Sleeper Bus, Ninh Binh, Sights

We boarded our sleeper bus at 11pm at night. We were lucky to get on and have a bed as once again it was overbooked! I slept through from 11-5am when we were woken up having arrived in Ninh Binh. We walked to the hostel where they had converted their sports bar into a sleepinf area with floor mats and beanbags. We grabbed a couple bean bags and got comfy.

Robin woke at 7am feeling very sick. She eventually threw up and began to feel a little better. We can assume it was from the hectic and very active few days with little rest. Unlike me, Robin did not sleep as good on the sleeper bus.

I left her at the hostel and went to find some breakfast where my order got lost in translation and I ended up with 4 pieces of cheesy toast, 3 fried eggs, and a plate of veg. This is why Robin must come with me. She made it to the cafe a little while later and we then hired a bike. She was feeling better.

We biked to the ancient capital city. This was where a dynasty from the 10th century set up their capital of worship and their sacred tombs. It was interesting to walk around the excavated architecture.

Next we went to tong an national park. We bought our tickets and had lunch before boarding a 3 hour row boat trip through the blue rivers and huge limestone mountains and stacks. We stopped at temples and pagodas on the way as well as reliving our caving experiences and floating through tight caves winding through the mountains. The longest cave we went through was 1km long.

By the time we finish it was dark and we decided it was a good time to head back to the hostel to finally check into our room. We unpacked, sent away our laundry and had dinner.

-M