This past weekend
three friends and I (probably similar to the group I will be traveling with
after the program) decided to go to Mai Chau. We didn't really plan it out
well. We went to the bus station early on Sat morning because we heard there
was a bus at 930. Well we got there and asked people "Mai Chau?" and we were
soon ushered onto a bus. An hour and a half later, Seth realized that we were
not heading in the right direction. Then the frantic miming, map drawing, and
broken Vietnamese started. One guy took over and soon stopped the bus and told
us to get off. We were in some small town which we dont really know the name of
to this day. He said that in two hours there would be a bus to the city where
we could transfer to another bus heading to Mai Chau. We said sure but we are
going to go walk in the meantime. Well we wandered and soon came to the rice
paddies and the large rock crags/outcroppings (who knows what to call them?)
and we made up our minds that our mission was to climb one of these rock
formations. We wandered through the paddies, creating a gathering (as there
were absolutely no tourists in this town) and eventually some school children
followed us. We made it to the top and took in the gorgeous views of the
surrounding country side. (yes jim, there are pictures) Some of the kids had
guided us up the mountain and sorta hung out near by for a while. It started
misting. There were mountain goats in the distance. And we were just four
friends chilling on top of a mountain. Eventually around three or so (an hour
after the bus we were supposed to take left) we clambered down the mountain and
made our way back to the town. We decided that since there was little point in
making it to Mai Chau that we would just hop the first bus we saw going north.
Well we did. We paid the max fair and then half napped/ read our recently
purchased New Yorkers (yes I am starting to miss a few things from the states).
Eventually the bus people asked where we were going and told us, or rather mimed
to us that this was the end of the line. We got off to discover that we were in
the town of Ninh Binh. We found ourselves a hotel and passed out. It was only
about four thirty at this point so around seven we awoke to go find dinner. We
wandered looking for the vegetarian restaurants that we had caught glimpses of
on our way into town and failed to find any. We settled for another hotels
restaurant and ate some pretty decent food. While we were finishing up our
dinner, one of the managers of the hotel stopped by our table to start
chatting. He asked what we were doing and suggested that the next day we allow
him and some of his friends to take us around on their motorbikes to see some of
the near by sites. For eight US dollars we agreed. Of course we had no idea
where we were or what sites we were agreeing to see. The next morning around
eight we showed and immediately clambered onto four different motorbikes. The
first place they took us was to a river for a boat ride that passed through
three grottos and traveled through rice paddies and more of the vertical rock
mountains (look at photos of HaLong Bay if you dont know what I am talking
about). It was of course gorgeous, relaxing and all in all enjoyable. We had
no idea where the boat ride was too but it turned out to be a small shrine. On
the way back (I got to row a little bit- but since I was facing forward my
skills were limited!!) we stopped before we got to the starting place and ended
up walking back past a Buddhist shrine hidden in a small cave. Once back at the
starting point our bikes and drivers were waiting for us. They then took us to
a popular Buddhist temple/shrine. It was up a mountain, through a cave, and
amongst spectacular views. If it werent for the massive amounts of Vietnamese
tourists and school children it would have been immensely enjoyable. (somehow we seemed to be the only white people around). Again once we got to the bottom we hopped back onto the bikes and set off again. We traveled through the back roads and through small windy town streets. We then came to a mountain that we had seen on our boat ride that had a large dragon statue on top. There was no one here. We proceeded to top yet another mountain. The steep and numerous stairs reminded me just how out of shape I am (I am still sore- but only my left quad) Again we set about relaxing and taking in the view. We came down the mountain to find some food and travel to our last tourist spot- Hoa Lu the ancient capital. This one was rather disappointing, but still fascinating to see buildings dating from the tenth century. By this time we were rather lethargic and were glad of the fact that it was time to head back to Ninh Binh to catch our bus back to Hanoi. Although this past weekend was entirely unplanned, it was one of my greater traveling experiences and is what I hope to experience in my month of post travel- spontaneous decisions and lots of exploration.
Hope all is well at home and abroad!
three friends and I (probably similar to the group I will be traveling with
after the program) decided to go to Mai Chau. We didn't really plan it out
well. We went to the bus station early on Sat morning because we heard there
was a bus at 930. Well we got there and asked people "Mai Chau?" and we were
soon ushered onto a bus. An hour and a half later, Seth realized that we were
not heading in the right direction. Then the frantic miming, map drawing, and
broken Vietnamese started. One guy took over and soon stopped the bus and told
us to get off. We were in some small town which we dont really know the name of
to this day. He said that in two hours there would be a bus to the city where
we could transfer to another bus heading to Mai Chau. We said sure but we are
going to go walk in the meantime. Well we wandered and soon came to the rice
paddies and the large rock crags/outcroppings (who knows what to call them?)
and we made up our minds that our mission was to climb one of these rock
formations. We wandered through the paddies, creating a gathering (as there
were absolutely no tourists in this town) and eventually some school children
followed us. We made it to the top and took in the gorgeous views of the
surrounding country side. (yes jim, there are pictures) Some of the kids had
guided us up the mountain and sorta hung out near by for a while. It started
misting. There were mountain goats in the distance. And we were just four
friends chilling on top of a mountain. Eventually around three or so (an hour
after the bus we were supposed to take left) we clambered down the mountain and
made our way back to the town. We decided that since there was little point in
making it to Mai Chau that we would just hop the first bus we saw going north.
Well we did. We paid the max fair and then half napped/ read our recently
purchased New Yorkers (yes I am starting to miss a few things from the states).
Eventually the bus people asked where we were going and told us, or rather mimed
to us that this was the end of the line. We got off to discover that we were in
the town of Ninh Binh. We found ourselves a hotel and passed out. It was only
about four thirty at this point so around seven we awoke to go find dinner. We
wandered looking for the vegetarian restaurants that we had caught glimpses of
on our way into town and failed to find any. We settled for another hotels
restaurant and ate some pretty decent food. While we were finishing up our
dinner, one of the managers of the hotel stopped by our table to start
chatting. He asked what we were doing and suggested that the next day we allow
him and some of his friends to take us around on their motorbikes to see some of
the near by sites. For eight US dollars we agreed. Of course we had no idea
where we were or what sites we were agreeing to see. The next morning around
eight we showed and immediately clambered onto four different motorbikes. The
first place they took us was to a river for a boat ride that passed through
three grottos and traveled through rice paddies and more of the vertical rock
mountains (look at photos of HaLong Bay if you dont know what I am talking
about). It was of course gorgeous, relaxing and all in all enjoyable. We had
no idea where the boat ride was too but it turned out to be a small shrine. On
the way back (I got to row a little bit- but since I was facing forward my
skills were limited!!) we stopped before we got to the starting place and ended
up walking back past a Buddhist shrine hidden in a small cave. Once back at the
starting point our bikes and drivers were waiting for us. They then took us to
a popular Buddhist temple/shrine. It was up a mountain, through a cave, and
amongst spectacular views. If it werent for the massive amounts of Vietnamese
tourists and school children it would have been immensely enjoyable. (somehow we seemed to be the only white people around). Again once we got to the bottom we hopped back onto the bikes and set off again. We traveled through the back roads and through small windy town streets. We then came to a mountain that we had seen on our boat ride that had a large dragon statue on top. There was no one here. We proceeded to top yet another mountain. The steep and numerous stairs reminded me just how out of shape I am (I am still sore- but only my left quad) Again we set about relaxing and taking in the view. We came down the mountain to find some food and travel to our last tourist spot- Hoa Lu the ancient capital. This one was rather disappointing, but still fascinating to see buildings dating from the tenth century. By this time we were rather lethargic and were glad of the fact that it was time to head back to Ninh Binh to catch our bus back to Hanoi. Although this past weekend was entirely unplanned, it was one of my greater traveling experiences and is what I hope to experience in my month of post travel- spontaneous decisions and lots of exploration.
Hope all is well at home and abroad!
Comments
hearts,
dre