Ninh Binh

Despite the hour's wait for the taxi and witnessing yet another motorbike accident, we finally caught a bus and headed toward Ninh Binh to meet my friend Keith who was making his way down from Ha Noi. He'd been here almost exactly one year ago and was kind enough to show us the local attractions, along with his local friend Kien. The five of us spent Sunday and Monday seeing the sights around the area.

First we hit Hoa Lu, the ancient capitol of Viet Nam (968-1009 CE). It's surrounded by the limestone formations that dot the area around Ninh Binh, which proved to be a good defense against the Chinese invasions of the time.

Then we headed to Hang Mua, a cave (man-made, it seems) and an amazing view as a reward for the 463-step climb. I suggested they make those rises a little lower and up the number of steps, because dang, those were some steep stairs. Always a fun adventure for someone with a fear of heights. Eek. We had to step carefully to avoid the plentitude of fecal proof of the mountains goats that proliferate in the area.

So after all those stairs up, this is the view we got. I hate cliches, but honestly, it was breathtaking. The rain was coming in and it was amazing just to see so far out and around. It's refered to as the "Ha Long Bay in the Rice Fields" which is a pinpoint description. Beautiful.

After our descent we headed to Tam Coc, a one-hour boat ride through three caves, up and back. it's really beautiful, and worth the 55,000VND fee, but not super amazing. Audrey pouted and had to paddle, we got the hard sell and managed to get out with only buying 2 drinks and shrimp crackers. It was a relaxing bit for us alone while Keith and Kien had an afternoon nap.

We finished there, found the guys and headed to Bich Dong, a series of pagodas built up the mountainside. The second pagoda is an entrance to the cave and internal ascent to the third pagoda. The kids managed to trick me into climbing up the mountain--heart palpatations be damned. We followed the well-used hand and foot holds up the mountainside until it became clear that it wasn't so safe (the skull and crossbones were a good sign). Both kids wanted to venture off, but I was a cruel mother and made them head down to safety instead.

On the second day (today), we headed out to Phat Diem, a Christian enclave about 45km southwest of Ninh Binh. There are quite a few churches in the area, but there's a central complex that is the main tourist attraction. Somehow they merged Roman Catholic architecture with Asian architecture and it worked, even though it does seem odd to see a Christ statue in this land of Budda.

For lunch we stopped at a local restaurant and while I cannot give a glowing review of the food, I can say that the bottled body parts were quite intriguing. Snakes. Goat testicles. Cat feet. Really, who thought you could find this stuff next to your lunch table? Truly bizarre.

And the reason for my sunburned face and arms? I got to ride the motorbike! All by myself on the way and with Stuart as my passenger on the bumpy return ride. Interesting how doing the things that scare me really does make me less scared. I'd fretted about the bike ride, that I wanted so badly to do, for the past week... up until I'd been riding for about 2 minutes. Then all my panic just slipped away and I was sure I could do it. And I did.

Special thanks to Keith and Kien for making the holiday extra grand. We even got to catch up on "Heroes," a show we actually miss. I think we're actually one episode behind still, but we'll just hit iTunes for that.