One Week in Vietnam: Ninh Binh... A Beautiful Detour

After a few days in Hanoi, we were desperately seeking nature and a break from the heat.  That is why I was SO excited for the next part of my "surprise adventure": Halong Bay (Ninh Binh was actually not at all in the plan at all at this point!).  As we were packing our bags for our planned boat cruise along Halong Bay, a typhoon was rapidly heading our way.  By the time we were ready to go, the winds and rain had picked up so much that all trips out into the bay had been cancelled last minute.  Not only did Zack feel bad that his "surprise plans" had fallen through, I forced him to tell me all the details about the rest of the trip in order to help him plan the rest of the week.  We hadn't realized that we were visiting Vietnam in typhoon season..... oops.

So, we got on the internet and searched for anything that looked remotely exciting in and around the Hanoi area.  We stumbled upon a place called "Nimh Binh" and found that it is actually called "Halong Bay on Land" because of it's extreme landscape that resembles the bay, but is actually a LOT less touristy.  It is inland Vietnam, though at times you'd think you were along the coast somewhere.  So, we last minute bought a couple bus tickets and off we went for the next couple days.

Turns out, this place was an incredible sight to see. At first, I wasn't too sure about it, since the bus dropped us off 15 minutes away in what seemed like a run down sleepy Vietnamese town.  However, as we got closer to our guesthouse (which was actually a pretty cool Eco Lodge), the land seemed to shoot up from the ground in these tall groupings of mountains.  It almost didn't seem real!  The one downside, however, was that the typhoon had caused areas of Northern Vietnam to completely lose power, so we were left without any source of electricity.  That meant sleeping without air conditioning (which we are used to now, however this week was HOT), and enjoying an emergency light at night. :)  There was also a lot of clean up to do on the roads after the storm.

We spent our time there riding around on bicycles and a rental motorbike.  We also did one climb up 400 steps from Mua Caves to see an incredible view.

Though the weather wasn't great overall, in the end we were so happy we ended up here.  Ninh Binh was incredibly beautiful.

Our Eco Lodge for two nights.

Entrance of Mua Caves

Some areas were fairly flooded

Snapping photos while on the back of the motorbike

I've decided to start adding some "logistic details" at the end of my posts when I think I could be helpful if ever you decide to visit here.  Here are the details from Ninh Binh:

Where we stayed: Mua Caves Eco Lodge . There are less expensive options out there, though the setting of this place was super nice and the rooms were clean and updated. If it weren't for the power outage, it would have been an overall excellent stay.
How we got here: Local Bus from the Hanoi city bus terminal.  Took about 2 hours.
How we got around Ninh Binh: Motorbike. Though we still rented bicycles for one afternoon for enjoyment.
Highlights: The hike at Mua Caves as well as riding around on our bicycles.