Hey, everyone! Since my Cát Bà adventure, I’ve been slowly venturing towards southern Vietnam. I have spent the past week in both Ninh Bình and Phong Nha, two lovely parts of the country but pretty different from the other sections I’ve visited so far. Vietnam is proving to be incredibly diverse, that’s certain.

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Ninh Bình

From Việt Hải Village, I had yet another crazy commute day. A ferry back to Cát Bà Town, a bus to another ferry. And after that, the bus leading to Ninh Bình. Luckily, the bus dropped me off right across the street from my accommodation. I didn’t arrive until early evening so I didn’t have time for much exploring that first day.

I checked into a homestay where the host was really lovely. As is the trend, she hardly spoke a lick of English, but she was very sweet and always calling out when she would see me. Again, I opted for a private room instead of a hostel which is just… the way to go, honestly. Slightly more expensive, but not by much. And I get peace and quiet. I can watch shows on my laptop without disturbing anyone. I can unpack some of my belongings, etc. What more can a person ask for?!

I did go for a walk around town that first night. The area was clearly catering to tourists. A lot of western restaurants, little pop-up waffle and bubble tea stands, etc. I was like – WHERE are my local food joints? I want some bún chả, damn it! I did end up finding bún chả. That restaurant was the first restaurant I think I’ve been at in Vietnam that had back support on the chairs hahaha. Imagine!

I only had a couple of things planned during my time in Ninh Bình, but one of them was a must: visiting Vân Long Wetland Reserve in hopes of spotting the critically endangered Delacour’s langurs. This particular species of monkey only has a remaining population of roughly 200. Not quite as endangered as the Cát Bà langurs, but these numbers are pretty low, too!

Prior to arriving in Ninh Bình, I thought I would visit Tam Cốc (a part of that region) first, then stay at another homestay closer to Vân Long. I would then visit the reserve from there. After researching, it seemed like Vân Long was a little too remote. While I do like the beauty and peace of rural areas, I also like the convenience of easy access to ATMs, restaurants, etc. So instead, I decided to stay in Tam Cốc.

ALSO, weather continues to play a significant role in my Vietnam travel. I checked the weather forecast and it seemed like the only clear morning was going to be the day after my arrival in Ninh Bình. While I’d planned to visit later, I figured I should take advantage of a clear morning where the langurs were more likely to be active.

Vân Long Wetland Reserve

I had rented a bicycle from my homestay and around 6.30am, I set out for Vân Long Wetland Reserve. It was a little over an hour by bicycle. I really should have just hired a scooter but I’ve heard Vietnam tends to be stricter than other spots in terms of checking for motorbike licenses, etc. Plus, riding a bicycle seemed like a classic staple of Ninh Bình. All around town, everyone was riding the one-gear bicycles with the baskets in the front.

I rode along, checking GoogleMaps regularly to ensure I was on the right path. I was cruising along busy streets and highways for most of the adventure but the scenery was still nice. As the sun rose, I was able to observe low fog hanging over the rice fields. Mountains sprouted up in the distance.

Ninh Bình is known as being “Hạ Long Bay on Land,” a perfect Segway from where I’d just been. At first, I didn’t see it. While I was some mountains in the distance, it wasn’t until later that I would understand the comparison.

I am not much of a biker so by the time I arrived at the ticket office for the wetland reserve, I was READY to sit my ass down on a boat. My poor legs! Biking is a workout, for real. Even my abs felt it the next day.

The way it works at Vân Long is you board a small wooden boat with a local, who slowly rows you through the wetland. I told my guide right away that I was hoping to see langurs. She didn’t understand English. “Monkeys,” I said with a smile. That, she understood.

Along the way, we passed by the occasional blooming lily pad. Ninh Bình has lily pads all over and during the season, the blooms are surely gorgeous. My guide spotted an interesting bird and pointed it out to me.

Why did I have to go on a boat to try to see the langurs? The boat route passes next to limestone cliffs, which is the habitat of the Delacour’s langurs. These cliffs are STEEP but somehow, these monkeys live their lives there.

The river curved and before long, we were rowing parallel to the cliffs. There was one other group on the river and they spotted the langurs first. I nearly jumped out of my seat. And actually, my seat (which was a wooden plank balancing on either edge of the boat) collapsed as we neared the langurs. DAMN IT – surely that ruckus would scare the langurs away.

But nope. It didn’t.

I couldn’t believe just how close they were. I was 95% certain if I saw the langurs at all, it would be from a distance and details would only be visible from my zoom lens. I was wrong. One of them was directly in front of us, before it climbed a little higher up the cliff.

I was so excited to see them! I truly love the rare things – creatures that are a privilege to see due to their endangered status.

The contrast between the white and black was very unique. And the mohawks and beards they rocked were so goofy. What interesting creatures.

There must have been about ten langurs in the area and we were able to watch them for probably half an hour at a relatively close distance. Some were higher up on the cliff, but others were much closer.

The other group continued along their boat tour but I gestured to my guide that I wanted to stay put – so much so that I didn’t follow the complete route of my “boat trip.” Because my plan was to see these langurs, I didn’t care so much about a scenic boat cruise. And plus, less rowing for my guide!

I was amazed at how the langurs climbed across the grooves of the cliff and even balanced on its narrow edges. How were these guys not sliding right off and into the water below? But no, monkeys are masters at navigating tricky terrain.

Now and again, a monkey or two would move off into another area. A few of them were foraging for food but others were just kind of chilling, from what it seemed. I had read that early mornings were a great time to see them because they come down to warm up as the sun starts to rise.

I kept snap, snap, snapping photos. I was pleased to see that even my guide had pulled out her phone and took a photo or two. It made me think that it must not be too often people are able to see them so close. Some of the Google reviews I read online had photos and the langurs always looked pretty far away.

After I felt satisfied, I decided it was time we leave the monkeys alone. I was thrilled to have seen them but I also didn’t want to disturb their serenity for much longer. I told the guide we could head back to the dock. Didn’t I want to go for the rest of the boat cruise, she tried to ask me? No, it’s okay. Ninh Bình had a couple of other boat cruises I maybe was going to check out and the langurs had been my main mission.

What a success! I was so pleased with how it all turned out. Yay!

Tràng An World Heritage Site

After Vân Long, I took another path back towards my accommodation. I had researched what the “must do’s” of Ninh Bình were and one of them was the Tràng An boat cruise. Tràng An is a UNESCO site and is very popular for boat rides around the area. It seems there are three boat cruises people can opt to do around Ninh Bình – Tam Cốc, Tràng An, and Vân Long. Maybe there are more? But those are the three I saw advertised.

While riding from Vân Long, I noticed a structure high atop a mountain. It seemed somewhat out of place. I wish I’d taken a photo of it. As I got closer, I realized it was actually a pagoda. What I had seen was the largest pagoda in Vietnam! It towered above the mountain like a skyscraper. I’ve never seen anything like that before.

After a brief stop for breakfast, I discovered I was passing by Tràng An. I initially had planned to visit the next day, but the weather called for rain. Should I go? SHOULD I? After realizing the boats don’t have roofs, I decided I should just go for it. It was a partly cloudy day and I had no idea just how bad the rain might be the next day. With no way of keeping dry in the boat… better to deal with the sun than the rain.

After the tranquility of Vân Long, Tràng An was sheer chaos. Between the tour bus groups and other travelers, the amount of people on the river was insane. It was practically impossible to get a photo without other boats in the shot.

(The shots below are actually from the very end of the tour, near where all the guides are waiting to start their next rides.)

I was able to choose one of three river routes, all of them about three hours. It was 11am at this point and I was set to be sitting in the sun during the hottest part of the day. AHH! Luckily, about halfway through, I realized the boat had umbrellas to shade oneself from the sun. I wish I’d known that sooner. I shared a boat with an Israeli couple and they offered one to me.

Our guide rowed along the river, following the hordes of other boats. It was basically a conveyor belt. I could say maybe it spoiled the experience but it was laughably absurd. So many people!

The area was beautiful, though, and was home to some historical artifacts.

There were old temples from the Dinh and Le dynasties.

We passed under caves, too – but I was no stranger to that after having come from Lan Hạ Bay.

The comparison started to make sense to me – the landscape and mountain formations did have a similar vibe to those along the Hạ Long / Lan Hạ Bay archipelago. So beautiful.

Now and again, we were afforded the opportunity to get off the boat and walk around the temple grounds. Each stop typically had numerous shrines in the area for us to explore.

There would be times where I would hear other guides shout out, “Hello! Hello!” to their guests. They would then point to an Instagram photo spot and gesture for the guests to take photos. Our guide would do the same. Whenever she tried to mention something to us, “Hello! HELLO!” Either she wanted our life jackets before we got off the boat or she wanted the Israeli husband to stop holding the umbrella too close to the water, etc. Hello! HELLO!

Eventually, the boat tour finished and I returned to my bike. I’d had ambitious plans to also visit a cave but I felt I was pretty much spent for the rest of the day. I stopped for a bánh mì (YUM) and then began my ride back to the homestay.

I made it back in time for a thunderstorm. A lovely way to spend the afternoon. Part of me, traumatized by Cao Bằng, wondered if the city was going to flood. Despite lots of on/off rain during my time in Ninh Bình, it never did flood. Thankfully.

Bích Động Pagoda

Throughout the early hours of the morning, I woke up periodically to a thunderstorm. When I finally rose from bed, it had stopped. I knew it was supposed to keep raining throughout the day, so I hurried to take advantage of the break in clouds.

My first stop of the day was to Bích Động pagoda, only a fifteen minute bike ride from my homestay. I passed by rice fields and a water buffalo sitting in the middle of the road. I made it to the entrance of the pagoda moments before the tour busses arrived. EEK!

The entrance to the pagoda was lovely – a small bridge leading over a pond filled with lily pads. I continued along and made it to another part of the pagoda structure. Now, I’d always though pagodas were the tall structures like I’d seen the day before – multi-tiered shrines, essentially. Bích Động was NOT that and this is when I learned pagodas aren’t necessarily multi-tiered structures. They are simply sacred buildings but they do NOT need to be multi-tiered. The more you know.

The main highlight of Bích Động was that it is built alongside a cave. I was also able to enter the cave, see another shrine in there, then come out the other side of the cave to get to yet another shrine. I was expecting a multi-tiered pagoda. There was not one waiting for me haha.

I descended the area, keeping my eye out for snakes (it seemed like good environment for them). I grabbed another bánh mì. While waiting, a stray cat jumped on my lap and started pawing at my stomach. Cute! I was slightly nervous, because, y’know, rabies, but it was fine. It didn’t bite or scratch me and it hopped off before my order arrived. The bánh mì was delicious.

From there, I rode my bike back to my homestay. The clouds were rolling in and I knew another storm was on its way. And boy, was there. I made it to shelter MOMENTS before the thunderstorm started. I grabbed my book and went out to the patio, half-paying attention to the book, half-paying attention to the storm. The thunder claps were some of the loudest I’ve ever heard in my life. Water poured down relentlessly. Now and again, I looked at the ground floor below. It looked like it was maybe starting to flood. Oh, no. Not again.

It was fine, though. The rain stopped and the water drained out quickly. When the dark clouds had passed and the rain eased, I began my second adventure of the day: Múa Cave.

Múa Cave

Múa Cave was originally the only place I’d heard of in regards to Ninh Bình. Somewhere along the way, a fellow traveler had recommended it to me. Or… maybe I saw it on Reddit. I can’t remember. Regardless, I had it saved on my phone as a point of interest. I knew that it was famous for its viewpoint. In my mind, I thought it was a cave that had a path leading up, up, up, and coming out to a viewpoint. I was wrong.

Múa Cave was a short little walk and actually was flooded while I was there, so I could only see the first few steps of the cave. To the left of the entrance was a set of stairs that led to the viewpoints. There were two. Some reviews had said the stairs were challenging but I thought they were fine, even despite the slipperiness post-rain.

I first went up to the lower viewpoint, which looked down at the lily pond below. How cute, they had designed the boardwalks to make the shape of a lotus flower!

The surroundings were just gorgeous. I loved seeing the mountains surrounding the area. Off in the distance, I could see rice fields and villages. Past that, larger towns.

After a few moments, I descended and went up to the second viewpoint. This one was the famous one – it had a view of the Tam Cốc river below, where people were taking boat cruises. It was cool to see them down below, admiring the scenery. That had been me just a day prior, although I was in Tràng An instead.

This viewpoint led up to a massive dragon statue on the summit. Some boulders led up to the dragon and people were taking selfies. I was going to climb higher, but the path leading to it seemed slippery and treacherous. And also… there were baby centipedes crawling all over the place. AHH!

I discovered there was another way to get to the top, which other people claimed was easier. It was 100% easier. I made it up there and was able to get another vantage point of my surroundings but to be honest, they weren’t much better than the others. I did have a stranger offer to take my photo, though. “Sure! For my mom,” I said, as I always do hahaha. Turned out to be a good photo, too!

Funnily enough, I saw that stranger the next day as I was heading to my bus. “Have a nice trip!” we told one another.

I returned back to the steps and made my way down to the entrance. I had a mango ice cream and then biked back to my accommodation. Another thunderstorm kicked off. Once again, I made it to shelter in the knick of time.

The rest of my day was pretty lazy. There were two other things I also would have liked to have done: visited that massive pagoda I mentioned before, and also gone to see one of the illuminated temples at nighttime. What with the rain, it didn’t seem doable. I was originally planning to stay another day or two in Ninh Bình, but the following days called for yet more rain. More and more, the rain is trying to fuck with my plans. But hey, that’s the rainy season in Vietnam for ya. (Although, the north was supposed to be done with their rainy season now!)

I think the rest of my time in Vietnam will probably be a constant tug of war with the weather. Fortunately, from here on out, I don’t have any multi-day bike or boat tours that could be affected by the rain!

Phong Nha

Another rainy day as I left Ninh Bình. I hopped on the bus at around 9.45am and arrived in Phong Nha by 5.30pm.

I had battled with myself whether or not I should go to Phong Nha. Its claim to fame is that the largest cave structure in the world is in Phong Nha… but tours to that cave are multi-day, about USD$3,000 and is often booked out. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not the biggest on caves so there was no way in hell I was going to spend that much money to visit a cave.

However, Phong Nha is home to a number of other caves at a much cheaper cost. Keeping that in mind + breaking up a longer trip down to the next region I’ll be visiting, I decided Phong Nha would be a good place to stay for a few nights.

I also have to note that it’s not like I HATE caves, alright? When I’m walking through them, I’m like, “wow! This is so cool!” But I also feel like once you’ve seen a few cool caves, you’ve kinda seen them all haha. So yeah, I’ll spend a few bucks but I’m not spending hundreds of dollars.

Paradise Cave

Because Phong Nha is more of a rural area, situated within the national park, there is a more lax attitude. Hiring scooters/motorbikes is always a coin toss but it seemed like they have no problem renting out to tourists. In order to get to some of the points of interest, a scooter is pretty much necessary, so I ended up hiring one.

I haven’t ridden a motorbike since Indonesia, which was a few months ago at this point. But, as they say, it’s like riding a bike. I filled up on petrol and cruised out of town, with Paradise Cave as my first destination for the day. Along the way, I passed by water buffalo, chickens running across the road and almost getting run over by me, etc. I even had to cross over two narrow suspension bridges which… felt a little scary. I was like – can motorbikes even go across this thing? But someone else went before me so I followed their lead haha.

I continued along and was in awe by the beauty of the area. Rivers, mountains, farmland. It is a beautiful, quiet area. And best of all – no insane traffic compared to Indonesia. Cruising along the roads was lovely. I can see why people buy motorbikes.

While it was supposed to take half an hour, it took me probably fifty minutes to get to Paradise Cave. I’d taken one wrong turn (I saw the first suspension bridge and was like… nah, I can’t cross that), which added some travel time. And also, I am rather cautious/slow. Still getting acquainted with riding a scooter.

Eventually, I arrived at the visitor center to Paradise Cave. I paid my entrance fee, boarded an electric buggy, and was carted to the beginning of the walkway. I then had to walk another 20min to arrive at the cave entrance.

I began walking down the stairs and observed the area. It was a pretty massive cave, yeah, but… was that it? It was a large area but there weren’t too many interesting formations. I was feeling let down – and it seemed like I could see all the way to the end of the boardwalk.

I was wrong.

As I got to what I thought was the end, the cave turned right and continued down even further. And further. And further.

The cave was very colorful. Much of its walls looked marbled – with multi-colored streaks running through it.

So many interesting formations, but there were a few that I really enjoyed.

The cave kept going on and on. I had to admit, it was pretty impressive! And yet, there was a part of me that was still like, “but it’s just a cave.” LOL why am I such a cave hater? I do like them, I think they’re cool and gorgeous. I guess I just am not a cave person, is all.

Speaking of being a hater… Later in the day, I talked with Hulya, my friend from the Ha Giang tour. We were talking about caves and she had given me some recommendations for my next destination: Huế. I didn’t realize it, but I actually had turned down a few of the things she suggested. She goes, “you don’t like history, you don’t like caves, you don’t like sports. Please tell me what else you are not into?” LOL. It’s not that I don’t like history… I just am not really a history buff, is all. I much prefer wildlife, scenery/nature, food. Those are my points of interest more than anything else. It’s interesting to think just how differently people can travel, though. Some people don’t care about wildlife at all but that is sort of my main priority when traveling places.

Botanical Gardens

After Paradise Cave, I continued driving along the loop to get to the botanical gardens. I parked my scooter, had lunch, and then ventured inside. I was unsure whether I should do the whole trail or just visit the waterfalls. I was feeling a little tired, so I decided to only stop at the waterfall. The walk was quick. Before long, I was holding onto a rope and stepping from boulder to boulder to get closer to the waterfall. Really nice! No Bản Giốc… but pretty nice haha.

I didn’t see any wildlife but I was certain that with the prior day’s rain, leeches were watching me from the edges of the trail.

I ended up coming back the following day to walk the longer trail. I had initially planned to go to Phong Nha cave, but decided against it. Pretty pricy and apparently not as impressive as Paradise. And with my lack of enthusiasm about caves… pass.

I was hoping to see wildlife at the botanical gardens. The day before, I’d seen a “display house” at the start of the trial that had the craziest taxidermy of local animals I’d ever seen. There were langurs, pangolin, wild boar, reticulated pythons. They had jars of snakes, geckos, and other creatures in formaldehyde. Super bizarre. But seeing that display house made me want to come back to look for wildlife.

All that I ended up seeing were two strange-looking lizards. Apparently, they are called brown pricklenape lizards (at first glance, I thought it was called picklenape which would have made it funny).

The walk was allegedly three hours, but I finished it in a little over one. I didn’t even feel I was walking particularly quickly. I was alone for most of the walk. Only in the last ten minutes or so, I bumped into two other people. The hike seemed to have kicked their ass haha. For me, the hike didn’t feel particularly strenuous. At times, it was consistently uphill and there was one or two times I had to climb over a fallen tree or go off the path for a few seconds because of an obstruction. I definitely was sweating a lot by the end of the hike but it was more about the humidity than difficulty.

As seems to be the trend recently… as SOON as I got back to the botanical gardens visitor center, it started pouring rain. I waited for about 20min for the clouds to clear and then drove back to Phong Nha town. As I said, I originally planned to visit Phong Nha cave, but after consideration I decided to just spend the money on a massage instead haha. Treat yo’self.

And then that’s it! Because I’m not much of a caver, there isn’t much else for me to do in Phong Nha. I booked tickets to my next destination and will leave tomorrow morning.

Miscellaneous

I bought a pack of cigarettes recently and upon opening the pack, I instinctively knew to flip a “lucky”. I mean, it has probably been 10 years since I’ve bought a pack. So funny how engrained that is in me to do that!

When going out to eat in Ninh Bình, I noticed that I was given a complimentary snack on top of my meal. Even in Phong Nha, I was just given a plate of bananas and watermelon after my massage which was nice. I’m loving this hospitality, Vietnam!

One thing that I’ve found SUPER strange about Vietnam though is that… a lot of locals just don’t seem to really have anything to drink with their meals. I noticed it in Cao Bằng when I was at Siu’s homestay, but I’ve noticed it at local food joints, too. They’ll have food but no drinks on the menu. Or if there are drinks, it’s just a bottle of water or a can of soda, etc. But I never see locals having a beverage with their food. Very weird. On the Ha Giang loop, we noticed this, too. There was basically never anything to drink along with our meals – we just had our bottled water haha.

Reflections

I think I have had an overdose of gorgeous views lately and in a sense, I am slightly burnt out. When I got to Ninh Bình, I wasn’t feeling particularly impressed. At times, I knew that what I was seeing was objectively beautiful and I could acknowledge it as beautiful, but after seeing what I’d seen prior (Lan Hạ Bay, Ha Giang, Sa Pa), it just wasn’t doing much for me. Tràng An especially. But also, I still enjoyed it? It is a strange dichotomy. I know that what I’m seeing is lovely and I do appreciate it, but I think that WOW factor has lessened. I think this is common when you’ve seen so much back-to-back gorgeous scenery.

Tomorrow, I leave Phong Nha and head down to Huế, which is properly central Vietnam. Between there, Da Nang, and Hoi An, I will basically be in the same(ish) region for about ten days(?). I do not have ANY plans or anything I need to see with the exception of trying to spot the red shanked douc langurs in Da Nang. I think visiting this area will be the perfect reset for me. It’s not about the scenery, it’s rich in culture and history but not so much scenery (from what I understand). I guess I need a break from all the beautiful views.

Not having anything planned will be good for me.

I haven’t been stressed necessarily but I have been… anxious? about my remaining time in Vietnam. Because I’ve had so much I wanted to see, planning out how and where I wanted to spend my time has felt like a consuming task. I keep feeling like – there’s not enough time, there’s NOT ENOUGH TIME! But there is enough time. Some people cruise through Vietnam in like one or two weeks. I will have two months before I leave. I guess part of it is that I felt slightly robbed of timing because of the flood in Cao Bằng and the rain delays in Cát Bà.

I think this is also part of the bigger picture, which is the feeling that overall, I don’t have much time left in Asia. I do still, but it’s also winding down in a sense.

With all that said, I think I am at a good spot now, timing-wise. Once I get to Huế, I don’t have to rush to do anything. I can take my time visiting the last few places on my way to the last stop: HCMC.

Until next time, sending you all my love. x