Ninh Binh, Heaven on Earth, Unbelievable Landscape and Views

Our first day trip was not to Ha Long bay, that is to come, this one is to the “Land Ha Long Bay” or better known as Ninh Binh. This is a city about 2 hour drive south of Hanoi. It was a city I wanted to visit when doing my research on the area because the nature looked spectacular, and the views were incredible. Its reputation lived up to the photos I saw online. We joined our tour group, just 7 of us and a super kind guide and driver that took us from Hanoi to this lovely city. We had a long drive ahead of us, I read most of the way (current read” Year of Yes”).

We got to our first stop which was a temple. Izzy and I wore shorts and tanks in anticipation for outdoorsy activities, so we had to borrow one of their skirts they offer to those in need of covering their knees. Once we had them on (pictured as the gray skirt in the photo), we were allowed to enter the temple. We learned a lot of the temples were targeted in the war to be destroyed, this one included, so it was rebuilt recently. This temple, heaviliy influenced by the Chinese, so much so it has it’s script on the columns as you enter the temple (pictured). Also, Vietnam has different temples for different purposes of prayers, the temple we visited was one for careers and business. It was a bit fitting, knowing that I would be entering that stage in my life when I returned from this trip, along with my dream of one day starting my own business. We spent about 20 minutes viewing the temple before moving onto our next activity, biking. 

We pulled into a more remote area, grabbed a bike, and followed our guide as we rode down a bumpy, dusty, and muddy road. But, it was so worth it. The views were absolutely incredible along this road, and it was definitely meant to be biked and not walked. The dreamiest point was about a 10 minute bike ride away, at a crossroads with this large limestones circling us. To make the picture even more perfect, some cows found a comfy calling to this road, chilling on the road and making a perfect companion for the photos. There was even a calf there and it was adorable. Izzy had the bravery to get a close photo, if you do not know this about me, I am quite fearful of wildlife, it really coming to fruition a few years ago when I thought I saw a wolf on a hike when I was all alone (no worries, it ended up being a wolf-looking dog, but it activated a fight or flight moment in my body the second that I wasn’t sure and since I’ve been mentally scarred). With the calf there, I kept my distance out of respect for the baby and it’s mother (also a tactic I picked up from my many hikes in bear territory, always good to be cautious). 

We stayed there for about 10 minutes, relishing in this incredible landscape and beauty, taking our fair share of photos that I am excited to show you all. We then hopped on our bikes and took the same way back. I think it’s so incredible when you do a down and back ride, the view is different on the way back and it almost feels like another new experience. One thing that wasn’t ideal was some of the trails/roads were not muddy enough to stop us, but muddy enough to muck our shoes and shins. Everyone of us got a little dirty so at least I wasn’t alone. My shoes needed a clean anyways so it’s not too bad to now be forced to do it.

Where we parked our bikes, that ended up being our lunch spot. Our sweet guide knew that we were vegetarian/vegan, and holy were we accommodated for. That was one of the best meals that we had, so much yummy sticky rice, perfectly flavored and baked tofu, roasted peanuts, vegetable crispy spring rolls, and fruit. I don’t think I’ve ever eaten that much in my life. I had a whole plate of tofu, about 4 servings of rice, 5 spring rolls, and half a plate of fruit. I wanted to fuel up for the rest of the day because I didn’t have many snacks, and I am still a college student at heart, so when I see free food, I consume as much as possible. We ate family style, getting to know the members in our group, meeting a Parisian couple. 

We then headed to our next activity, we got to go on a boat tour. I didn’t internalize the comment our tour guide made when he said to make sure to go to the bathroom because we wouldn’t be able to go about an hour and a half because we had the boat tour. I didn’t think that meant we would be on the boat for that long, which is exactly what happened. You can’t complain when you get more time than expected to slowly float down a river, with just you and your friend and a sweet older man rowing us along, with some of the most amazing views we’ve ever seen. We got lucky in that it was just Izzy and I in our own boat. We were silent for almost half of the boat ride just marveling at the incredible nature. We were both capturing the beauty, but even my nice camera could not do it justice. You just couldn’t put in a photo the panoramic view and the encapsulating feeling of being surrounded by these crazy large cliffs. It was a masterpiece on earth and we were lucky enough to experience it. And to experience it for almost an hour and a half. 

What’s so cool about these boat drivers is that they use their feet to row the boat. There are also so many rowers, the smart tourists that added this city to their agenda. This place, I already knew, was something not to miss and Izzy and I were so happy that we didn’t. It was a testament to the fact that money comes back, opportunities to see and witness such great beauty doesn’t. This was well worth the measly $50 we spent on the tour, and this being from just the boat ride alone. 

For the second half of the boat journey, it was a down and back, the down was already so long, when we turned right back around I couldn’t fathom that we were able to see it again, from a new perspective, and for so long as well. And fyi, zero complaints about this. But Izzy and I, now seeing it for the second time, broke the silence and starting chatting again. We were in awe and spoke in that way. We had revelations, we talked about the bigger picture of life, about being present and moments in life that don’t feel real, that feels like time passes slower, that this is something that could be stared at for the rest of your life. This is place worthy of being revisited, traveling halfway around the world to do it. If you know me, I love a good deep talk and for the conversation to be spurred by this was amazing. It gave me the opportunity to talk about why I travel, the core of my motivation to do so, and the importance of being present in that exact act. We were so present, so aware of the beauty, and so grateful for our lives, reflecting on the fact that we are truly lucky beyond words could say. 

So, that was our boat trip, and this day has been confirmed a good day just from our three activities, and yet we had one more to cap off the perfect day trip to Ninh Binh. We got to hike. I love hiking. I will admit the act of hiking up the hill always makes me question my love for it, but as soon as I get to the top and stare out at the result of my work, I am in utter awe and all of a sudden, it becomes well worth the straining effort. This hike, to say the least, was well worth it. It was about 15 minutes of straight stairs, some of those steps being quite steep, so it’s not for the faint of heart, but it went by quickly enough, and the views on the way up were so good a little break never hurt. Both sides of our view were incredible. On one side, we had an aerial view of the river that we had just row boated down, and the other side was a lotus flower field. We got lucky in the timing of the blooming of the lotus flowers, now being its peak time. I wasn’t aware of the heavy incorporation of the lotus flower in Vietnamese culture before I got here, but now I know it well. I had many noodle soup dishes with lotus flowers cut up it in, a dessert of louts seeds soaked in sugar water, and saw many bouquets of picked lotus flowers out for sale. I loved being able to see where and how they are grown, more about that later.

At the top of this hill, I had once again another moment where life was just too good. Where I was just too lucky. When I was seeing something just too beautiful. It was absolutely gorgeous and I could’ve spent my whole afternoon up there. We certainly took our sweet time up there, enjoying the view, drinking our water, and telling each other over and over again how beautiful this hike is. This view was beautiful… but we weren’t lol. It was hot and humid, even stepping outside will cause you to break a sweat so imagine adding in some exercise in this weather. Yep, we were soaked with sweat. I will bless you with some photos to prove to you point blank exactly what I mean. You could also guess where we were on our hike based on how much the sweat had accumulated by that point. But the crazy sweat stains did not faze us while in the presence of this beauty, plus we were overly confident in our editing abilities to take care of any imperfection in our looks. 

Drenched in sweat, we arrived at the lotus fields. We saw people there dressed to the nines having professional photo shoots, and Izzy and I looked like we went to war and back. Cute was the last thing we were. We have so many fantastic photos of the flowers for you to enjoy, a very limited about of us with them. We were both on the hunt for the perfect lotus flower, how did we do? It was a picture perfect place, again this city not disappointing and actually going above and beyond. We had only 20 minutes to walk around the flower fields, taking up so much time on the hike. We made it back to our tour guide on the dot when he said, squeezing every minute we could in our new favorite place.

That concluded our day trip, we were so happy with all we saw and were joyful that we booked this tour and saw this city, and be able to escape Hanoi for a day and reconnect with what we love, nature. The car ride home involved napping, reading, and planning for dinner, which ended up being a nearby Vietnamese vegan restaurant, we were for sure dehydrated from sweating so much, we both drank another round of electrolytes, knowing that the next two days we had another tour, the big one, Ha Long Bay.