attraction. There didn't seem to be much cars too.

Aside from Mua Cave, another attraction that was etched in my memory was the sampan experience at Trang An! It was so darn relaxing and definitely medicine for the weary soul. p.s. we even went into four flooded caves, via the sampans! 

If you wish, you can even help row to speed up the sampans! You know what Ninh Binh is also known as? The land based Halong Bay and if you ask me, I prefer Ninh Binh over Halong Bay. 

I thought we were done with the day tour and shall proceed back to Hanoi. 

Turned out we had a final attraction that wasn't indicated on the itinerary. Let's check out the Unicorn Temple, and Hoa Lu Old Town, Ky Lan Lake Park and Silver Pagodas. Appeared to be recent additions, the pagodas stood out as illuminated beacons. 

Still daytime when the coach sent us back to Hanoi. Not sure if the above was the same cemetery we drove past in the morning.

The word "circus" caught my eye! Known as Rạp Xiếc Trung Ương, or Central Circus, it is still operational. You may check out the website here for more information. 
 
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Pricing
Booked Via Klook.com - S$42.85


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