Tour de Trijo ;-) (Day 94 of the world trip)

07.12.2019

The dinner (tofu in tomato sauce, rice, and smoothies for dessert) was really tasty <3 When I brought the dishes back to the kitchen, our host asked if we would like to sit with her in the living room and chat, so she could practice/improve her English :)

Since we didn't have anything else planned except watching bouldering, I immediately said yes and for the next two hours, there were four of us (at the beginning, her husband was also there, but he eventually went to the children, who are 1 and 5 years old) and later, there were three of us.

First, we had some small talk with the usual questions (e.g. about our travel route) and then the conversation became more "open", so it somehow kept flowing with various topics. We found out that they have known each other since 1st grade and went to school together, both come from Ninh Binh, and she used to be an elementary school teacher while he is an electrical engineer.

Since the school where she taught is 20 km away from here and she had little time for the house, the children, and her husband due to commuting, she eventually decided to quit her job. She then spent two months taking an intensive English course in the city and afterwards opened her house as a homestay, since two rooms are available.

Really cool! The conversation reminded me a little bit of our conversations with young adults in Laos. Our hosts also have the dream of eventually having enough money to travel outside of Vietnam and yeah... When you see this fancy house, you can't imagine how expensive traveling must be for them if they can't afford it yet :O Crazy.

The last half hour, we watched (apparently typical Vietnamese/Asian) YouTube videos about snakes. Our host was very afraid of snakes, which is not completely unfounded here in Vietnam. By watching these videos, she now has less fear.

That sounds understandable and nice, but the videos themselves were quite cruel to the animals :( The snakes that end up in houses are not simply caught and released, but it becomes a huge show to torment the animal, eventually catch it, and then present its length and weight. Instead of releasing them into the forest, they are sold for a lot of money and, for example, killed and put into a glass bottle filled with wine. I had never seen something like this before and I will definitely not become a fan :p

Out of politeness, we stayed a little longer and watched these videos together, but eventually we went upstairs to our room (and watched bouldering^^).

The night was very pleasant. The bed is comfortable, it wasn't too cold or too warm, and yeah, we woke up today feeling refreshed :)

For breakfast, Jonas ordered noodles with vegetables and this time he asked for soy sauce instead of ruining the taste with his sauce creation :p :D :D I had banana pancakes, which were delicious, and peach tea <3

We always review all accommodations diligently on Booking.com and I can't think of anything against a 10 out of 10 here!!! It's clean, spacious, friendly, delicious food, free breakfast, and all for €4/night/person...

After breakfast, we rented bicycles as planned – a Dutch bike and a "regular" bike, both definitely a few years old^^ Jonas got the ladies' bike :p I wanted to take a picture of him because he looked really cute on it, but unfortunately I wasn't allowed to -.-

Since it's quite flat here and the main roads are concrete, cycling was very pleasant. It reminded me a little bit of cycling trips on the Baltic Sea^^ Especially since it was still quite cool when we left at 8:30 am (not that it stopped Jonas from riding in shorts and a T-shirt at 13°C... It's warm in the sun ;-) ).

Our first stop for today was Trang An, a UNESCO World Heritage site located 3.5 km away. Many now call it "cheap Halong", as it is similar to the very famous Halong Bay, where you cruise on a boat through the water, passing by huge rocks and through caves.

Contrary to what we said yesterday, today we decided to go on such a boat tour, as Jonas read so many great things about it online during breakfast^^ For €8 and almost 3 hours of sailing with several "landings", you can't go wrong ;-)

When we arrived at the entrance, we were immediately directed to a paid parking lot for bicycles and motorbikes. Yeah yeah yeah... Then we bought our tickets and could choose one of three possible routes to take. We didn't want to take Route 1 because we hoped that this would be the group of tours and that we could escape the crowds a bit :p

When we walked through the tracks and the turnstiles, similar to an amusement park before a roller coaster, we chose a boat for Route number three and shared it with two young Vietnamese women. Our rower (yes - it is rowed by hand, which is very impressive in terms of eco-friendliness in a place like this!! At least no direct water pollution due to engines <3 ) was at least 50 or 60 years old and a petite person, but she rowed us through the water for the whole 2.5 hours. Amazing!!! :O

As soon as we started, we quickly realized that many other people had also chosen Route number 3, so initially there was no opportunity to take photos without including other people :D :D Although this is not what most tourists hope for, it was completely okay because we didn't expect anything different :)

Honestly, I even found it quite fun to observe the other people :p In all the boats, there are small additional rowers so you can support the main rowers. Jonas was quite diligent with that, and I also tried a few times, but I didn't have the power to keep up with the pace of our rower, so I put the oar aside so she wouldn't have to row against me as well :D :D

The scenery was beautiful. The rocks are impressive, the water looked fantastic with the sunshine and the different lighting, and often we could see plants and occasionally even fish underwater <3 The three caves on our route were 1,000 meters, 400 meters, and 180 meters long.

The first one felt very long to me. Rowing a whole kilometer is real work ;-) The ceiling was sometimes quite low, so we had to duck, and the two Vietnamese women would gently push on our life jacket from behind when they felt that they needed to "protect" us. Very sweet^^

At about halfway through the long cave, I started to get a bit nervous again. It was quite stuffy, there were boats everywhere, and the ceiling was low. Not for someone like me :D It was quite cool, but I was very very glad when we were back in the fresh air^^

The landings were actually quite boring :p There was always a temple to see and unfortunately, we are now completely tired of temples^^ But it is part of the tour and cannot be skipped ;-) Our two fellow passengers were also not very interested in the temples, but they were very interested in taking the perfect selfie. At one of our stops, we waited for them for a few minutes, and even our rower seemed to wonder where they were^^ Jonas eventually went to look for them, which seemed to please our rower and she found it very amusing :D Shortly afterwards, he returned with the two of them and our rower laughed heartily. Really cool :)

After about 2.5 hours or so, we finally arrived back at the entrance. Looking back, the view was really beautiful, but we might not recommend it if you don't enjoy slow boat rides :p Especially since, when we continued our journey, we had the same view as from the boat :O The road actually runs between the rocks. Okay, you're not as close and it's definitely prettier from the water, but if all you want to do is admire the surroundings, cycling is sufficient.

Of course, Jonas immediately picked up the pace, but when I told him that this is not the Tour de France, we rode a bit slower and could enjoy the view^^ Since it was already lunchtime, we were both hungry enough to look for a cafe/restaurant.

About 10 minutes later, we arrived at a stretch on the main road, where there were plenty of food options on both sides. Women sit outside with laminated menus and immediately jump up to wave them and beckon whenever someone passes by :D It looked quite funny, and the ladies were very committed to convince potential customers^^

In the end, Jonas and I decided on a "Meat / No Meat" restaurant, which also offered "Free Fruits"! Well, we had to take advantage of that ;-) For €2, we each got a main course (Jonas had noodle soup and then helped me with my rice dish, as soup doesn't really fill you up, but he keeps forgetting that :p) and yeah. The free fruits consisted of an orange cut into four pieces. Sweet :D :D But - the orange was very tasty ;-)

In total, it was about 13 km from Trang An to our next destination, Bai Dinh. For inexperienced cyclists like us (or at least for me^^), it always sounds like a lot. But actually, it was completely fine and since it looked so beautiful on both sides, it was really fun.

When we finally arrived in Bai Dinh, we had to pay for parking our bikes again. It's kind of ridiculous :p The little things hardly take up any space, but okay. That's how the Dong rolls ;-)

By the way, Bai Dinh is the largest pagoda in Vietnam or Southeast Asia (Jonas and I remember differently^^). The area where several temples, bell towers, a Buddha statue, and a very tall stupa are located is huge!!!

Right at the entrance, you can buy a ticket for the electric car (a slightly larger golf cart). Jonas and I actually wanted to walk, but we only saw signs like "Electric car only. No walking", so we reluctantly bought the ticket.

But that was only possible after we found the portable toilet that I carelessly left on the luggage rack of my bike!! :O We couldn't find it in the backpack, and when I looked through the pictures on the camera, I saw that it was well camouflaged on the luggage rack :O So I hurried back and luckily, it was still exactly where I had forgotten it!!! Phew!

At the counter, we were asked if we wanted a one-way or a return ticket. Since we didn't really understand the map of the area and I wanted to be thrifty, we each bought a one-way ticket and would see where we would end up and especially how we would get back^^

When we arrived at one of the electric cars, there was still one seat available in two of the four rows. Since Jonas and I didn't really mind whether we sat together or separately, we sat behind each other. Suddenly, the passengers (all Asians) next to Jonas and me stood up and changed seats until Jonas and I were allowed to sit alone in a row :D :D Whether they had a problem sitting next to one of us or whether they just wanted to be polite/nice, I don't know^^

The ride lasted maybe 5-10 minutes and then we were dropped off at a large gate without any comments or signs. Maybe we would have had a better plan if we had informed ourselves in advance about this sight, but being clueless is somehow funnier :D :D

There was a first temple and from there, we climbed up a long staircase. The side walls were full of showcases with golden Buddha statues, and in front of the wall, there were countless stone figures of monks or other important people. The ceiling was also pompously decorated and so we climbed floor by floor to the top.

Every now and then, there was a level where there was either a large temple or, for example, a bell tower with a really big bell :O But contrary to our expectations, there was no pendulum inside, but a large "pole" outside that is struck against the bell like a gong :)

The highlight of the buildings is probably the stupa, a huge tower almost at the top of the hill. For a small fee, you can also go inside (after some hesitation, we decided that the view from the top must be great, so we bought the ticket). At the entrance, to protect the tiles, you have to put fabric covers over your shoes, which look quite silly^^

We climbed up two floors of stairs, but then there was an elevator. Since there are still 12 floors to go until the top (and the stairs are not publicly accessible anyway^^), we took the elevator up to the 12th floor. From there, you can climb stairs again and admire the golden dome and the truly magnificent decorations. Not bad!

But then we went back to the level where the elevator stops to use the small outdoor tour for the view. When we were there, we perhaps understood for the first time how the complex is structured :p :D The view was great :)

On the way there, I would have liked to take some photos, but it's inconvenient while cycling because you would have to stop every time. But from the top, we could capture a bit of the area we had cycled through - because, as mentioned a thousand times, it was really beautiful ;-)

After visiting the stupa, we briefly looked at the Buddha and the tallest and largest of the temples (from the outside), and then we returned to the entrance.

The way back (for pedestrians) was actually signposted and when we finally reached the bottom, we walked through an alley with food stalls and souvenir or candy shops on both sides. Some of them were already empty (maybe because more people ride the electric car back instead of walking for 20 minutes? ;-) ) but at all the others, we were greeted and encouraged to make a purchase.

When we finally "survived" this alley, we actually ended up at the entrance without ever passing through a turnstile or anything like that. That means, you can actually do the whole thing for free if you simply use our return route as the entrance :O

But of course, that is not signposted, so that everyone pays the fee to ride the cart. Really clever ;-)

A bit exhausted, we went back to our bikes, and when we started riding again, Jonas approached two French tourists and explained to them how they could do the whole visit for free^^ When he then rode towards me, I even managed to capture him on the bike once, but I bet that photo is not allowed in the blog... tzz... :D

On the way back, we finally bought (really :p) some snacks for the next few days, made a few photo stops, and then around 4:30 pm or so, we arrived back at our homestay. Since then, I've been writing the blog without finishing for some reason. Dinner will be served in 20 minutes, so I have to wrap it up now :D :D

We still don't feel anything in our legs, but tomorrow will probably be more of a hiking day. But we'll decide that spontaneously^^

Today's bike ride is definitely the number one tour we've done on the world trip ;-) :D