This little doggy went to market…

20.Aug.08

Arriving at 5am is never fun, especially compiled with the stress of finding a place to stay, having only mediocre sleep on a bus, and being almost completely cashless. The bus dropped us off at one of the only hotels in town. Thankfully it was budget and clean, so instead of running around, we just stayed put and caught a few more Zzz’s before deciding to awaken for the day.

Our first priority for the day was refilling the wallet with some cash. Jessica spent an hour on the phone with Wells Fargo and managed to get money wired direct from her account free of charge to any Western Union bank in the city. Thanks Wells Fargo! Holding our new Dong and Dollars was a relief from the fiasco a day before.

In the last blog I complained about the heat, which somehow increased to ever more unearthly degrees and humidity. Completely burnt out and having no desire to face the sun again, we spent the rest of the day doing almost nothing. We did eat at a nice restaurant down the street where I ordered the weirdest thing we have ever eaten. It consisted of very rare goat meat with rinds of tough inedible flesh attached complete with hair follicles, then rice paper to wrap them in with slices of green banana flower, pineapple, and some sort of bitter tree leaves. The meat was spiced with lime, lemongrass, sesame seed, and then it was all dipped in a sweet white curry-like sauce; I must say, it was quite delicious! Jess tried it, but understandably preferred her meal. Cheap 3,000 Dong beers washed the food down well. That was the highlight of the day.

21.Aug.08

Ninh Binh is a hideous city along a stretch of hwy 1 connecting Saigon to Hanoi. We took a left turn on our motorbike, however, and the city instantly cleared away within a blocks distance, and what left were miles of stunning scenery. The massive limestone blocks and sprawling fields of rice were reminiscent of Laos, spotted with tiny villages and many intricate and beautiful graveyards. After about 10km’s we arrived at our destination, the Trang An caves, and found it empty of tourists and only a handful of attendants by a lake floating dozens of empty boats along the shore. We paid the $7 for a boat ride through caves, which seemed like a lot of money, until we realized the unbelievable adventure which awaited us.

In all we traveled through eight caves and stopped three times at different temples. Some caves were more exquisite than others, but all were beautiful. We were always surrounded by huge limestone cliffs covered in greenery.  It was a stunning journey which took over 3 hours with us being among the very few tourists on the water that day. Even when we stopped we were greeted with an unusual peace and quite. Most often on trips like this the moment we stop we get swarmed with people trying to sell cold drinks and souvenirs. Not once did this happen, which seemed great at first, until we realized that it also meant there was no water to be found anywhere. Having stupidly not brought any we suffered from thirst until the journey was over.

We motorbiked back to the city and sat down at a restaurant filled with noisy locals (usually a sign of good food). Quenched our thirst, had a tasty meal, then headed off to explore the local market. People always go on about how the Vietnamese eat dog, yet we have never seen it advertised on the menu, nor have we seen it in markets, this was the first.

The locals laughed as I took these pics, I don’t think many tourists wander through this random market area. After the rows of dog head we headed out again determined to get the most use out of our rented motorbike. We wandered around the outskirts of the city, seeing the entrance to another set of more touristy caves we heard were not as good as the ones we saw. Drove around some small villages, saw more dramatic scenery, and then called it a day.  It was a short, fun stay in Ninh Binh.

Ninh Binh Flickr Photos:

http://flickr.com/photos/flufflebuns/sets/72157606873756113/