The days in the countryside have been the best!

The days in the countryside have been the best! I love the calmness and the beautiful nature. I think Norway rubbed off on me…

Today we went on a river ride in a small paddle boat to Tam Coc which means 3 caves. It actually reminded me of Geirangerfjord (Norway’s most popular fjord known for its beauty) with the cliffs rising up from the water. Except it was covered in tropical greenery and made of porous limestone.

The boat captain actually paddled with his feet too. I thought they meant with pedals but no, it is literally them using their feet as hands. I mean it makes sense, your legs are way stronger than your arms. It was cool to go under the caves because you could see stalactites on the ceiling.

Then went on a bike ride after a family style lunch. We got the city cruiser bikes with the basket at the front so I thought it would be road riding. But after about 2 minutes we were guided down a dirt path covered in potholes, mud, and rocks which made the ride, well interesting. Let’s just say those bikes were not meant for it haha. But I wasn’t too distraught because I got to meet multiple flocks of baby ducks, just waddling around 😆.

Went to see temples after that. They were hidden in caves which had bats too. The tour guide said «make sure you keep your mouth closed!», not quite sure what that means…? 😟

The final destination for the day was the best viewpoint of Ninh Binh, up 600 steep, rocky stairs. It was very pretty to be up there at dusk, and not that bad of a journey it was just sooo humid. I was soaking wet by the time I got up there 😅.

On the way down I was practicing a lot of Norwegian with my friends. I was saying full sentences and they were correcting me when I made mistakes (and that’s over half the time haha, well for now at least 👀). It was fun because I would get so excited when I got something right and then so mad when I messed something up (in a funny way of course).

Tried black banh mi for dinner, tasted the same 😆. Then got ready for the night train! I was excited since I have never been on anything like that. It’s very shaky and loud but I hope I still sleep well!