Ninh Binh, Vietnam

We arrived in Ninh Binh in pouring rain. The only consolation was that it wasn't as cold as in the north.

In Ninh Binh, we took one of the boat tours that this place is known for. On the way to the boat tour, there were small stalls along the road showcasing whole lambs on tables, like a butter lamb at Easter, except they were grilled whole beforehand.

When we arrived, there were already several Vietnamese tourist groups, as it was the weekend, which we didn't consider, of course. Fortunately, there were 3 different tours to choose from and the tour groups only had time for the shortest ones. So there wasn't much traffic on our route. A Vietnamese woman skillfully paddled us through 9 small caves in a small rowboat.

Back at the starting point after the 2-hour tour, we were shocked. The water was full of small rowboats, and new passengers were constantly being distributed to the boats, like in Europa-Park. Well, luckily we were already finished.

Afterwards, we went to a viewpoint where we had to climb 500 steps. The exercise felt good after sitting on the bike daily for two weeks, and the view was spectacular. On one side, you had a great view of the river of the other boat tour, which goes through rice fields, and on the other side, you had a view over the flatlands adorned with many limestone hills.

Oli's text

Rahel's image editing