A week in North Vietnam (2) - Ninh Binh, Ha Long Bay and impressions

North Vietnam (1): Hanoi

During our week in Vietnam, we left Hanoi for a day trip to the neighbouring area of Ninh Binh, and for two days to a cruise on the Ha Long Bay. I absolutely loved Ninh Binh, it just had so much to do in nature. And Ha Long Bay was spectacular too, though our enjoyment was limited due to the cold and rain.


Guided tour to Ninh Binh

Ngo Dong river

One day we joined a guided tour from Hanoi to Ninh Binh, a rural countryside area south of Hanoi. Ninh Binh is also known as Ha Long Bay on land, as it has similar limestone structures as Ha Long but no sea around. It was my favourite day of the whole trip, as it was a very active day and we were away from the craziness of the city, in nature, on mountains, under caves, on rivers and so on.

We had to leave early at 7am from our hotel, and join the tour from the Old Quarter. And then we took a mini-bus to Ninh Binh. It was a 2 hour drive to get there, driving on average roads with a lot of bumps. But it was so green, so rustic, so idyllic - the true Vietnam, I was already enjoying myself. There were rice fields on either side of the road, and farmers in their straw hats tending to those fields. And in between there would be small shops here and there. During the drive, the guide also told us stories from around the country. We passed by a house which looked like a huge palace, made fully of marble. Apparently it was owned by one of the richest men in the country.

During our cycling ride

Once we reached Ninh Binh, there were a few activities planned. Thankfully it wasn't raining heavily today (just a bit), so we could enjoy the outdoors. Our first stop was to the Temples of Kings Dinh and Le, located in the ancient capital of Hoa Lu. The mini-bus dropped us a distance away from the temples, and then we cycled there. The cycle ride was through vibrant green mountains and paddy fields, lined with rural houses, cemeteries and small temples on the way. The whole setting felt very rural, very remote and very green. It felt so fresh to be there.

The temple of kings

The temples were within a huge complex, with small ponds and the main temples were dedicated to the kings. And all around were paddy fields again. We were there for a bit and then cycled back. On the way back, I stopped at another small temple. It had a huge open complex, with trees, the main temple and some rooms. It was so calm there, with mountains and fields all around, and some raindrops above.

Limestone cliffs in
the river 

Our next stop was around the area of Tam Coc. We took a local boat on the Ngo Dong river starting from Tam Coc. There were 100s of boats there, and more buses were coming with visitors. Surprisingly even with the crowds, once we got onto the boats, we felt we were on our own, away from everything. On the boat, we spent the next few hours sailing away on water. We went around the limestone structures, which are similar to the ones in Ha Long Bay. And then we went under some caves, through which the river runs. On both sides of the river were paddy fields. And some mountain goats perched on top of the steep sides of the limestone hills.

Caves on the river

And at the end of the ride, there were the pagodas of Bich Dong. We did not got off there though, we just went around them and back. It was a picturesque ride and I enjoyed the serenity of our surroundings. And interestingly, the rowers here row the boats with their feet on the oars! That’s something new I had not seen before.

Peak and paddy fields

Our last activity of the day was a hike up the Nui Ngoa Long (Lying Dragon) mountain. It was an enjoyable hike, walking up 500 stone steps to get to the top of the mountain. As we looked back, we could see the limestone peaks dotting the landscape, surrounded by fields and villages till where the eyes could see. In between, there were loads of small and large water bodies. And as it was foggy, it looked even more enchanting. As we kept climbing up, the views kept on getting bigger and better. There are three peaks on the way up, and on top of each is a pagoda or a buddhist shrine. While the main peak we were climbing had a statue of a female buddha on the top.  

Ngo Dong river

Once on top, we could see the other side of the mountain and were welcomed with a view of the Ngo Dong river, the one we had just boated on. Also, on the hike we saw many women dressed in ethnic clothes, looking to get photographed in the scenic surroundings. Interestingly, their dresses all had differences, and that is when we realised there were many tribes in Vietnam, all with their own unique dresses.

Lotus pond

When we came down, we explored the area around. There were a few wooden huts at the base, beautifully decorated with lanterns. There was a huge lotus lake filled with 1000s of lotuses. They were not in bloom at that time, but it was still fun to walk through the pathways made on the lake. The tour guide kept hurrying us though as we tried to take in the feeling of being there, and it was at this time I realised that I would have enjoyed Ninh Binh a lot more if we had just stayed here for a few days instead of a day trip from Hanoi. I really enjoyed this hike, and here are some more photos from the place.

View from the top

Peaks on the hike

Lanterns

Wooden huts

Ha Long Bay

After 5 days in Hanoi, we left for our 3 days, 2 nights stay at the Signature Cruise on the Ha Long Bay. We were picked up in the morning by our tour operator and driven by bus till Ha Long City. The road was so much better than the one to Ninh Binh - it felt like a proper highway. Clearly this was a touristy route and hence more importance had been given to upgrading the infrastructure. The drive was gorgeous, all around us was greenery, with mountains and back waters, the sea and rice fields, villages with beautiful temples and houses - all of it was refreshing to the eyes.

After 5 unplanned non agenda days in Hanoi, this tour felt too organised and planned 😃. The bus stopped on the way at an oyster shop where they showed us how oysters are cultured in this area, and how they are implanted with small bits which turn into pearls. Once I realised what they were doing, it felt so cruel. I just couldn't see them do it. And somehow I felt a bit of disdain for this entire activity. It can't be fun for the oysters to have these external bits planted into their bodies. Why do humans do this? And after showing this inhumane process outside, they tried to make us buy the pearls! It was clearly not going to work with me!

After the long drive, we reached Ha Long City. It was full of highrises and modern buildings, quite devoid of character. It felt like an eyesore given how pristine its immediate surroundings were. Our bus dropped us at the cruise terminal, and then we realised how big of an attraction the Bay is. There were 100s of buses bringing in tourists, and multiple cruise companies offering different cruise tours for them to shift to. The guides had the task of getting all the visitors (and their luggage) sorted correctly and transported onto the right ship. And they had to continuously do this while more busloads of passengers were arriving. It was working like a full-on assembly line and was managed so well by all the guides - it was a pleasure to see it at work.


About Ha Long Bay

Ha Long Bays (meaning descending dragon) comprises of 3 separate bays (the Ha Long Bay, Lan Ha Bay and Bai Tu Long Bay) with 100s of limestone structures emanating from the sea. Most of these islands are small, and then there are some larger ones like the Cat Ba island. The bay is apparently 500 million years old while the karst formations were formed around 20 million years ago. Multiple cruise companies run here with some offering day trips, while other cruises give the option to stay 1-2 nights on water. During this stay, you explore different parts of the Bay. During the day you get off to explore some of the islands, while the rest of the time, there are events to keep you busy on the ship itself. And of course, all the meals are taken care of on the cruise itself.

The Bay

The larger cruise ships can enter only some areas in the Bay, while visitors need to take smaller day boats to go to other places, which cannot be navigated by the larger cruise ships. The typical day trips are to floating villages, oyster farms, beaches and caves on the islands. The whole Bay is quite commercialised, so everywhere there are activities to do, like kayaking, hiking, shopping etc.. (Apparently the Lan Ha and Bai Tu Long Bays are less commercialised) 

Cruise balcony

The bay is magnificent, and one can easily just sit and watch as the cruises cruise by these amazing mystical structures. It's magical to be there, watching the world go by from the room windows, or better still sitting on the ship's terrace deck and enjoying the feeling of being in such a remote place. 

Docked cruises

There are of course 100s of such cruises out at any time, so you are not as alone as expected. You cross other cruises a lot. Also nowadays, a lot of cargo ships go through the bay, and you can see those too. Apparently pollution had gone up some years ago, and in the last few years, it has been considerably cleaned. Many rules and limits are being set for visitors. And the locals in the areas are also being resettled to other areas on land. But still a lot needs to be done. We saw so many plastic water bottles just floating on the water, it was not nice to see it.


Activities on the cruise

Our cruise ship

From Ha Long City, we boarded a small boat to take us to our Signature cruise. It was a huge cruise with two floors of rooms, all with a view of the bay and a balcony to sit outside to enjoy the breeze. We had booked the cruise for 2 days and so got a lot of time to experience the Bay. The agenda was quite packed over the two days though.

Cruise dining

In the morning we were to have taichi sessions on the cruise deck, and I even woke up at 6am to try it, but because of the weather they cancelled it. The cruise director of our ship, Tom Cruise kept us busy and entertained during our meals. All our lunches and dinners were elaborate sit-down 3 course meals, with our national flags on our tables. The food was western though and very bland. And I really missed the tasty Vietnamese food we had gotten used to eating in Hanoi. During one of the dinners, we had a cooking class for Vietnamese spring rolls - that was the only tasty food I had on the cruise.

After dinner, the cooks from the cruise would be sitting on a boat attached to the back of the ship and fishing for squids. I also went out at night to try my luck and picked up a few. There were so many of the small pink squids that kept swimming past, some of which we caught (it took a bit of skill though). They squirt ink when caught, which I just about was able to avoid from getting onto myself.

Also, at night when on the deck, you can see twinkling lights of other cruises docked nearby. It was so quiet, one could even see the lights of nearby towns on land. Some of the best moments I spent in Ha Long Bay were there, on the deck, with these limestone mountains, some quiet and some lights, far off.


Activities in Ha Long Bay

Around the village

The first day, we took a day boat to the floating fishing village of Vung Vieng, in Bai Tu Long Bay. Once we got there, we hired kayaks and boated towards and around the village. It was fun to explore. The village was mostly small colourful huts, all floating on wooden platforms. There were some plants being grown, a school and even a community centre, all on the floating platforms. Some of them also had dogs who were barking aggressively if you got too close.

Vung Viếng village

Apparently most of the locals have moved to land, but some still stay here. They go out to fish daily and leave their dogs behind to protect their houses while they are away. Lately these floating villages are becoming more sustainable in their lifestyle, they don't throw their rubbish into the bay. They are also changing their lifestyles, their children are studying and getting jobs on the land. But they still retain some of their heritage and traditions.

When we left the fishing village, we stopped at another oyster farm. There was again a tour about how pearls are farmed where they tried to sell us pearls, again. I preferred to avoid it and sit on the terrace, just enjoying the fresh air and my grand surroundings.

The next day, we were taken on a smaller day boat to the main Ha Long Bay. The islands there were larger and closer, so the large cruise ship we were on would not have been able to navigate these waters. These islands were also more crowded, with some 7-15 thousand people visiting daily. This whole area had the limestone mountains.And some of the islets had squirrels and monkeys on them somehow, even though they were so remote.

Caves

We passed by the Ti top island with a stunning beach, where it's possible to hike up the mountain. But we passed it to get to the Tung Sao area. We first stopped at another Oyster farm (by now I was done with oysters and pearls!). Apparently, this was the first oyster farm set up in the bay. It used to be a fishing village but was now owned by a company, Ha Long pearls. When we asked, why are oysters still being raised here while the locals have been asked to leave, we were told that oysters are actually good for the bay as they help clean up the waters. Also these regions have a lot of wild oysters as farmers who were asked to leave threw their oysters in the sea while leaving. Anyways, again I chose to just sit outside enjoying the feeling of being in a magical place like this, rather than go shopping 😃. 

The beach

Our second stop that day was the Virgin cave and beach. And Oh my god, was it gorgeous! We kayaked from our boat to the caves, then walked through the caves which had stalactites and stalagmites to get to the other side. Where we were greeted by a pristine beach, with white yellow sand. And I went swimming in the turquoise waters for a bit. The water was surprisingly warm as it had been a very cold and foggy day otherwise. It felt so unreal swimming in such absolutely stunning surroundings. What an experience was. 

On the way back from there, we saw the drum cave, a formation which looks like a drum. The rest of the boat ride back was quite rainy and foggy, and at times we could not see anything around us. And then suddenly the weather would change within 5-10 mins and we could see the gorgeous limestone structures again. It felt like we were right in the middle of nature showing us its moods. The weather as usual played a party pooper. It would have been so much more enjoyable if we could easily sit outside and enjoy the warm air and clear views. Not have to keep coming inside to avoid the cold. And the colours of the bay would have been so much prettier. But alas.

Another cave

The last morning we again woke up early and were taken on a day boat to another island, with the Tien Kiem cave. We walked through the huge cave with stalactites and stalagmites. Interestingly, the temperature inside was different, much warmer than the outside. We passed by some waterfalls inside the cave too. Apparently, earlier the cruises used to host dinners inside the caves but that has been discontinued now.

The beach

When we came out the other side, we landed at a spectacular white sand beach, it was just picture perfect. There were 100s of people there that morning though, all visiting the same spots. So as scenic as it was, it felt too crowded and mainstream.  

And just like that the trip was over. And then it was the same assembly line to get back to Hanoi. Sorting back onto the right bus to take us back. But the drive back was gorgeous again. The green countryside with backwaters everywhere. And I felt sad leaving such a magical place. Once we reached Hanoi, we did the usual, get a massage and try out the yum Vietnamese food for one last time.

Overall, we found the Bay extremely magnificent and impressive. But what tourism has done to it is extremely sad. There were plastic bottles floating in the water. The bay had been cleaned a lot in the last few years, with limits set on the number of visitors allowed to visit now. Still what felt crowded to us, was half of what it used to be. As glad as I was for all the steps being taken, I also felt more needs to be done to save such a unique place we have.


Impressions about Vietnam

My impressions of Vietnam were quite mixed and interesting

• The Vietnamese countryside was absolutely stunning. Our trip to Ninh Binh was just so picturesque, so calm and peaceful - the highlight of my trip 
• People wore slip-ons all the time, even when riding scooters (our scooter guides were wearing just slip-ons while driving on the rainy day) or even hiking! It felt quite risky
• One thing that stood out for me was their pride in their history around the American War, which is still very present when they speak about their history. Everyone knows about it and and talks about it often - how they beat the strongest country in the world
• Driving in Vietnam was quite calm, it looked chaotic but somehow everyone was just driving with calmness, not trying to overtake others. It was an interesting experience
• The Vietnamese accent was quite difficult to understand at times. They use shorter words. Also sometimes it felt like they were using lack of English proficiency to get around things 
• Vietnamese use the Latin alphabet, largely because the French banned the teaching of Mandarin script during colonization. So Vietnamese is one of the only South-East Asian languages written in the Latin script 
• Vietnamese language uses only one syllable per word, which leads to many words being shortened. That’s why coffee shops, cafes are known as ca-phe (one syllable each)
• Compared to other South-East Asian countries, I found the people generally more aggressive. They reacted very strongly to comparisons with countries like China or Japan, which seemed a bit too much. Also they smiled while providing service, but the moment there was an issue, there was no sense of service, but very aggressive behaviour (e.g., for our two nights on the cruise on Ha Long Bay, they asked us to move our rooms after day 1 as they had made a mistake. So the cruise director who was so sweet otherwise at all the meals, got quite aggressive and was shouting when I was unhappy about being asked to move randomly in the middle of our stay)
• People seemed extremely stressed about time, even with small delays. Being five minutes late could spark immense frustration. I would be ok with that, but interestingly, nothing ever happened on time anyways 😃. So that felt a bit off!
• Things felt too commercial, like an assembly line. Many of the activities were just being ticked, without being enjoyed. Also service felt fake at times. People smiled but it didn't feel genuine. And like our cruise director, the friendliness was gone the moment an issue came up. It got to me by the end of the trip, I was just done 
• Scams were quite common — we personally faced multiple instances, like with our hotel, some of the spa places we went to (where they did not provide the service they had agreed on, and then pretended to not understand English!). Somehow the whole experience wasn't great for me. Because of all these issues, we ended up packing and moving rooms 6 times over the 9 nights instead of just 3 we had initially booked
• One weird thing we noticed was that most hotel bathrooms didn’t have doors! Of all the 4 hotels (5 star, 3 star, or on the cruise), none of them could be locked!
• Toilets, however, were always clean, even in smaller places that we stopped at during our drive
• Weather in Hanoi is always unpredictable. Just like Amsterdam and London 😂. The week before and after, it was 30+ degrees, but while we were there, it was cold, foggy, windy and raining the entire time! We didn't see any sun for the 8 days we were in Vietnam, that was crazy

There were a few other places nearby that we could have gone to, but didn't get to. Maybe for next time. Like Sapa in the North for hiking, and Danang, Hoi An and Ba Na Hills in Central Vietnam.  


Overall, I loved the vibe and energy of Hanoi, the natural beauty of Ninh Binh, the magical-ness of Ha Long Bay and Vietnamese food was out of this world. Still I wasn't a fan of the country and what it offers. I somehow missed the relaxation of other holidays. So Vietnam will always be a maybe for me.