Vietnam720: Ninh Binh or ‘Inland Halong Bay‘, just 2 hours from Hanoi, through the eyes of Hal Medrano from Hanoi Scratchpad.

Ninh Binh

Hal: It’s been three weeks since I went to Ninh Binh, and I still haven’t been able to write about it. Part of it is simple exhaustion: I’ve been (happily) busy with my work, and unable to find the time to organize my thoughts. Part of it is, however, attributable to the beauty of the province. How to write of such a place without gushing or sounding like a guidebook? This has been my dilemma.

Still, I want to record this place because it is one of the most beautiful landscapes I have ever seen. So here goes, and please forgive, in advance, the melodrama.

Ninh Binh

[Fade in. A flock of egrets flies over a rice field. Slow pan across the landscape as narrator speaks]

About two hours south of Hanoi lays a place, known as the “Inland Halong Bay,” where limestone karsts rise out of verdant rice fields, ancient Buddhist temples stand, and secret waterways run through the heart of mountains. Inside this timeless land, verdant rice fields are tended by women in conical hats, and traditional Vietnamese village life operates as it has for thousands of years….

[Cue music]

Okay, now that I got that off my chest…

The topography of Ninh Binh was formed millions of years ago, when a body of water that later became the South China Sea receded from this inland zone. These mildly acidic waters began etching the land, leaving behind piles of twisted rock that, over time, won the trust of the local flora. As the waters continued to recede, larger openings appeared, accelerating the drainage and forming caverns, sinkholes, spires, gnarls, and hills shaped like serpents and dragons and other creatures from the mythological imagination.

Ninh Binh

Within this contorted landscape lies a Shangri-La of lotus-covered ponds, meandering waterways, and lush, green rice paddies, dotted with temples, pagodas, and weathered Buddhist shrines. Ornate mausoleums rise from the center of small lakes, and rustic abodes are built under natural overhangs or nestled into the living rock. A thousand years ago, the province housed the Imperial Court of Dai Co Viet, an honor it lost in 1010 A.D. when King Ly Thai To moved the capital to Thang Long (modern-day Hanoi). The ruins of this kingdom still lie on the small plain of Hoa Lu, protected by the hills from Chinese invasion.

Ninh Binh

If you were to fall asleep and wake up inside an Asian brushstroke landscape, Ninh Binh is most likely where you would land. I doubt that life here has changed a great deal in the last millennium or two. Despite a growing tourist infrastructure, it is still possible to feel the steady rhythms of traditional Vietnamese village life. Women tend to the rice fields, men cast nets into tranquil waters from small wooden boats, and water buffaloes are bathed at the end of a long workday. A motorbike ride into the mountains allows you to get lost in this land, and is surely one of the great pleasures of traveling in Vietnam.

Ninh Binh

Tam Coc, the region’s main tourist draw, is well worth seeing. Tourists pay 50,000 dong for a three-hour boat ride that includes boat journeys inside three long caves, and a stop at an old temple. Women paddle up to you to sell mediocre embroidery, some of them controlling their boats’ oars with their feet, but for the most part it’s a mellow scene, and the landscape is awe-inspiring. As spectacular as Tam Coc is, however, for my money Tràng An is even better. Just a few miles away, Tràng An provides equally dramatic scenery in a calmer setting, with fewer tourists. Regardless, the routine is the same: sit back, take in the setting, and dream.

The town of Ninh Binh itself is unremarkable, but a comfortable place from which to explore the province. Goat meat is the local specialty. The Ngoc Anh Hotel is very good: clean, cheap, and friendly. Two days are sufficient to get the lay of the land, but more time would allow you to fully explore the sites, which include a nearby national park.

Let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh

Ninh Binh