Day 4: Ninh Binh

Day 4:

We had a fun day trip to Ninh Binh today with Hanoi Backstreet Tours.

Once we arrived in Ninh Binh, we visited the Hoa Lu Ancient Capital

and learned more about Vietnamese culture, history and traditional architecture. 

We then headed to Mua cave area. This area had caves to explore, lotus flower fields

waterfalls,

and a 500 step climb that overlooks the Tam Coc valley and Ngo Dong river. 

I started the climb but bailed early on. I chose to explore the lotus fields and waterfalls on the ground while Steve climbed to the top). 

Now that we were hot and sweaty, we headed to Tam Coc and boarded a foot-rowed boat.

The ride lasted 1.5 hours and passed through caves 

rice paddies,  and the surrounding limestone karsts.

After my very ungraceful exit from the boat, we enjoyed a huge lunch at a local restaurant that included these dishes: spring rolls, chicken, fish, goat, tofu, stir fried cabbage, and fruit.

During lunch, a thunderstorm arrived and it began pouring rain right before we started the jeep tour of the countryside, so very few pictures were taken during this part of the tour.

Steve was in his element when they let him drive and look under the hood.

Following the jeep tour, we headed back to Hanoi. We were pretty tired and weren't really hungry, so we had a cocktail and appetizer at our hotel before going to bed for the night