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- 28 abr. 2024 14:00
- ☀️ 37 °C
- Altitud: 8 m
- VietnamTỉnh Ninh BìnhCôn Lang20°12’45” N 105°54’26” E
Ninh Binh day 1
28 de abril, Vietnam ⋅ ☀️ 37 °C
*********I'm very behind on penguins at the moment! Have been pretty ill past 5/6 days, but am back to fighting from today. Going to catch up on the app over the next couple of days**********
We arrived into Ninh Binh at 5am and made our way to the hostel. Luckily a guest checked out as we were arriving so we only had to wait an hour before we could get some sleep.
Ninh Binh is the province we're in but the town where we, and most of the tourists stay is called Tam Coc.
Despite being far up north, there's still a heatwave going on so it's very hot. Determined to make the most of the day though, we hired bikes after lunch to explore the area. Less than a 10 minute cycle out of town, and you're in the middle of planes of rice fields surrounded by small steep sided mountains and jagged rock pinacals. It's pretty spectacular.
The area has the same topography as the famous Ha Long bay, but on land! The rocks weren't formed by anything major, just by erosion from wind and rain millions of year ago according to google. The area we're in (spanning around 60km2) was actually named a world heritage site 10 years ago for its astounding natural beauty and culture.
The shop we hired our bike from mainly rented out mountain bikes, but we wanted baskets in the front to put our stuff in, so got some cute little city bikes. Was probably the wrong decision as some of the 'roads' we cycled down were BUMPY, and the bike had zero suspension 😅
We sought refuge from the sun in a cafe overlooking the rice fields, then ventured to a 'farm' with a water buffalo tied up outside and lots of baby ducklings in a small cage :( We didn't stop there for long, and instead cycled to another farm situated at the end of a very long bumpy dirt road, where some very happy ducks were waiting for us. The ducks were off swimming minding their own business before the lady who ran the place shouted something in Vietnamese. They all quacked in almost unison and came swimming hurriedly over, making an almighty ratchet, which was very entertaining.
We then cycled over to a nearby pagoda built underneath a mountain. Up into the mountain, the path led through a cave where a shrine was situated, then out the other side and up some stairs the temple continued.
On our way back into town a kingfisher flew past, right in front of us. It wasn't the usual flash of blue, so it was the first time I've seen one properly; they're very cute little birds.
Absolutely exhausted from cycling and stair climbing in the heat we found somewhere with cheap beer, then later some yummy vegan food.Leer más
Viajero Me too 😍
Viajero Wonderful set of photos. I love the bamboo path across the the rice field:) so sorry to hear you have been ill though