The bicycle trip to Tam Coc was exhilarating! We rented two bicycles from our Hotel for 15 000 Vietnamese Dong (that’s about R6,50 each) for the entire day and ventured out into the “wild”. I felt very brave and almost empowered cycling on Highway 1, the busiest highway in the whole of Vietnam. Different from South African highways in that ANYTHING is allowed on it - pedestrians, bicycles, cyclos, motos, busses, waterbuffalo!
After about four kilometres we turned away from the busy highway onto the road to Tam Coc - a small village about eight kilometres from Ninh Binh. It was here that I realised how silly Eon looked on the “ladies” bicycle with a small basket fixed to the front of it! We had survived the first leg of our bicycle trip and swapped our bikes for a Sampam (small metal rowing boat with a female rower). The Sampan took us down the river through its three famous caves - quite a spectacular site!
On the way back, we also visited the Thai Vi Temple where a Vietnamese elderly tried to be a tour guide by repeating three French words over and over again. “Bonjour Madam, Monsieur! S’il vous plait!” He very well understood that we do not speak French - so I guess he thought it would sound impressive if he could give us a French tour in stead of Vietnamese! It is no wonder Vietnam is also known as Little France. I think Vietnam might be the only place where the French can go on holiday without be treated like garbage, as they treat all non-French visitors to France as if they have some disease.
Back at Tam Coc, we got back onto the bicycles and took “the road less travelled” to visit the Hoa Lu Pagoda. On the way there we stumbled upon a resort, called Hang Mua, which has a stone-carved stairway leading up to a tower on the top of the karst hill with the most amazing view of the Tam Coc valley on the one side and the endless rice paddies on the other. These steps also reminded me how seriously out of shape I am!
So we never got to the pagoda - due to lack of road signs, dehydration, sun and maybe also just a little bit due to our small lack of natural direction! With a nice “sokkie-tan” to prove the adventure in the sun, we finally found our way back to our hotel, had dinner, took a shower and waited for our sleep-over bus to arrive.
Click on image to view Ninh Binh and Tam Coc gallery:
Klink of julle very handy guides sal wees en W uitgehonger vir ‘n rugga-game by d Alerwes soos i.d. ou dae.