Mua Cave View Point.

We’ve just arrived in Ninh Binh. We’re staying about 10 kms outside the city in a nice little rural area. I thought Ninh Binh would be a little country town but no, it’s a decent size city so I’m glad we opted for the rural accomodation.

Thought we would climb up to Mua Cave view point while it was cooler. Hired a motorbike from the accomodation, so easy, no paperwork they just give you the keys and a couple of helmets and off you go. Didn’t have a clue where we were going but thanks to google maps and one wrong turn we made it.

There are five hundred steps up to the view point. It’s still pretty busy here even at 5 pm. What nobody told me is there is actually two view points so halfway up you branch off into two mountains. One considerably higher than the other.

We started with the smaller mountain, these steps are all pretty uneven, and slippery in places and definitely not made for short legs. Got to the first viewpoint after a few stops and it does give you a lovely view out over the lotus flower fields. No flowers here at this time of year though.

Of course we had to scale the second mountain now. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one struggling. Nearly everyone was pretty red faced and out of breath by the time we got to the top. It is a pretty challenging climb.

Amazing views over the river from the top of the mountain, and a couple of friendly goats up there who took a liking to my salty legs. Lots of people waiting up there for sunset but I didn’t fancy climbing down in the dark so we climbed up to touch the dragon, which was a bit of a feat in itself and then headed down.

Going down of course had its own challenges, the steps are quite big in a lot of places and uneven and slippery. Health and safety would have a field day with this mountain in Australia. We got down in one piece and headed back to our accomodation, luckily it’s only about six kms away. The lights on the bike don’t work too well, Graham has to hold his finger on the button the whole way home.

We rounded the evening off with a nice dinner a few doors down.Читать далее