We arrived in Ninh Binh after a twelve-hour train ride. Then we took a taxi to Tam Coc, several km from Ninh Binh, in the dark, which left us a little disoriented. It's pretty annoying to arrive into a new town at night, and the 12 hours north on the train also put us into a chilly, damp climate--a serious change from the heat of the central part of Vietnam in March. we awoke the next morning to this view outside our hotel room in Tam Coc.
Few and far between: lots of new hotels are springing up everywhere in Vietnam. This building isn't one of them.
The end of the building has been stabilized by new concrete and some wiring. The curved roof is pretty impressive.
Graves and bikes. We've ridden an odd assortment of bicycles during the past couple of months, and these were among the best. They had to be though--many roads are dirt (mud) here.
Rice fields and karst. The road ahead.
Since these vines hung over the road, someone knotted them to make them shorter.
Rice is planted by hand, which you can see by the equal spacing here.
Temple sign: dress reasonably.
We visited this temple near our hotel at sunset, after the tour groups were gone. Inside a woman was chanting and singing. We listened for twenty minutes or so. It was amazing singing--even while the temple dog was barking.
The water is heavily controlled to allow for rice field flooding and waterway travel.
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