17.03 Day 62 Trang An

Sunday 17th March - Trang An (Ninh Binh) (Day 62)

After breakfast by the as yet untouched pool we had planned to go to one of the two main local attractions before the tourists, first up Trang An boat trip. There is still drizzle in the air so we even stop to buy ponchos for the 10 minute ride, firstly along the narrow quiet road and then the busy main road to the ticket office. 

It is clear by the buses thundering past at 8:30 on the way that we’ve not beaten all the tour buses and indeed when we arrive it looks as though every single one has beaten us. From a small island the four person boats depart but it’s become so popular they’ve built a tunnel under the road to create a ticket office on the mainland. We can see the queue snaking around the island, down through the tunnel, and 100 metres beyond the ticket office. This isn’t even organised queuing, this is 10 people wide, elbows out stuff. 

We opt to sack it off; instead we cycle the 1 km back and past The ViewPoint Homestay and a further 2 km onto Mua Cave. Where the attraction is not actually a cave, but 500 stairs to the top of the protruding limestone rock, for views over the valley. 

Because of the mist we know we won’t get a view to become the face of a year of travel but plough on all the same - to start with past plenty of visitors who are over / well dressed taking photos in front of small waterfalls or stone horse statues. Up and up the 500 stairs to the top, the kids with predictable waning enthusiasm countered with a drip feeding of sugary treats. Lower down there are views of the valley, but by the time we’ve made it to the top we are well and truly in the mist and all we can see is white. 

I scramble up a few more rocks to a long stone dragon that stretches along the rim. In hindsight, had it been clear and I had been able to see how far down it was I may have opted out of perching on the narrow rim. 

On the descent we bump into the French Canadian family from Phong Nha - Seb’s jumping-into-the-pool-repeatedly friend Matilde. And then on the return cycle, another French Canadian contact, the couple from Tam Tien Vinh in Hue cycling alongside us. 

After a top up of mango smoothie out the front of The View Point, I leave the kids in the room to cycle the 5 km to Ninh Binh town for cash and lunch - everything is cash, our credit cards have barely been touched. But then paying always in cash means being aware of where ATMs are, and in this case aren’t. Nowhere looks its best in grey, misty rain and me cycling in flip flops, swim shorts and poncho doesn’t leave me inspired to come back to Ninh Binh town centre in a hurry. But I got cash, I found a bakery and after some help from someone sat in a cafe with language barriers I got some banh mis to bring home to the awaiting sparrows. 

By mid-afternoon we can see the weather improving through the large windows in our upstairs corner room, backed flush against one karst but looking out over several more. Because the Trang An boat trip is so close we opt to try our luck again (and to hopefully avoid a really early start tomorrow if we are to beat the hordes of visitors) and hop on the available bikes. 

There’s definitely buses driving towards us now rather than overtaking us and sure enough there’s no queue on the mainland though it’s still visible on the island. We park the bikes and join the queue, snaking around the small island and through a large wooden building with ceramic pots on display. 

At the steps of the waters edge is a throng of people 50 metres wide. In waves the ferry men / women walk their boats along the front from the left perpendicular to the shore. The moment they stop moving it’s everyman for themselves lunging onto a small barge. The boats are smaller to those used to punt around Oxford or Cambridge but the moment of securing yourself a boat contains none of that middle England grace or charm. After watching the process a few times we’re now at the water’s edge and develop a plan to use the kids to claim a boat. What I’ve written might sound dramatic and the first time we watched it was, but in the end it was fine and as we pull away we’re each given luminous orange life jackets to wear. 

This wider area is called - in guidebooks - Ha Long Bay on land, which is to say all the large limestone karsts rising up out of an otherwise flat scenery. This section however has lakes, waterways, temples, caves and tunnels. There are thousands of these small boats plying the waterways albeit in a very well organised manner - all the ferryman / women wear the same outfit, all the lifejackets look brand new, the boats are identical, even the pair of umbrellas each boat has are branded Trang An. 

But it's big enough that there are three routes; we opt for the one with the longest tunnel. Sienna soon has an oar out helping to paddle, twisting my arm to do the same. The ferryman sits at the back, facing forwards to row and after 15 minutes hops us out at a small temple for a few minutes before taking us into and through one of these rock mountains. This tunnel is 1 km long. Most of the time the ceiling is only 2 metres or less above the water requiring us to hunch over a few times. It’s amazing to think how this many tunnels have been carved out by nature over millions of years. 

When we’re on our own, there is only the sound of the oars dropping into the water as we glide along the waterway, then you go through another short tunnel and come to occasional stretches were the three possible routes converge and the deep greens and blacks of trees and rock are offset with hundreds of bright orange life jackets. 

At one open water space there is a small pagoda standing lonely on its own in the middle of the water. Whilst we take our own photo, the boat next to ours has someone holding a pop out unfurled light reflector being held below the lady perched at the front of the boat - I’m sure her instagram account is lovely. 

As we paddle for home after around 2 hours light rain has reappeared so we make use of the Trang An branded umbrellas whilst also paddling as the daylight fades. Yes the start is a little manic, yes it’s crowded, but yes it’s definitely worth it to go up close and through the amazing scenery. 

One of the local dishes our host Jake told us about is goat, which is fine, but perhaps less fine is cycling home past two stalls each with a fully cooked goat all in one piece balanced on its knees. I try to distract Sienna’s attention to something on or other on the opposite side of the road. 

We cycle straight to Montana Homestay where we had dinner last night, dropping the noodle dish and plumping for 1 chicken and 2 goose rice bowls that arrive sizzling. To the goat sellers - I don’t need to see the animal, just succulent pieces like this goose in front of me. An avocado smoothie is creamy and delicious and even better Seb and Kate don’t like it so I only have to share with Sienna.