Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh was one of our favority cities yet in Vietnam. The tourist population is minimal and mostly made up of backpackers so we had plenty of people to talk to when we wanted company.

On Thursday the hotel rented us a motorbike for about six bucks, gave me a 20 second lesson on how to drive and we were off to tour a boat village and nearby cave. Most of you probably know that I'm directionally challenged and hate driving, so this was a perfect chance to scare the hell out of both Audrey and myself. We followed another couple who had paid for drivers along with their bikes and, thankfully, they went slow enough on back roads so that we could keep up. After I got the hang of it I had a lot of fun but Auds had white knuckles the entire time on the bike.



The river was beautiful and quiet and everything that Ha Long Bay wasn't.



We were able to explore the cave by ourselves, but the real highlight was these two kids (~5 and 8 year old) that we met afterward.



We saw them ask another traveller for a cigarette so we gave them one of our oranges. They dug through our backpack and, I think, made fun of us for a few minutes before we had to get back to the boat. Once back to Ninh Binh proper we had a few Bia Hois with another couple and their Vietnamese guides. The guides told us how to say cheers in Vietnamese and many many other useful things that we've already forgotten.

I've also been slightly obsessed with the water buffalo since we got here. It is so ludicrous to me that these huge beasts are completely domesticated and grazing on the side of major highways. Here is a photo of one that we saw on our walk.