[RD] Backpacking Việt Nam (2019)

[warpus]

How good was your driver's English?

Pretty empty streets too.

Not very good! What you heard was probably his go-to question. I remember trying to ask him something at our first stop and we found it tough to communicate.

The empty streets might be a combination of it being Sunday morning and the driver taking side streets. Ninh Bình is also a small city compared to Hanoi, so I found the traffic lighter overall

 

[warpus]

Tam Cốc Rice Fields

About 6 km east of Ninh Bình lie formations of limestone cliffs that are often referred to as Hạ Long Bay on land. Surrounding them lie fertile lands that are dotted with rice fields.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

Cutless fish
I eat that regularly, but you have to be careful as they can carry parasites inside them. So no sashimi and always check before you eat.
Its not that popular in the west due to its bland tasting flesh, but fried with skin on and salt is delicious.

Not unsimiliar, but the fish I saw had a very dark greyish outlook and weren't shiny at all.

Barracuda? (Relatively deep-bodied; great barracuda — as pictured — can be up to 2 m long; generally swim in midwater)?
(By Christian Grill - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=32015793)

Not a barracuda, looked very similiar to the needlefish, it could've been a subspecies of that!

 

[warpus]

Hang Múa Peak & Caves

My first stop were the Múa Caves, the highlight of which is a peak with 500 steps up to the summit.

 

[Birdjaguar]

You and a lot of other people too!

 

[warpus]

You and a lot of other people too!

This is probably the most popular tourist hot spot in the region. The views from the top are well worth the climb!

 

[Birdjaguar]

This is probably the most popular tourist hot spot in the region. The views from the top are well worth the climb!

Pics or it didn't happen!

 

[warpus]

The path leading up to the climb up takes you by interesting statues, pools of water, bamboo houses, and vendors selling snacks and souvenirs.

 

[warpus]

There are many distractions on both sides of the path, which seems to draw even more tourists, especially those interested in social media photo ops. The place really does get quite packed, especially at the top of the summit. I noticed that most of the tourists who were here were east Asian and not western, although you'll spot groups of backpackers here and there.

 

[warpus]

There are two caves on the site, the first one of which is a bit underwhelming.

 

[Birdjaguar]

Fierce tiger!

 

[Valka D'Ur]

Somebody donated an empty water bottle?

I assume this is some kind of religious shrine?

 

[warpus]

From what I understand tiger worship is fairly common in East Asia, and in Vietnam it is common to see tiger statues by the entrance of certain temples.

 

[Birdjaguar]

There is a US$ C note on the left corner.

 

[warpus]

Núi Ngọa Long
Lying Dragon Mountain

There are 500 steps up to the summit. It isn't long before you can look back and see some of the surrounding rice fields.

 

[Birdjaguar]

And now we know what sells at the top!

 

[Cutlass]

Hang Múa Peak & Caves

My first stop were the Múa Caves, the highlight of which is a peak with 500 steps up to the summit.

And in the middle of all that, one girl in Western clothing looking at her cell phone instead of the sights.

 

[warpus]

And in the middle of all that, one girl in Western clothing looking at her cell phone instead of the sights.

I would guess that's a tourist from either China or Vietnam itself. This part of the path seemed to be very popular with those posting selfies to social media..

 

[FriendlyFire]

Somebody donated an empty water bottle?
I assume this is some kind of religious shrine?

Given that their is a small cup next to the bottle I assume its some kind of home made alcohol
Id imagine for tourist location, rubbish such as empty bottles would be cleaned up

Notice the large fake money as well, which is burnt as offerings up to the ancestors to spend in the afterlife. Gifts of food, incense and drink are traditional offerings. Food offerings are normally consumed afterwards unless one is wealthy.

 

[warpus]

There are actually two distinct summits here, both quite popular with people attempting to take cool shots for their social media page..

That might not look very safe, but looks are a bit deceiving. It was definitely a bit hairy up here though, with so many people packed up here all trying to get the same shot and not much room to move around in.. I ended up climbing up above everyone and onto a pointy set of rocks overlooking everything. Nobody else was interested in this vantage point, since everyone was lined up for the money shot.. and the rocks were sharp and not fun to try to stand on.. I was happy enough to get up and away from the crowd though, giving me a good vantage point for photographs that do not include any of the people there, aside from those who were posing for shots.