Room with a view :O (Day 93 of the World Trip)

06.12.2019

After the last night without a private bathroom, we woke up as usual BEFORE the alarm clock^^ We packed our things as quietly as possible and went downstairs for breakfast. Fortunately, the schedule was quite relaxed. Breakfast started at 7:00 am and then we walked about 2 km to the train station.

Daisy wished us good luck for the onward journey and yeah. Once again we made our way through the motorbike jungle and finally reached the train station :) Although the signage and the digital display were a bit confusing, we immediately found our train (with a few inquiries^^) and we didn't have to wait at all since it was 8:06 am, the train was scheduled to depart at 8:50 am, and you can enter 45 minutes before. Perfect^^

The train itself was quite unremarkable :D It looked like an old, ordinary train^^ I don't know why I would have expected anything different, but oh well. I was looking forward to train travel because I like being able to move freely during the journey :p Jonas prefers buses because they are cheaper, but since the travel time was the same, this time we took the train^^

The seats were very comfortable, and while I was writing yesterday's blog post, Jonas took a lot of photos :)

To my surprise, the train was quite shaky :D :D It was swaying slightly the whole time. The tracks are probably quite old ;-) With some snacks and looking out the window, the two hours passed quickly and we arrived in Ninh Binh!

Ninh Binh is located south of Hanoi near the coast and is mainly known for its rocks that stand in the middle of the otherwise completely flat plain. Here, you can explore caves and the surrounding area by water, and yeah, nature sounded great :)

When we arrived at the train station, a taxi driver approached us directly, and contrary to our usual caution, which often turned out to be unfounded, we followed him to his taxi. The price of 100,000 Dong (about €4) for the 5 km ride seemed reasonable, so we drove out of the city to our homestay in a smaller village.

Jonas followed the journey as always on Maps.Me, and when we realized that the driver was taking a completely different route, we became a bit suspicious. When we finally stopped, according to Maps.Me, we were completely wrong, so Jonas wanted to look around before we paid.

In the meantime, the driver looked at the phone number and called our host. She then came from a house about 20 m away, and so we arrived there. There is apparently another homestay with a similar name in the other direction, but here, we could simply trust the taxi^^

When we entered the homestay through the covered entrance (where we were given slippers to wear inside the house <3), we were immediately impressed. It looks so clean and chic here! Everything is tiled and looks European-modern. The family definitely has money ;-)

Our host is maybe around 30 years old (it's really hard to estimate the age of Asian women, I think^^), and she and her husband live here with their small children (I think three?). She told us that she opened the homestay to improve her English by talking to tourists. So, two rooms on the middle floor were "freed up" and can now be rented out to guests.

She also immediately brought out a homemade map marking the main attractions of the region and made suggestions for what we could do on which day^^ It was almost overeager, but not quite. It was really sweet and not at all intrusive. So cute <3

When we saw our room, we were thrilled. It's spacious (enough space so that the backpacks don't need to go IN the bed^^), it has a wardrobe, fridge, a great bed, and then the view from the window :O Wow!! It's so incredibly beautiful here that we are already considering staying longer than the planned two nights because it's so great^^

Since it was lunchtime, she offered to cook lunch for us (for a fee, but that's understandable^^). We both had noodles with vegetables and eggs, and it was really delicious <3 Jonas wanted soy sauce, but he didn't dare to ask for it. So, he took ketchup. And mayonnaise. And chili sauce. It looked pretty unappetizing, and unfortunately, it tasted the same. I don't know what got into him :p And to top it all off, he even salted his fried egg with sugar! :D :D Poor guy ;-)

After lunch, we headed to Mua Cave, which is 1.5 km away. Our host family also offers bicycles and scooters for rent, but we decided to explore everything on foot on the first day :)

The road to the cave is paved, and on both sides, there are small houses, mostly residential, but also some minimarts - like in a village^^ In addition to the few locals who were on the road at lunchtime, you mainly see tourists on bicycles and scooters. Due to the good surface, it's a popular choice, but as I said, it wasn't our choice for today ;-)

When you turn off the road and walk the 500 m "entrance" to the cave, you can already see the huge monoliths and the two viewpoints up there. Since the entrance is so long, there are several providers of paid parking spaces (also interesting for scooters and bicycles). But when you get to the entrance itself, you can see that you can just park there for free :p :D :D

The entrance fee to the area is about €4 per person, but you get something for it^^

The area in front of the cave and the viewpoints is an eco-lodge with countless photo spots. It is designed as a garden with small waterfalls, figures to sit on, swings, treehouses, and there is also a pond in the middle with a café on the peninsula.

Of course, the whole thing is pretty touristy (there are day trips here from Hanoi, and you could also see a few tour buses and vans at the entrance and groups on the premises), and it's a bit kitschy, but it wasn't over-the-top yet. I found it quite cool and pretty :)

First, we went up to the two viewpoints. The first few meters, the high rock stairs are shared, and then at some point, you can decide which way to go. Jonas immediately knew that we would go up both paths, and although I found it a bit strenuous, I was also immediately in favor of it because you could look in different directions from both viewpoints :)

The view from above was really stunning. From one viewpoint, you could see the rice fields below and also see that the path forms a heart shape <3 Additionally, you could see a few individually standing monoliths that are really special in the previously mentioned plain. In a mountain range, they wouldn't stand out, but here, they are something special^^

The other, higher point offered a view of the other side of the hill and the valley through which a river flows, on which you can take boat tours. This boat tour was suggested for tomorrow, but we're not quite sure yet if we want to do it because it's really touristy and maybe not as much fun when you're herded through in single file :D :D - that's also annoying: You're not allowed to row yourself but are guided by the locals, which neither Jonas nor I like so much^^

Well. Since the view was so great, the boats from the current tour somehow fit into the picture anyway. Jonas took some pictures of a tourist, and in return, he also took pictures of us. Yay! A group photo that's not a selfie :D :D

After this picture, we climbed a bit on the front side of the rock, where a reclining dragon is on display. I think you're not really supposed to go there, but it wasn't so dangerous, and you could see that some people had been there before us^^

The way down took me a bit longer again :p When we finally managed it, we briefly entered the cave itself, which was a bit of a disappointment :D :D There is a kind of grotto there, but apparently, it is currently full of water. The path is visible, but it's flooded by about 10 cm, so you can't go any further.

I can't say if it's possible to go further at other times, but if you had come just for the cave, you would probably be disappointed ;-)

There were a lot of Vietnamese people in the cave and around, who seemed to be celebrating a wedding and were already quite intoxicated. It smelled strongly of alcohol in the cave :D But yes, the entire property is definitely suitable for celebrations, even though it's an eco-lodge^^

As a final activity, Jonas and I walked through a field of lotus flowers, where he was very enthusiastic about the lotus effect. We took some more photos and finally swung on a bamboo swing while standing, just like we had "learned" in Hanoi :D Actually, it worked really well - much better than sitting, as the Americans next to us tried for the perfect photo^^

We were "finished" with the cave around 2:30 pm, but the other suggestion from our host for today was about 8 km away, and walking there sounded stressful since it gets dark around 5:00 pm.

Instead, another ATM mission was on the agenda :p I had seen on Google that there should be an ATM in the next village, so we set off. Past rice fields and over a bumpy road where a lot of dust was stirred up when there was traffic, we finally arrived in the city / village after what felt like an hour.

Just like the road where our homestay is located, hardly anyone was on the street there. The street scene somehow reminded me a bit of a Spanish town - buildings on both sides behind stone walls to keep the street shady during the day^^

If somebody was outside (and that happened more and more over time), they always waved at us and shouted "hello!". Even though there are already quite a few tourists here who don't just come for a day tour but stay overnight in one of the villages like us, some locals still seem to be quite fascinated by tourists :) In any case, they always seem interested and friendly <3

Since we don't have internet and the ATM is not marked on Maps.Me, we just kept moving towards the main street, and when we were almost tired, we finally saw the lifesaving sign :D :D

I tried to withdraw 5,000,000 Dong again, but as expected, it was unfortunately not possible. At least it spit out cash, so the trip wasn't completely in vain ;-)

Admittedly, the way itself was straight, but I still had a lot of fun. It's always great to "earn" things by walking :)

On the way back, we moved away from the marked paths and walked on the edges of the rice fields (where there were clear footpaths^^), which was also quite scenic :p Just before we returned to the paved road, we saw two locals collecting something in the rice fields, and when we happened to come across one of the full nets, we found snail shells there (we think^^). Interesting!

Back at the homestay, we "ordered" our dinner for today, and as I'm obviously writing a blog post right now, the sun is setting behind the hills outside. I think the sunset / dusk is really cool and pretty. I don't think Jonas is that enthusiastic about it :D :D But he at least nodded ;-)

Later, we'll have dinner, and tomorrow we'll explore the other direction - whether by bike or not, we'll decide more spontaneously^^

So, the first impression of Ninh Binh is very positive!!! It's super beautiful, the accommodation is great, and yeah, what more could you want? I'm looking forward to tomorrow morning when I can look out the window at the hills :p