A Full Load of Ninh Binh (Part 2) & Hanoi Reloaded

Nguyễn Trãi (Vietnamese Confucian scholar - 1380-1442) says: 'It’s not the turn signal that shows you the way, but your will to truly take that path!'

July 29:

As suspected, we are woken far too early by the noise of craftsmen, which does bring us the advantage of a long day. We must look at it positively.

So, we set off a bit sleepily on the hottest vacation day so far, which will bring us nearly 40 degrees and blazing sun.

What to do?!

First, we have breakfast and hatch a plan over coffee and fruit to fill the hours until the evening in a way that satisfies everyone.

This includes reading books, playing cards, exercising in the room (it would be unthinkable to go outside even this early), and then a quick round in the pool!

Since Ida seems to be hooked on riding the scooter, she wishes for another 'outing' with Schrotti and Klappermann in the afternoon.

Thus, we choose downtown Ninh Binh as our destination, where we want to check out the market hall and a pagoda.

After a successfully spent morning, we set off again on the scooters in the afternoon for a twenty-minute ride into city traffic.

Interestingly, both tanks are empty again, allowing us once more to admire the highly secure refueling stations up close, this time at a café.

Upon arriving in Ninh Binh, we park Vietnamese-style right on the sidewalk and dive into the winding pathways of the market hall!

However, after a short time, we are already done, as it is not the real experience we had hoped for!

Pots, plastic chairs, brooms, and other household goods pile up at each of the stalls, and we search in vain for spices or fruits. What we do find, as we have everywhere in marketplaces or halls during our travels, is meat of all animal origins, laid on cardboard, fanned with handmade fly swatters, and emitting a smell (to us) beyond the level of edibility.

Quickly, we head back towards the scooters and through the city to Tháp Tứ Ân, a prayer site by the city lake and the attached night market. Particularly, or rather only, in the dark, it's a worthwhile destination since the lights of the two temples and the brightly lit market street with endless street food bathe this corner of the city in a picturesque sea of lights.

However, we lack the patience to wait until dark and sufficient illuminated vehicles, as both scooters only have tea-light-like illumination in front, with Schrotti giving no visibility at the back.

So, as the sun begins to set, we head back towards the hotel. Along the way, there are still some wonderful photo opportunities as the setting sun paints the sky in an impressive red!

Satisfied with the day's events and a swimming round in the pool in the evening, we quickly head to bed.

For tomorrow we must rise early, and we are surely a few minutes ahead of the craftsmen.

July 30:

What we did not do in the first two days of our vacation in Hanoi was stroll around and buy some local trinkets. We didn't want to carry various things we might buy for two weeks!

Now this thought is coming back to bite us a bit, as we need to be flexible for our return flight and might head home directly after the wedding brunch on Sunday.

This would ruin our planned Sunday afternoon in Hanoi.

So, the night before, we create quite a bit of confusion at the hotel when we ask about an early morning transfer to the capital and an evening return to Ninh Binh.

Since Lena had asked for a (unfortunately impossible) room change to one of the bungalows in the morning of the previous day due to the constant noise right under our window and an incredibly loud TV in the neighboring room, the receptionist now worries that we want to leave early and can hardly understand in her excitement that we actually want to return in the evening.

After repeatedly stating our wish to go to Hanoi in the morning and return to this hotel in the evening, the receptionist finally manages to calm down and arranges a transfer for us.

Nevertheless, we receive a final bill for our stay that is calculated exactly to the minute of our transfer's start at 7:24 AM, as even the hotel manager believed we were leaving!

Either way, in the morning, after a short and now only moderately enjoyable breakfast—because it’s always the same—we board van number 1.

According to our information, he takes us to Ninh Binh to the transfer company’s office, where we will continue to Hanoi at 8 AM with another van. However, our driver has to pick up another person somewhere between Tam Coc and Hongkonk and then gets lost, which makes us very anxious about timing! A completely unknown number calls via WhatsApp, but we don’t understand it at all, suspecting it could be the driver of the car waiting in Ninh Binh!

Thank God, with translation help from the fellow passenger, it turns out we don’t have to change vehicles anymore; we just need to inform the driver of our desired drop-off point.

Grateful for such simplicity, we enjoy the truly relaxed drive, dozing a bit and wondering who the person was that called in the morning!

After a total of two and a half hours and Hanoi's rush hour, we get out and ask about the pickup process.

Once again, the friendly fellow passenger helps us and explains that we should send a message with our location to the transfer organization, and they would pick us up at the arranged time.

Unfortunately, it’s foolish that we A: don’t even know who brought us here and B: there is no clear time! The request was between 2:30 PM and 3:30 PM. None of the information went further than that.

I remember the phone number from the morning and send them a message with our location and desired time. Perhaps it’s our pickup service…

And indeed, we receive a response in Vietnamese that they would pick us up at the desired time at the desired location! It's almost too simple…

So we spend four lovely and successful hours in Hanoi, where we already know a bit in the Old Quarter, browsing through the shops here and there and getting to participate in the slowest ice cream cone and two coffee-making process of all time. When you only have a limited timeframe, and that already takes 30 minutes ('five minutes') just to make an ice cream and two coffees, the lovely relaxation of the drive quickly fades away!

Oh wonder for our travel group, there is certainly no rush, as the souvenir hunting goes smoothly, and we end up waiting on time at the pre-arranged spot for the vehicle with the license plate number given to us!

The driver, punctual but extremely grumpy, invites us in and begins to destroy his phone while we desperately try buckling our seatbelts (Ida is unbuckled in the middle seat since the driver's side seatbelt buckle does not engage, but the alarm tone goes off nonetheless because someone is sitting there. To silence the constant beeping that seems to only bother us, the driver's side seatbelt gets buckled into the middle seat buckle -> breathe easy… but no beeping, no seatbelt for Ida). Meanwhile, he seems to be loudly yelling at his phone or just talking on it. In any case, it seems he hasn't had the best day so far. Persistent beeping certainly doesn’t help his attentiveness or less aggressive driving!

On this trip, we also pick up two more passengers, who are loudly called across an intersection and board timidly.

But unlike the outbound trip, this time it really takes only about 20 minutes to get out of the Old Quarter to an office of 'Ninh Binh Car', where we are tossed out nonchalantly like Harry and Ron from the Weasleys' Ford Anglia and told to wait for 'five minutes'. By the way, nothing at all here takes the mentioned five minutes. One has to give it to the Vietnamese that they are usually super punctual and incredibly reliable. But when someone says 'five minutes', you have plenty of time!

So we wait almost four times longer to continue the remaining leg of our trip with another van. When I ask the driver if we will be taken to the hotel with this bus, it is completely ignored!

Whatever, we think. There’s also a Grab from Ninh Binh to the hotel.

Now, another bad pun: We hadn’t expected to scratch so quickly so close to our own graves…hahaha!

The driver turns out to be extraordinarily talkative to his passenger, but he steers his vehicle (to stay in the wizarding world) like Ernie Prang drives the Knight Bus through the quite crowded streets toward the south. And at a speed that partly makes it a miracle we all stay safe.

And the fact that even the Vietnamese passenger seems to think it’s extreme is evident in that he is buckled up and also holding on to the handle above the door!

Not surprisingly, we cover the distance nearly 40 minutes faster than in the morning.

Upon arrival, we find a bit frustrated that we are still not finished. Because in Ninh Binh, we actually change vehicles again. Presumably, the motor in the other bus needs to be replaced or it needs a new paint job. The old one has simply disappeared due to the speed combined with the outside temperature!

So we sit yet again in the almost obligatory 'five minutes' on a waiting bench in the office and watch the drivers outside smoking.

Briefly, one stands up, goes to the still-existing bus across the street, starts the engine, returns, and continues to smoke. Logical, we think, rocket propulsion also needs preheating (or?)

Again, one of the drivers goes to the van and opens the side door to the 'passenger area' or back seat or however you want to call it.

And indeed, he drives up with an elegant maneuver and still open side door. We may get in and are happy that it’s finally going to start. The engine is still running, so we can go.

But instead, they continue smoking. So we sit another 15 minutes in the open van with the engine and air conditioning running, while five meters away, the gentlemen are taking a 'five minutes' smoke break.

Finally, after a lengthy pause (maybe strict driving breaks have to be respected in Vietnam as well…) we might finally head back to the hotel.

Not much more happens with us, and aside from the evening pool round and the subsequent reading circle, we accomplish nothing else. The day was long enough…