Ninh Binh
When we learned that the “Tet” (Asian New Year) was mainly celebrated as a family and that the majority of Vietnamese were taking leave, we chose to leave Hanoi and discover the south of the country. The trains were overbooked at this time to go to Hoi An and at excessive rates, so we decided to stop in Ninh Binh, 93 km from Hanoi or 3 hours by bus …
Ninh Binh is not very remarkable as a city,and the main attractions are found About 12km out of town such as the oldest pagoda of the country “Bai Dinh”, the magnificent karst of “Trang An” that can only really be apreciated by hiring one of the many Tour of boats (3 hours) , the cave “Mua Cave” which in itself is quite unimpressive but the climb up the karst with its endless And irregular steps leading to the summit ending with a breathtaking view of Tam Coc at one side and the ricefeilds and city at the other, and finally “Hoa Lu”, the ancient capital.
the area is also great for bike rides as it is relatively flat and the labyrinth of paths take you through the rice fields and villages and outcrops of karst’s
The hidden bonus of being in Ninh Binh for “Tet”, was that was very quite with no crowds of tourist and we really felt it was a VIP tour! … Normally there are 40 to 50 000 visitors a day visiting the pagoda and The famous caves .. !!! …. it really felt like we had the whole place to ourselves and made the bike rides enjoyable relaxing …
Quand nous avons appris que le “Tet” (nouvel an asiatique) se fêtait essentiellement en famille et que la majorité des Vietnamiens prenaient congé, nous avons choisi de quitter Hanoi et d’aller découvrir le sud du pays. Les trains étant surbookés à cette période pour se rendre à Hoi An et à des tarifs excessifs, nous avons donc pris la décision de faire un arrêt à Ninh Binh, à 93 kms de Hanoi ou à 3 heures de bus…
Ninh Binh n’a pas un centre extraordinaire, par contre les gens s’y arrêtent pour visiter la plus vieille pagode du pays “Bai Dinh”, son célèbre Tour de bateau “Trang An”, la grotte “Mua Cave” avec ses interminables et irrégulières marches menant au sommet mais offrant à la fin une vue imprenable de la ville, et enfin “Hoa Lu”, l’ancienne capitale.
Finalement nous avions bien fait de venir à Ninh Binh pour le “Tet”, il n’y avait pas foule et on s’est sentis vraiment en VIP!… En temps normal il y a 50 000 visiteurs par jour pour visiter la pagode et les fameuses grottes.. !!!.. Et les ballades à vélo étaient du coup reposantes…
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