Crossing over to 2012 in Hanoi – Day 2 (Ninh Binh, Hoa Lu, Tam Coc)
Date: Friday 30 Dec 2011
Stay: Hanoi Hostel, 32 Hang Vai
An eventful day! We had booked a day tour (USD24 per pax) to Ninh Binh, an old city where Hoa Lu, about 100km of Hanoi was the capital city of Vietnam under the Dinh Dynasty between AD968 and AD980. The itinerary included cycling along country side and sampan boat rides in Tam Coc, which was also known as the ”Halong Bay on land”.
We were supposed to be picked up for our Ninh Binh tour at about 8am but the mini bus came at 9am instead. When we boarded the vehicle, it was aleady packed and we had to settle for uncomfortable foldable seats behind the driver. It surprised us that we went on to pick up more passengers!
Our fellow passengers included Australians, Koreans, Thais, Malaysians, a Japanese and Singaporeans. And a French quartet who were actually just hitching the ride to Ninh Binh – more about this later…
So the very full mini bus, which was also very late, picked up the last two passengers, a German couple who were pretty agitated when they arrived. They kept asking the guide what time they’d be brought back as they had a train to catch. Due to the guide’s limited English, they kept repeating themselves till it was understood that they should be back in time. We thought we were finally on our way – it was now close to 10am – when barely 10 minutes later, the German guy started shouting that they needed to get off the bus. Both the driver and guide were in shock as the vehicle was still moving in the middle of the road. It escalated into shouts, “Open the door! Open the door!” It turned out that they were on the wrong bus and were supposed to be on another tour instead! The driver stopped by the road and they alighted quickly while the rest of us burst into laughter, amazed by the sudden turn of events!
Just when we had finally settled into our two and a half hours’ ride out of the city, another situation arose. The French quartet started to question the guide about their drop-off point as they had intended to hitch the ride to Ninh Binh centre instead of joining the itinerary. Due to the delays, the guide wanted to follow the schedule instead of dropping them off at the city centre first. He was also trying to explain to them that it would be difficult for them to travel around by themselves and better for them to follow the group. However, the French insisted that as “independent travellers”, they preferred to do it their own way and since they had informed the travel agency that they only wished to be dropped off at the city centre, the driver should drop them off first instead of following the group. Both sides had their own interests and fueled by language barriers, their discussion became acrimonious.
In the end, the driver got us to our first destination and we heard later that the guide got (and presumably paid for) a taxi for the quartet to send them to the city centre.
Our first stop was Hoa Lu, the dilapidated ancient citadel of Vietnam. The King used to reside and rule in the compound and there was a temple where people now pay respects to (a statue of) him. The area was surrounded by natural limestones. There were many students this day, probably on school excursions. A group of them decided that some of the Australian guys in our tour group looked like popstars as they surrounded them for photoshoots.
Hoa Lu, ancient capital of Vietnam
Local students enamoured with "pseudo-star" from the tour group
After the simple meal, some of us went on the cycling route on our own. We were given 45mins to ride on a direct return route through a village and paddy fields. It was a good choice as the scenery was beautiful. We made a few photo stops along the way.
Taking in countryside sights
Meanwhile, the rest went on the sampan boat ride. We caught up with them later and boarded the small boats rowed by young girls and/or old ladies. Each boat can take about a maximum of three persons, excluding the rowers. It was thrilling in the beginning to be in the waters as we paddled out along the river. But the ride soon lost its novelty after an hour. We rowed through three caves and saw lots of limestone peaks. It was serene on the river. I can imagine how tiring it would be to row the boat and why the ladies would use their feet to row instead.
Scenic sampan ride along Tam Coc river
Along the way, there would be “friendly” photographers with DSLRs who would offer to take pictures of you on the sampan and ladies rowing aside you, trying to hawk drinks and souvenirs such as postcards and embroidery cloths. In fact most of the sampans had a metal box on them which the rowers would open at some point on the ride to try and sell you the items. Although I understand their economic needs and I disliked the subtle coercion.
In the tiny sampan along Tam Coc river
To make up for not giving them sales, we set aside the tips for the ladies to be given to them after our ride. However, even before we reached the harbour, they started to ask for tips blatantly. Instead of feeling disgusted, I felt pity that for the hard work, they make meagre earnings. We tried to tell them that we would give them when we reach the harbour. At one point, we did wonder if they would refuse to let us off unless we gave them the tips.
Although the ride was scenic, I am not sure that getting stuck on the sampan boat for almost two hours was worth it as we could not move much (as the boat would tip precariously) and we felt pressured to ”contribute” to the rowers’ earnings. If you are thinking of visiting in summer, be prepared with sunblock and a wide brim hat!
One last drama for this trip – we had a young Japanese lady in the group who was travelling alone and she had a plane to catch this evening. As our schedule was met with delays, she was becoming late for her taxi ride at her hotel to the airport. We were still speeding on the expressway at the time her taxi ride was arranged. Traffic in the city centre would be horrendous. The guide realized that we were not going to make it in time and asked if she could change her flight. Some of us suggested instead that they try to contact the taxi driver and get him to pick her up along the way instead and proceed directly to the airport. I was amazed that she could remain calm, or maybe she was just helpless. In the end, the taxi driver managed to meet her outside of the city centre but even then he had to rush her to the airport, with just an hour and a half to her departure time. It takes about 45 minutes to travel to the airport, assuming no heavy traffic.
Till this date, I’m not sure if she made it in time for her flight – I hope she did. I would strongly advise would-be travellers not to pack your itinerary too tightly and stressing yourself out. Always allow time for unknown circumstances.
We were dropped off near the lake area. In anticipation of our Halong Bay trip the following day, we decided to buy some bread or snacks. Managed to buy some (expensive) pastries (chocolate croissant @ VND 39,000) and a loaf of wholemeal bread (@ VND50,000) at some bakeries. Later on, we discovered some local bakeries along the streets which sold far more appetizing pastries at much lower prices. I guess Murphy’s Law applied again!
Feeling hungry, we had a quick dinner at Pho 10 along Ly Quoc Su. It was one of the recommended shops in my guidebook. We each had a bowl of Pho Bo (beef soup noodles) at VND30,000 (SGD1.80/ USD1.20 approx.). However, both of us felt that the Pho Bo we had at Bat Dan streetside was much more fragrant.
Pho 10 at Ly Quoc Su street
It was close to 9pm when we headed to Rising Dragon hotel (USD57 a night) near Hong Da mall – W’s friends from Shanghai who would be joining us the next few days were arriving. The hotel was of good class although it was located along a quiet and hard to spot alley in Nguyen Quang Bich street. The hotel staff had good service though – upon knowing that we were waiting for our friends to arrive and check-in, one of them served us water without us even asking for it!
When T and S finally arrived, they were informed that due to overnight renovation works next door, the hotel had arranged for them to stay at another sister hotel instead. It was a cheaper hotel and a much more convenient location though. The staff arranged and paid for a taxi to bring us to Indochina hotel (USD 40 a night). It was a mere five minutes’ drive away, on Au Trieu street, next to St Joseph’s cathedral. Two of the hotel staff met us there (they rode their bikes there) to ensure that all was settled. They went through all the hassle despite that our friends were just staying for one night.
I later found out that Rising Dragon had just opened for six months while Indochina had been around for years (but refurbished). Both hotels had about 35-40 rooms. I was impressed with Rising Dragon’s staff service so I had to mention it here.
We bought bottles of water (1.5l at VND10,000) from the minimart for our trip and after dropping off the stuffs at our room, we headed off to the night market.
There is a major night market along Hang Duong every weekend from Fri – Sun. It starts from Hang Dao all the way to Dong Xuan market. Portable stalls would set up in the middle of the road from about 7pm onwards and last till about 11pm. The human traffic would move in one same direction on each side of the stalls. It took us about an hour to finish walking up and down the entire market, with little shopping done. Most of the stalls were selling seasonal winter wear. I got some belts (from VND 30,000 onwards). Despite what I read about bargaining in Vietnam, I found that most of the sellers were not keen to bargain and most could not speak English so (minimal) bargaining was done with the pressing of calculator buttons.
Bustling night market along Hang Duong
We had a long day and would have to wake up early the next day so we decided to retire back to pack our bags. It was already close to 12am when we finally hit the beds.
