LittleSandyBeach

After arriving in Hoa Lu which is the capital of Ninh Binh province and also the ancient capital of Vietnam, we first checked out the Lying Dragon Mountain which is about 20 minutes outside of the city centre. It has around 500 steps to climb to the summit and it was 37 degrees…

Surrounding the area was a beautiful lotus lake which you can walk around on wooden walkways. Surprisingly it consists of water lilies and lotus flowers.

Also underneath the mountain is Mua Cave. It’s a rather small cave but didn’t look very structurally sound so we did a speed walk through!

Every evening for four days straight we ate at the same Pho place called Pho An. As all good things it was hidden down a dark alleyway and was amazing. A Chicken Pho was 40,000 VND (£1.14).

Only a 5 minute walk from our guesthouse was a lovely coffee shop called May Cafe and Bakery. We had lots of lovely teas and juices and also a tiramisu.

Our next outing was to the Buffalo Cave which is just outside the popular town of Tam Coc. It’s 75,000 VND to enter (£2.15) which includes a free drink, duck feed, buffalo feed, access to a natural swimming lake, fishing, and a trail around the cave… our best deal yet!

After not very long at all I caught probably the biggest fish I’ve seen in Asia. Unfortunately we didn’t have scales but we’d guess at over 100 lbs!!

In the evening we strolled down to the old town which features many shops and restaurants surrounding the Ky Lan Lake. The main highlight is the Tu An Tower which stands in the middle of the lake.

Just next to the lake we found a great cocktail bar called Ume. Tasha picked her cocktail not on flavour but the one with a free mini Non La (traditional Vietnamese hat).

On our last day in Ninh Binh we visited Thung Nham Bird Park. We firstly went into the Mermaid cave which is around 500 metres long. Be prepared to have a sore back as at most points you can’t stand up!

We took a wrong turn walking around the park but stumbled across a collection of old Vietnamese/Soviet trucks.

After finding the correct path we walked along a 1.5km trail through the forest and then up 100 steps to the viewing platform to see the birds…

Included in the entrance ticket you can get a boat trip into the Buddha cave. It is pitch black inside so one person on each boat is given a head torch. It was extremely humid to the point it looked steamy!

The guesthouse we stayed at was very laid back and inviting. We were treated like family and had an evening with them, and the best part was the free beer!

We left Ninh Binh yesterday on a train to Vinh. It took around 4 hours and even had aircon! We’re in Vinh for 3 nights, the main attraction is a small village just outside the city where Ho Chi Minh grew up.