After sopping up to my knees in the flooded streets of Hue I took the infamous train ride all the way to Ninh Binh. The ride turned out to be an unforgettable experience consisting of one crazy night whilst the train chugs from South to North Vietnam (Hue to Ninh Binh) for 11 hours straight. Nihn Binh is located in the southern gateway of the Red River Delta about 90 Kilometers from Hanoi, North Vietnam.
I shared the train car bunk with 2 Vietnamese men and one other traveler from Ireland. You should have seen the faces on the two Vietnamese guys when the two white westerners showed up with a bottle of red wine and our I Pod speakers; it was priceless....
After checking out the different classes you could chose from I was thankful I went for the more expensive option in 1st class. 3rd class was offering seats jammed packed with lively passengers whom all seemed to be consuming some pretty potent food; leftovers strewn on the floor. 2nd class were six man sleeper cars; passengers packed in like sardines. Ours was perfectly cozy sleeping four. Well, as cozy as it could be I suppose.
After many glasses of Dalat red wine we ended up dancing to the I pod speakers in the train corridor to Fat Boy Slim's 'I have to praise you.' We even had some of the train staff dancing with us. In the morning at 6 am they were still joking and laughing about the night before.
Upon arrival in Ninh Binh I arranged a boat ride lasting for two hours at Tam Coc. It was so peaceful to sit on the boat with the driver rowing rhythmically with her feet. The scenery was blessed with surreal limestone rocks protruding into the sky, lush green forrest; we even went inside caves. Towards the end of the two hours something unexpected happened. The boat driver whispered "shhhh" and we veered away from where all the other tour boats were headed. We docked the boat on a small cove that housed a tiny wooden hut at the waterside.
I was invited here for tea and fresh fruit; gigantic grapefruit and bananas freshly picked from the trees before my eyes. I came to understand that were were at the boat drivers brother's house and that this was not part of the normal tourist route; what a treat.
Sitting there, giggling, lost in translation and completely in awe about how nice it was to be there in this quiet little cozy hut with these more than kind people. After about an hour I was ushered back to the boat...what a memorable time it was even as the rain began to fall sending mirrored pool droplets cascading over the still water......
I shared the train car bunk with 2 Vietnamese men and one other traveler from Ireland. You should have seen the faces on the two Vietnamese guys when the two white westerners showed up with a bottle of red wine and our I Pod speakers; it was priceless....
After checking out the different classes you could chose from I was thankful I went for the more expensive option in 1st class. 3rd class was offering seats jammed packed with lively passengers whom all seemed to be consuming some pretty potent food; leftovers strewn on the floor. 2nd class were six man sleeper cars; passengers packed in like sardines. Ours was perfectly cozy sleeping four. Well, as cozy as it could be I suppose.
After many glasses of Dalat red wine we ended up dancing to the I pod speakers in the train corridor to Fat Boy Slim's 'I have to praise you.' We even had some of the train staff dancing with us. In the morning at 6 am they were still joking and laughing about the night before.
Upon arrival in Ninh Binh I arranged a boat ride lasting for two hours at Tam Coc. It was so peaceful to sit on the boat with the driver rowing rhythmically with her feet. The scenery was blessed with surreal limestone rocks protruding into the sky, lush green forrest; we even went inside caves. Towards the end of the two hours something unexpected happened. The boat driver whispered "shhhh" and we veered away from where all the other tour boats were headed. We docked the boat on a small cove that housed a tiny wooden hut at the waterside.
I was invited here for tea and fresh fruit; gigantic grapefruit and bananas freshly picked from the trees before my eyes. I came to understand that were were at the boat drivers brother's house and that this was not part of the normal tourist route; what a treat.
Sitting there, giggling, lost in translation and completely in awe about how nice it was to be there in this quiet little cozy hut with these more than kind people. After about an hour I was ushered back to the boat...what a memorable time it was even as the rain began to fall sending mirrored pool droplets cascading over the still water......
1 comment:
What an amazing story! keep it up!
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