Cave, Rice, Bike and Other Four-letter Words: Phong Nha and Ninh Binh

From the Imperial City of Hue, I headed a bit northwesterly to check out the infamous and awe inspiring caves at Phong Nha which everyone I’ve met along the way has been to or is on their way to see.

Once again heeding Morgan and Kevin’s advice, I  booked the Midtown Hostel in the town of Phong Nha, which is next door to the Easy 🐯 Tiger Hostel, known more as a party hostel.  Easy Tiger was a great place to have ginger tea or an ice cold beer and some fries and listen to live music and then return to Midtown for a bit of a quieter atmosphere.

Designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2003, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park contains the oldest karst mountains in Asia, formed over 400 million years ago.  Karsts are a topography formed from the dissolution of soluble rocks such as limestone, dolomite, and gypsum; thank you Wikipedia.  British and Vietnamese cave explorers have since documented there are over 75 miles (!!) of underground caves within this system and are exploring and discovering ever more glorious caves all the time.

There are over 300 grottoes and caves here in this system to see and it was difficult to choose which caves to explore.  I chose to do the tour to Phong Nha Cave, the granddaddy of them, and Paradise Cave. Phong Nha Cave holds several world cave records, including the longest underground river as well as the cave with the largest combined caverns and passageways. What that means is that this single cave is nearly 5 miles long and contains 14 grottoes, and over 8 miles of winding rivers.

A charming turquoise wooden boat paddled by a trusty local floated four of us into the massive cave, and we were able to disembark and explore the cave by walking along the modern boardwalks to the well lit formations throughout.  It was, as you might imagine, stunning. Amazing. Humbling. Gasp inducing. And absolutely beautiful.

Stalagmites and stalagtites. Who remembers which are which?

The formations were awe inspiring and breathtaking.  It’s so difficult to convey the scale, breadth and height of these majestic creations formed by the simple, constant and time-defying drip of water through the limestone over the centuries.  Remember — it takes over 1000 years for 10 cm/4 inches to grow!

I also visited Paradise Cave and was mesmerized by the amazing formations there.  This cave was only discovered in 2005. Incredible.

Floating in and out of the caves was just as magical.

After a few days in Phong Nha, (one day fighting a stomach bug) I took the sleeper night bus to Ninh Binh, a journey of 9 hours or so. I was happy to see that this night bus, unlike all the others I’d been on, had a bathroom! Yay!  Or as I soon found out, not so yay. My seat was the closest to said bathroom and let’s just say that wasn’t a perk. Imagine sleeping next to the outhouse at Wellington Lake. Those of you who have been to the WineFest we held there annually will know and smell exactly what I mean. Anyway, thank goodness I brought some essential oils and had a hood on my jacket in which to bury my nose.

The bus driver kept track of who was getting off where, (the first time I’d experienced this, which was awesome, as on prior bus rides I had to guess and hope for the correct stop!) as this bus made several stops. I was traveling with John, a Northern Ireland government contractor I met in Phong Nha who was also heading to Ninh Binh. The driver woke us up at 430 am when we arrived in NB Town, about 3 miles from the hostel we had booked. We woke up a man at the hostel across the street from the bus station and he was helpful and hailed a cab for us to our hostel in the countryside. We arrived at Ham Rong Homestay and they were kind enough to let us into our rooms early. John and I planned to meet up again around noon to figure out the plan for our time in Ninh Binh and gladly fell into real beds after the sleeper bus.

Ninh Binh is known as “Halong Bay on dry land” because of the magnificent karst formations and natural beauty of the area similar to the Formations in Halong which is situated in…yeah you get it.   Often overlooked on the “backpackers trail” I found NB to be quite enchanting.

When I started thinking about Ninh Binh, a town with two four-letter words comprising its name, more four letter words came to mind to describe this misty, magical, mystical place:

RICE.

As in, rice paddies. Workers in tall muck boots and iconic conical hats plant and harvest the main crop of Vietnam everywhere you go.

BIKE. 

The locals here rides bikes to the rice paddies to work and park them on the side of road while they are in the fields. Soooo photogenic. I’m kind of addicted to picture with bicycles in them.              (See above. See below.)

RAIN.

In the rice paddy.  On the bike.

BELL.

These beautiful and ornate bells are found at temples everywhere and are so mesmerizing to me.

FLAG.

I fell in love with these beautiful colorful flags and decided I needed to own one. Or three.

GOAT.

This mountainous region is home to adorable goats that scamper up and down the hillsides, bleating hello. However, they are also the local delicacy at restaurants. And roadside stands. Here’s the  picture that will make you say, “awwww!”

And here’s  the one that may make you say “Yikes!!”  I literally did a double take and nearly crashed my bike when I saw this road stand cart selling bbq goat.  And yes  the eyeballs are still in the poor creature.

CAVE. 

John and I went on a boat tour through some of the caves and here are the pictures from the day. It was gorgeous and peaceful since it was off season, and the fog and mist added to the beauty.

Our boat floated under this overhang and into the caves, and our woman rowing us shouted the Vietnamese equivalent of “duck!!” as we continually passed under low hanging formations. We had wisely chosen the “long” tour of 2-1/2 hours and traveled through 9 gorgeous caves. Have I overused the word “magical?”

The next few days in Ninh Binh we rented bikes and took a ride into town to get cash.  We had been told the ATMs would be empty soon due to Tet (Vietnamese New Year, starting soon) and we tried about 4 different ATMS until we spotted one where everyone was lined up. Most of those in line had 2 or 3 different ATM cards from family members and stayed at the machine for three or four withdrawals. Not to worry – we were able to get some dong for a while.

Here are additional photos of temples, random scenes and just plain, “ordinary”beauty to be found while bicycling around on our rented rusty bikes through this special and often overlooked region of Vietnam.

Although it was a beautiful place to linger and enjoy, it was time to move on after 4 nights. We booked a bus to Hanoi and looked forward to a short (5 hour) ride to the bustling city.

See you in Hanoi – the capital of Vietnam and a city over 1000 years old.

Photo credits to Peter Hjalmarson for the adorable goat pic in its tiny temple building and to Callum Foot for the exceptional capture of the mist around Ninh Binh in the sepia-toned photo.  So nice to befriend travelers with mad photo skills that allow me and encourage me to appropriate (aka steal) their pix.  Thanks guys!

 

To realize one’s destiny is a person’s only obligation.     The Alchemist