Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh
Day 1
After a day of chilling in Hanoi and visiting a cute coffee shop, we had a bus at 6pm to Ninh Binh. It took around 3/4 hours to get there so not too bad compared to some of the journeys we have experienced!

It was around 10pm when we arrived and we found a taxi to take us to our guest house as it was about a 15 minute drive away. We were staying at Hang Mua Homestay in a private garden style room with a private bathroom and AC. It was in the Tam Coc area, which is more quiet and peaceful. As always, we booked on Booking.com mainly because you recieve genius discount for more bookings you do! Winning! Anyway, we told them our arrival time and it stated a 24 hour check in desk service.

Wandering up the garden to the reception, we noticed the place was desserted. No tourists, no workers and even no lights! There was no bell or note or anything so we just wandered around shouting “hello!”. We had no wifi at the time so couldn’t even contact them… great. About 25 minutes later, a guy came stumbling (literally) down the pathway waving at us. He stunk of alcohol! He tried to check us in but didn’t seem to like what he was doing or spoke no English so we got up the translator. It seemed to be the manager was away at a wedding so he was going to check us in. Anyway, the garden rooms seemed so beautiful so we were excited to get in! He opened the door and bam… a massive cockroach on the bed! We translated to him about it and he had to ring the manager to change us rooms. Shortly after, we were changed to another room (this one seemed to be cockroach free!). It was a shame as the room and guest house seemed so clean. Although we had a long and annoying check in, the guesthouse was really nice.

We hadn’t had any dinner and it was now about 10.45pm. The guest house was in the middle of no where therefore we asked the guy about food. In reply to us, he said the kitchen was turned off but he would kindly cook us some instant noodles. Yay! Feeling glad we were going to eat something, we started to dig in. When all of a sudden, I started to find numerous flies in my bowl. Great! No food for us then. At this point, we were feeling a little deflated about the place and didn’t feel too happy. Waiting almost 30 mins to check in, the drunk man, the cockroach and now the flies. Anyway, we didn’t let it get to us and went to bed. All was well until it was the middle of the night and I hear something in the room. Anxious, I woke Lewis up (sorry Lewis) and he went to investigate. Suddenly, a mouse darted across the floor! Absolutely great… As we were staying in a garden style bungalow, there were a few gaps in the roof where it must have got in! What a stay so far! The joys of travelling!

Day 2
Following our disaster of an evening, we thought today is a new day! Lewis and I aren’t ones to complain but there were too many things not great about the place and the service so we did mention it to them. Another man was there today and was very apologetic to us. At least he was kind about it and then made sure we felt happy with everything else so we felt a lot better. After, we had some pancakes for breakfast with a lovely view in front of us.

Our plan for today was to rent bikes and explore Ninh Binh. The sun was shining and it was a lovely day for a bike ride! We only had a day here and wanted to leave for Hoi An today so knew we had to move quickly! Our 14 day visa was running out!

Ninh Binh is a beautiful place surrounded with fields. It was like being in the countryside. And it felt so good to be on a bike! We spent the day leisurely biking around and we visited the Lying Dragon Mountain. When we arrived there, there was a little pathway with a few ‘instagrammable’ locations and anyone that knows me, knows I love these kinda spots ha ha.

After a few snaps, we headed to the mountain. Wow so many steps! It was a very strenuous and tiring hike yet so beautiful. I love the sunshine but it makes these hikes so hard! Then, we ran out of water ah! And also cash so we couldn’t even buy one ah! But wow the views at the top were beautiful! Admiring the views, we sat there for a while and capture some shots. After, we decided to go even further to the top. We had to carefully scramble along lots of rocks with hardly anywhere to hold on! Scary although worth it!

We soon booked our sleeper bus to Hoi An. It is crazy booking transport only a few hours before you leave. Usually, I would want to be more prepared than this but there are tourist travel places EVERYWHERE, which makes it so easy to book anything. Normally, we would book the day before we plan to go somewhere but as we arrived late last night, we couldn’t. Anyway, we booked a sleeper bus to Hoi An, which left at 7.00pm and would arrived for 9.00am.

Following our hike, we were very hungry so grabbed some lunch at a nearby lake, which was a beautiful little setting with the place to ourselves. Then we got back on our bikes! We didnt really have anywhere else planned but it was just pleasant to bike around the area. Riding through the villages, many small children shout “hello!” Or try to high 5 you! So cute! We continued to ride through beautiful fields filled with flowers and over cobbled streets inside villages. The sun was still shining too! We have been so lucky with the weather in Laos and Vietnam. I didn’t expect either to be that hot!

On the way back, we stopped off at a local shop and bought some snacks for the journey tonight. We always seem to get peckish on these long journeys when there is not much to do haha. Although, both of us download series and films on Netlfix so we can watch them offline whilst on transport!

When we arrived back at the guest house, we chilled for a little while and then showered. There was a nearby restaurant that had burgers and chips so we decided to go there. We haven’t had chips in ages!

Now to begin the long journey to Hoi An. I am so excited to go here. So many people have said how amazing it is!

Laura and Lewis x