IN NINH BINH
(Vietnam
Vacation Part 5)
From Cat
Ba Island, we took a combination of van, boat, van and bus to get to Ninh Binh.
On arriving in Ninh Binh, the ticket taker asked us where we wanted to be left
off. We looked at our guidebook, picked out a hotel, looked up and realized the
bus had stopped right in front it. We got picked up in front of our hotel in Cat Ba and dropped off in front of
our hotel in Ninh Binh. We had to carry our packs 50 feet between
the different modes of transportation. We can assure you, not every trip is
that easy!
While not
a particularly pleasant town, due to the main North – South route running right
through it, Ninh Binh turned out to be a good place to spend a few days. We biked to Hoa Lua, the capital of a Vietnamese dynasty during the late
tenth and early eleventh century. There had been a large citadel there, but all
that remained were two pagodas dedicated to the former rulers. The pagodas had a
couple of beautiful statues but that was about it.
The real
attraction was the journey to Hoa Lu . We followed a very basic map from our
guesthouse showing back roads to Hoa Lu. We asked shopkeepers,
kids and people working in the rice paddies the way to go and headed where they
pointed. We saw a slice of countryside life and some wonderful scenery as we
wound our way over dirt paths, paved roads and paddy walls. Like Halong Bay,
there were limestone outcroppings but with rice paddies all around them, rather
than the bay.
We took a tour with a German couple to Cuc Phuong
National Park. The four
of us and a driver took off in a Russian Lada for the hour and a half ride to
the park. The Lada is sort of the Russian version of the Volkswagen Beetle. Not
very elegant, but mechanically simple and it runs forever with care and feeding.
The first
stop was the Endangered
Primate Rescue Center. Mostly funded by external sources, they rescue
primates that are injured, found in cages or confiscated from illegal traders
and hope to breed them and return them back to the wild eventually. They gave
us a strictly controlled tour of the center and we saw a variety of gibbons and
langurs. While the primates were in “cages”, it wasn’t like a zoo, because you
could not get close to the cages and they were trying to protect the animals from the visitors.
Further
into the park, our driver dropped us off at the head of a five mile trail. The
hike was through old growth forest with thick vegetation. There were a few sights
on the hike including a thousand year old ficus tree that was 45 feet in
circumference. Nearby was a picnic area with tables, chairs and garbage cans
all made of cement, but fashioned to look like tree stumps. A very clever idea,
we thought.
Another
sight was Palace Cave. Between the four of us, we had
brought one flashlight, so we figured we could explore the cave, a little.
Well, one flashlight is just enough to get you into a little trouble! The cave
had a number of chambers and as we went from one to the next, none of us kept
track of our route. Recollections of one of Samuel Clemens books about Tom
Sawyer and someone being trapped in a cave flashed through our heads as we
tried to find our way out. It took us a few attempts but, clearly, we made it.
Next time we bring chalk or a long piece of string! At the end of
our hike, there was our driver and his trusty Lada, waiting to whisk us back to
Ninh Binh (at an average speed of about 25 miles per hour).
The
following day, we biked to Tam Coc, about six miles outside of Ninh Binh. At
Tam Coc, we took a rowboat for a two hour ride on the Ngo Dong River. There was a man who rowed the
boat, a woman who helped paddle upstream and the two of us. Along the river and
separated from it by a sort of bamboo fence was rice paddy after rice paddy. It
was a beautiful, sunny day and everyone was out working. The river went through
three tunnels, the longest of which was probably one hundred feet. At the
entrance of one tunnel, the sun reflected off of the river onto the roof of the
tunnel to create a nice shimmering effect.
On the way
back, we dropped off lunch for three women who were planting rice. They were
very friendly and tried to convince Paul that he should try his hand at
planting. All of you that know Paul, know that he
does his best to avoid work, at any cost, so he politely declined! Then, the
woman who had helped paddle upstream revealed her true intentions. She had a
metal trunk full of hand embroidered tablecloths for sale. As we have mentioned,
Lois is a material girl, but also a shrewd bargainer, so after a hard session
of light hearted bargaining, we bought three tablecloths from the woman. She
assured us we paid less than most Vietnamese do. We figure this meant we only
paid double, not triple! We finished the day with a pleasant bike ride back to Ninh
Binh that involved getting lost and going ten miles out of our way. Happily, we arrived back at our comfortable hotel before sunset.
This area
of Vietnam
had been heavily explored, proselytized and converted to Christianity by the
Portuguese as early as the Seventeenth Century. Religion
and Catholicism was outlawed for a while, but is now openly practiced. Heading by bus toward Phat Diem, the sight of a cathedral built in 1894,
we saw a large number of church spires throughout the countryside. Why go visit
Phat Diem? Well, it is one of the more
unusual cathedrals, we have ever seen. It looked like a cross between a church
and a pagoda. The layout of the “compound” was exactly like that of a pagoda,
with a wall surrounding it and a large building/gate in front of the cathedral.
The cathedral itself, if you excluded the cross, looked much like a pagoda with
the turned up roof corners. The main entry into the cathedral (front façade)
was all stone, but the rest of the building was all ironwood with huge
columns, at least three feet in diameter. Inside, it looked totally like a
cathedral with the standard elements; pulpit, pews, altar and stone carvings of
the stations of the cross; but no organ. The carvings
Were unusual to our eyes in that all the people had Asian facial features.
Leaving
Ninh Binh, we spent one and a half days of train and bus travel to get to Hue. The first night, we
spent in Vinh. We went to a place for dinner recommended by the guidebook as
having “standard fare” and being “popular with locals”. The place was packed with people chowing down. We smiled at each other; got
the first table we could and ordered fried squid with onions in a hot pepper
sauce and sweet and sour shrimp. Both plates were piled high with some of the
tastiest food we have had in Vietnam.
We added a plate of pickled greens, steamed rice, beer and tea for a total bill
of $7.00.
After
dinner, Paul, who had been getting a little bushy, decided it was time for a
haircut. We walked into a Cat Toc (hair cuttery) and surprised the hell out of
the barber. Paul asked for a slight trim and a shave. The barber, accustomed to
people with straight hair, didn’t know how to proceed, but managed to work his
way through it. You can be the judge of whether or not the barber did a good
job (Just judge it based on the haircut, not the face!). Note some of the
photos in the background.
The second
day of travel to Hue
took us through Dong Hoi to Vinh Moc. Vinh Moc was right on the Northern side of the
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). In 1954, this was the agreed upon border between
North and South Vietnam
as a result of the war with the French. During the Vietnam War, the area was
the scene of tremendous firefights and heavy bombing (an average of seven tons
of bombs per person living there).To
deal with the bombing, the population moved underground, carving out a total of
ninety miles of tunnels. Mostly the tunnels were used for housing people with a
hospital, wells, kitchens, meeting rooms etc. However, they were also used to
move military supplies around the DMZ and to the South. Each family living
underground had a private space averaging about 6’ x 4’ in size. The people lived underground for six years,
coming out only at night. The average height of the tunnels was something like
5 ½ feet. More than enough for our tour guide, but a little cramped for us. We
were very glad to take an exit which led out to a beautiful beach.
From Vinh
Moc, a two hour bus ride brought us to Hue (pronounced way). This
brings our travelogue up to about February first. We’ve covered a bit of ground
since then and we’ll try to get out another e-mail about it soon enough…
Paul
& Lois
Nha Trang, Vietnam
February 11, 2007
All content is copyright © Paul
Schneider, 2007.
