Train Road & Weekend in Ninh Bình

Hello from Vietnam!

I have completed my first few days and I'm well settled now. In my last post, I mentioned that I was on my way to the Train Road and I was really looking forward to it—what can I say, it was amazing!

You walk through the bustling city, turn left, and suddenly you’re on the coolest tracks ever! The train tracks run right through the city, and next to them are countless cafes and restaurants where you can sit right next to the tracks. The famous train passes by eight times a day, and just before it arrives, hundreds of tourists gather to witness the event. It’s really incredible—HOW CLOSE the train passes by! I even touched it as it was moving :)

It was really wonderful, and with those impressions, I headed back to the accommodation in the evening, as the next morning we started early to Hanoi to catch our mini van that would take us to the area of Ninh Binh. We had a hostel with a pool and à la carte breakfast for just €8!!

This area is known especially for its many river arms, where you can travel by bamboo boats. In between, you can also visit the “Caves,” limestone caves that are sometimes so shallow that we had to LIE down in the boat. That wasn't really my thing :/

A nice older Vietnamese woman wearing the typical straw hat took us for 2 hours through the beautiful area full of rice fields and mountains, and we had a very relaxing ride!

In the evening, we had typical food, and from then on, there was no stopping us—Phở soup for €1.20 is just delightful! From now on, each of us orders only the soup with rice noodles, traditionally with chicken, but I prefer it with lots of vegetables and coriander :)

The food is truly pure luxury, always freshly cooked, very balanced, and delicious!

On Sunday, we went to the so-called Dragon Mountain, which is named after a legend! When you reach the Dragon Stone at the top, it brings you luck and satisfaction, so I was happy to climb up :)

After that, we had a Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk, just as I know it from Costa Rica and Peru :) very sweet but tasty! Quickly packed a few souvenirs, and then we headed back to Hanoi, where we met for dinner, and then all fell into bed.

The weekend was totally cool, and finally, it's not so humid here anymore!

Tomorrow, we will start our projects and meet new friends :)

Hope you all are doing well, I'm having a Phở soup for each of you,

Best regards

Paula