🇻🇳 Vietnam: Tam Coc (Ninh Binh Province) – Travel and Backpacking Nov 2019

Disclaimer

The information in this blog is accurate as of November 2019.

🤔 – What to Expect
🌅 – Activities
🍛 – Food
🚇 – Transport
🛌 – Accomodation

🤔 What to Expect

Scenic bike rides.
One main street.
Mountains, caves and rice fields with a sprinkling of adventure.

🌅 Activities

Ride A Motorcycle

100,000 VND to hire a motorcycle for the day plus petrol.
Enjoy the beautiful mountains at your own leisure.
Stop off to take some snaps.
Be careful of the uneven road surfaces – especially when wet.
Best way to see the surrounding area.

We used the scooter to reach some of the local tourist attractions however most we did not visit as the weather was rather miserable.

Hoa Lu Ancient Citadel

20,000 VND entrance fee. Motorcycle parking 10,000 VND.
The capital of Vietnam in the 10th and 11th Century.
The city was re-modelled in the 17th century after it had been abandoned and deteriorated.
Mountains surround the old citadel which hid the ancient city from attack.
Temples were built to commemorate multiple emperor’s and their families.
Modest dress is required to enter the temples however free skirts are provided.

We didn’t visit the following attractions as it was pouring down and to be honest we’ve seen enough pagodas.

Thung Nham Bird Park

We would have loved to do this however it’s a huge area and the weather was rather miserable. Here’s what we know about the attraction…

100,000 VND entrance fee per person.
15 minutes from Tam Coc on a motorcycle.
20,000 VND fee per person for Thung Nham Boat Tour.
20,000 VND fee per person for But Cave (Buddha Cave).
Caves, greenery and birds to explore.
There is also a resort and restaurant within the Bird Park.
We would have loved to do this if the weather was a little better!

Bich Dong Pagoda

No entrance fee however motorcycle parking is 10,000 – 20,000 VND.
10 minutes from Tam Coc on a motorcycle.
Few steps to climb (slippy when wet) but the views over the mountains and rice paddies is meant to be lovely.

Trang An Grottoes

200,000 VND entrance fee per person. Includes boat trip.
Very touristy and busy.
Lots of grottoes and caves to be explored via boat.
According to lots of trip advisor reviews the scenery is gorgeous.
We felt we had done quite a few similar things in other places.

🍛 Food

T-Pub

Western cuisine and craft beer.
Moderately priced but so worth it.
Deal between 7pm & 9pm buy any pizza and get a draft beer free.
Pizzas cost around 180,000 VND for meat topped ones.
Fresh, handmade pizzas with tomato sauce and mozarella.
Drinks are reasonably priced including spirits.
Lovely and polite staff.

Ngoc Linh Restaurant

Cheap Vietnamese cuisine.
Free bananas.
Tasty Bun Cha – particularly the sauce. No herbs unlike other Bun Cha dishes we’ve had.

Thao Béo

(Not so) Spicy chicken, overcooked chips, chicken in coconut milk and steamed rice.

Moderately priced – we felt expensive as the food wasn’t great.
Dishes as it says on the tin but without any real flavour.
Free bananas.

🚇 Transport

Bicycle

Hire for 50,000 VND per bike.
Great way to see the surrounding scenery whilst getting in some light exercise.
Most of the local tourist attractions are within cycling distance.

Sleeper to Hue

250,000 VND per person.
11 hours although ended up being 9… Keep reading to find out why.
Ended up being a local sleeper even though we were told it was a tourist bus on purchase.
Zero sleep had all night.
I think we were auditioning for fast and furious 10 as the driver sped, heavily braked and hurtled round corners.
The seats were rather uncomfortable, no seatbelts and we slid down the chairs due to his erratic driving.
Less toilet breaks. No communication of when they were either.
Dropped off on the outskirts of Hue at a random hotel. Although we asked multiple times where we would be dropped off and they replied the centre of Hue.
The outcome of two sleep deprived disgruntled passengers who then had to walk 30 minutes in the rain to our new accomodation – also way too early to check in.

🛌 Accommodation

Phi Hung’s Unique Homestay

£10.10 per night for Deluxe double room with private bathroom and breakfast included.
Comfy king size bed and soft pillows.
Clean and tidy with bag storage, hairdryer, towels, aircon and refridgerator.
2 options for breakfast – bread and omlette or banana and pancakes with tea/coffee, fresh fruit juice and fruit.
Would be a quiet homestay tucked off the main road however there was construction work going on next door which started early and finished late.
The sweetest couple who host the homestay. However they speak little English but we managed with Google translate.
Luggage storage after check out.
30,000 VND for towel and shower fee after check out.
We’d definitely stay here again if we came back to Tam Coc.