Day 5: Day Trip to Ninh Binh
Another early start on Day 5 as we had a day trip to Ninh Binh. A fairly active day with a lot of walking involved, so we (or rather I) loaded up at the buffet breakfast.
Our guide for the day was quite the comic (called himself 'Tom', and said the bus driver's name is 'Jerry'!). Kept us entertained with his funny one-liners in a deadpan accent for most of the way. We started at around 8 am and reached the base of the Lying Dragon Mountain around 10.45. He gave us an hour and a half to climb to the top and come back ("only 500 steps, very easy..."), and the start was simple enough. Well laid out steps, good views along the way, pleasant weather... till the steps started getting steeper half way through, and our lack of general fitness started to show. But we huffed and puffed and made it to the top.
There is a stone dragon carved on top of the hill and people were climbing all over it (despite a chain link kept to prevent people from going there). Just like India. We also followed the crazy folks ("when in Rome..."). The dragon itself was not so great but the views from the top were quite amazing.
We stopped to click photos at every opportunity, lost track of time, and were late going back to the bus. The other folks who had made it on time gave us the 'silent stare' treatment, but c'mon folks, we are on vacation, and what's a few minutes here and there between friends strangers who we would not meet again?
We proceeded to Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam. The guide gave us a good narration about how the king fled to this valley to hide from Mongolian invaders, and used the uneven ground and fortress to evade the cavalry, then raised a rebel army to resist the invaders yada yada. I half listened to it, but was too busy admiring the scenery to pay attention and retain what he said.
The temple visit was followed by visit to a village with an option to go cycling around the village. Anusha opted to rest it out while I jumped at the opportunity to ride around dusty uneven road surrounded by mountains and lakes (brought back memories of Kallar, Mettupalayam!).
A leisurely lunch followed, with some more excellent Pho. We then headed to Trang An, where a nice boat ride awaited us. "This is the place where the King Kong Skull Island was filmed," our guide told us enthusiastically.
We had a little Thai kid and his mom for company on the boat since it seats 4 people. Ray (my little friend for the boat ride) wanted to sit in the front of the boat, and also wanted to row. He even handed me an oar and insisted I row with him to "make the boat go faster since King Kong might step out from behind the mountain!"
We rowed around for almost an hour, going under some really low caves (low enough that you have to duck to avoid bumping your head) and it was a nice way to relax after the sumptuous lunch.
After the boat ride, we took a quick coffee break (yet another salt coffee!) and found a hall decorated nicely with hanging lights and lanterns.
We slept through the bus ride on the way back, a bit tired from all the walking and cycling and rowing, but feeling quite happy with ourselves!
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