Hanoi and Excursion from The Meritel hotel to Nimb Binh Day Excursion.
We slept well after returning from Halong Bay and enjoying a superb meal in the Restaurant here at the Meritel hotel Hanoi. We were early to bed as we haqve a long full day to tomorrow (12th October, 2023) to the old colonial Capital of Vietnam , ie Nimb Binh, where we have several activities. this was arranged through our Hotel using Heritage Tours.
After a good night’s sleep we arose at 6.00am and showered then had breakfast and waited for our tour guide with a 7.35pm pick up which was delayed some 15-20 minutes due to Hanoi traffic jams. The traffic here is just unbelievably complex with motor bikes and scooters in their hundreds and cars going in all sorts of directions, but it just happens.
We are picked up just before 8.00am with a tour party numbering 20 people. We haqve a 10 minute drive to traverse the Old city and then a further 40 minutes to escape outer suburbs of Hanoi , before we travel via freeway to Ninh Binh a UNESCO world heritage listing site. We stop after about b75 minutes at a toilet and shopping break . We then settle in to take in the wonderful scenery of the limestone mountains (small)
Our arrival in Ninh Binh coincides with the commencement of a steady continuous drizzle which continues from approximately 11.00am through until 4.00pm. We are provided with Raincoats as we depart the bus for the first stop at a Temple which has been painstakingly restored internally. There are various displays and we enjoy the visit and see several temples.
From here we drive to the Heritage tour restaurant where we are to take lunch, but almost the entire group went from a bike ride on a range of good to bad bikes to a village. It is supposed to take 40-45 minutes but is concluded in 25 minutes as the tour guide, Ho, decides that it is too dangerous and wet with several riggers obviously not familiar or capable cyclists. Whilst that group rode Jeanette and Ken waited at the Restaurant for the duration. upon the return the whole group then enjoyed a meal of Vietnamese food and different styles and flavours, and there were none particularly hot or spicey. We sat with a New Zealand couple, who are Project Manager and Event organisers who have special skills re Commonwealth and Olympic Games and they recently completed a 2 year contract working on the Soccer World Cup in Doha.
After lunch we were dropped off at a lake with hindered of small boats, which were rowed by local Vietnamese women.
We struggled to get on without turning the boat over, we shared with 2 South Korean young men from Seoul. Little English. It was a fun experience and these women rowed for almost 90 minutes , with each of us also using oars occasionally to assist and support the wonderful effort of these rowers.
The rowing took us to another Temple and also a Buddhist Pagoda. The Temple represents the shrine to reflect hero’s and other important people, whereas the Pagoda is a religious shrine..
This has been an enjoyable “once in a lifetime experience” with stunning magnificent scenery, historical perspective reflecting the 4,000 year history of Vietnam and the various monarchs and then the influence of the Te Generals and rulers through the period 850-980AD approximate time period.
The majority then chose to walk up the 500 odd stairs to the top of the limestone peak to observe the total valley and rice fields. This is a beautiful area, with stunning scenery etc.
We chose not to climb the stairs it was simply beyond us and instead sat in a restaurant drinking a coke and then some Vietnamese tea. We talked to a couple from the Philippines , who have lived in Sydney for almost 30 years and enjoyed the chat. We could see the leading climbers get to the top and later found that only 6 of the 16 were able to reach the top in the wet conditions. The majority reached the approximately half way mark of some 220 step. By that stage they were struggling.
From here we were rounded up and we departed for our return journey to Hanoi, departing at 5.25 and reaching the Old City area at 7.35 and we were dropped off at our hotel at 7.55pm.
We will do further reading to understand more of our day.
We have enjoyed an outstanding day with an excellent guide and highly skilled driver. Yes certainly long and the weather was inclement, but it surpassed our expectations and the photos provide some inspiring memories
