After the busy and chaotic few nights in Hanoi, we decided to chill out in Tam Coc. Tam Coc is a small town in the Ninh Binh Province close to the actual city of Ninh Binh but far quieter.
We stopped at a lovely little hotel located down a side street off the main through road. Very conveniently located within walking distance of many restaurants and shops/massage spas/tour agents/bike and scooter hire shops/waffle & crepe sellers/spit roast ducks/bars..you get the picture.
We did slow down our sight seeing here and so a couple of days we spent just walking around, stopping for coffee (or beer!) and watching the world and boats go by. On one of these slower days we walked into a very tiny museum which was solely dedicated to rice farming. Literally, it was all contained in one room, but that didn’t matter because the highlight was the guy who worked there who was a rice farmer. He offered to tell us all about the processes involved and also some history of the area and the lives of locals. Seeing as neither of us spoke each other’s languages we all communicated by phone translation apps. He was fascinating to listen to and even told us a little of what the area experienced in the Vietnam War from a child’s perspective as he is now 62 years old. I got to grind some rice with stones and Nick got to do the pounding to remove the husk an polish it. The chap would have talked all day…lovely experience.
On another day we popped onto the boat ride which takes you down river through three caves and then onto an electric vehicle to see other points of interest, pagodas and temples. Duration was almost 3hrs.
The most exhausting day was the cycle and climb up Mua Caves. We jumped on a couple of bikes provided by the hotel to cycle the 5km to Mua Caves which, when the rice is almost ready for harvesting, would look amazing but at the moment the fields are under water to rest for the next season. Mua Cave is a famous scenic spot known for its breathtaking panoramic views from Lying Dragon Mountain, accessible via an approx 500-steep step climb The reward is 360 views of limestone karsts, rice paddies and the Ngo Dong River. We certainly slept well after all that.
