Up for breakfast and then off on today's adventure. We leave the city and head out into the country. I've never seen so many rice fields!
The city of Hanoi is one of such contrasts. It is not "rubbish" dirty,it's more like grubby and run down, but so beautiful at the same time, and so many parks! So much construction too and the new inbetween something that's been there for ever and it doesn't look out of place. And no skyscrapers!
The country then in contrast is also beautiful. The rice fields come right up to the city limits and go forever. All the buildings, whether they are houses or businesses (or both!) are built along the roads, as that is where all the passing trade is. I was quite fascinated to see a small cemetary in the middle of a rice fiels but as the day goes on this not an exception.
Where we are going is less than 100kms but it is going to take about 3 hours. Yes, the roads are that bad! But also, with the amount of traffic it is impossible to drive fast anyway.
We stop for coffee, something the Vietnamese do very well! You can almost stand your spoon is this one. No "normal" milk, it's a tin of condensed milk! YUM! But the coffee is so strong the sweetness of the condensed milk works. Robyn can't handle the sweetness though so I guess it will be just Tyrell and I pinging for the rest of the day.
When we arrive in Ninh Binh we go to see a Temple and hear the story behind it of the King and his sons who fought over who should be next king. They fight, get killed, and leave a 6-yr old as King. This leave the country vulnerable so the old Queen marries again to a neighbouring King, against all custom. Such scandal!
This place was once the capital city but as we learn, the capital changed a number of times, depending on where the current leader lived. Hue (pronounced Way), where we are going in a few days, was also once the capital.
Chinh then takes us to a restaurant for lunch. This area is quite renowned for goat, so when in Rome.... It is a set menu of 8 courses. No need to be concerned about the amount of food we may have to consume as they are more like tasting plates, so only a little of a lot. The grilled goat skewer is sensational, as is everything we have eaten so far.
After lunch we go to Tam Coc and get into a sampan for a 2-hour trip down the river and back. The girl rowing us alternates between using her hands and feet, as do most of the other rowers too!
It has been a fantastic "free day"seeing such a different part of the country. We have a great guide in Ching, who actually knocked back an extra shift on his day off to take us today. This is not an area many tourists come to so we have been extremely lucky!
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