A Perfect Day in Ninh Binh (Vietnam)

One of the things I love about Instagram is how it allows me to connect with other like-minded travelers from all over the world. As travel is my biggest passion, I love talking about it and welcome all opportunities to share suggestions, recommendations & feedback – as well as ask questions to other travelers.

After connecting with a fellow girl traveling Vietnam, she mentioned that she had done the Authentic Ninh Binh tour and that it was one of the BEST tours she’d ever done.

Now I had just done a not-very-enjoyable city tour (big group, guide corralling us with a selfie stick, uninteresting sites), and was anxious for a good day. So although the price was steep for Vietnam ($80), I decided to splurge. For reference, most tours in Vietnam are under $40. It’s very cheap.

I sent the company a message on WhatsApp that went something like this:

“Hi, I was wondering if you have a tour on Tuesday. Also, can you confirm the wifi speed on your bus? I may need to get some work done”

I immediately got a response back. Yes, we have availability. Wifi speed on bus is VERY fast.

SOLD.

I was picked up around 7:45AM the next morning on a vehicle unlike anything I had ever ridden in for a city tour (maybe for prom…or a bachelorette party). It was like a decked out VIP party bus. It had lights, 7 super cushy seats, and strong WIFI (he was not lying).

And right off the bat, the clientele was more engaging as well (previous tour had been all middle aged Asian tourists who spoke little English + me). There was a Spanish couple in their mid-late 40s (although energetic, fun and young-at-heart), a British couple in their late 20s, myself, and our guide Khang (who had the best English of all the Vietnamese I met). We all introduced ourselves and immediately began talking as we made the 1 hour journey to Ninh Binh.

Our first stop was a scenic bike ride thru rural villages, rice paddies, temples, limestone mountains, and fields of giant lily pads. It was so peaceful (a complete juxtaposition to the chaos of Hanoi) and there was rarely a tourist in sight. It was quite idyllic. It felt like we had stepped into a fairytale or onto a movie set.

As I made the mistake of wearing overalls on this biking excursion, I had to confine myself to the back of the group – or risk giving everyone a peep show as the outfit continually rode up. This was painful for me, as I always like to be at the front of the class (or tour in this case). But apart from my outfit woes, it was a wonderful way to spend a morning in Vietnam.

I quickly identified the guy in the group who was the best photographer and became very friendly with him so he wouldn’t hate me when I asked him to take 500 pictures of me over the course of the day. #SoloTravelerWoes.

After our bike ride, we hopped in the car and drove to Hang Mua. This is an absolutely breathtaking mountain cave with a temple at dragon statue at the top. When you enter the arena, there are two paths - one leading right and one leading left. Khang was waiting for us at the bottom, so we randomly selected the right path.

It was quite a trek. Up about 15 minutes of steep stairs. Once we got to the top, we quickly realized we chose wrong. Or at least the “less” right side. The one with the temple & dragon was on top the OTHER mountain.

Down we went…stopping to help take a photo of a beautiful Thai girl on the way down. Then each of us deciding we too needed a photo in that spot as well (everyone copying her pose). (Needless to say none of us looked as stunning as she did…but oh well).

Once at the base of the mountain again, we began the trek up the RIGHT side. About 15 min later we make it to the top. To get on top the dragon statue, there is a bit of a line and it requires some rather precarious gymnastic moves. And as we’re waiting for our turn to ride the dragon - it starts RAINING. Not just a little bit. Like a lot.

Now people are anxious to get down and we’re still trying to get up the dragon. It’s a bit of a traffic jam but eventually it’s our turn. The already scary climb is exacerbated by the rain and how slippery everything has become. But we quickly grab our Mother of Dragson pics and then it’s a mad dash to get off the mountain. A hundred people are huddled in the temple at the top, so I make the decision that our team is just going to walk in the rain. We race down the mountain to Khang.

From there, take another Grab car to the Petronas Towers. I recommend viewing them from the front of the mall (as the angle for photos is a little cleaner than if you try to take photos behind the mall). You’ll find tons of guys selling wide angle lenses – I got one for about $5 – and I highly recommend investing in one of these bad boys. Everyone will try to sell you one, but if you say you bought one already from their friend, all the guys selling will be so nice to you and offer to take tons of photos for you. They know all the tricks to getting good photos! Best $5 ever spent haha.

If you’re still wanting more views – you can head up to Menara KL towers for a great view of the city (and it’s cheaper than the Skybridge).

If you’re hungry for some lunch at this point, there are lot of food options in the mall.

Now it’s back to the Authentic Ninh Binh headquarters to do a cooking class and have lunch. The cooking class is a brief spring roll demonstration and then we all get to make our own. Into the fryer they go and then we wait upstairs as lunch is served.

Lunch was pretty good – a bit basic for me as a vegetarian, but the spring rolls we made were delicious!

After lunch we went for a boat ride on Tam Coc. It is a 2 hour ride – so a bit long….but very beautiful and scenic. 4 tourists can fit in a boat, so somehow I crashed the Spanish couples romantic ride.

While I was third-wheeling it on the boat, it starts pouring rain. GREAT.

Luckily you go thru a lot of caves while you’re on the river….so there were moments of shielding from the downpour. At some point our boat rower asks us to pick up the paddles and help row (what were we doing before? Whoops!).

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned this – but I HATE kayaking/rowing. It gets exhausting to me after like 30 seconds.

I know I’m being really negative here, and I actually enjoyed the ride. It was just long.

You have the opportunity to stop at a couple islands along the way – one of which was the set of King Kong. The Vietnamese are clearly very proud of this, they have a bunch of set-pieces from the movie – including some re-enactors (who weren’t actually doing any re-enacting but sitting around talking to each other dressed in red face paint). But anyways.

After the boat ride, we made our last stop to the ancient capital of Vietnam, Hoa Lu. I don’t have a large recollection of this because my bladder was about to explode and so I spent the brief stop trying to find the bathroom and then trying to find the group again. But it seemed nice the little bit I saw.

All in all, this was an excellent day. I had so much fun with Khang, enjoyed the more intimate experience, was very impressed with the party bus, and absolutely adored Ninh Binh. I’d highly recommend this tour to anyone coming to town. It’s sure not to disappoint!

Lauren