Tom Coc is a bustling little town overrun with tourists and tour buses. There are a number of highlights to be seen here, but probably not much otherwise in the larger vicinity of Ninh Binh.
Most come to see the River running through the karst formation – most impressive floating down the river through the formations, and then coming up to a formation where the river runs through it with about 2m headroom (luckily we were all sitting in the little paddle boat). There are hundreds of the boat in town waiting to take tourists, fitting anywhere from 1-4 tourists – paddled in the back by a local (often older ladies, who have an interesting technique of manipulating the paddles with their feet while being able to hold an umbrella with their hand. The 7km round trip (3-1/2 km there and back the same way) took about an hour in each direction, and you float through huge formations where rice fields run right up the the rivers edge. Spectacular!!!
We didn’t have much time for many of the other sights that were there – the mountain pagodas or Hoa Lu (the ancient city capital), but there is enough there to fill 2-3 days to see it all properly. Needless to say, there were countless backpackers, tourist busses and restaurants catering to the western palate (as well as cocktail bars, and karaoke bars).
We spent the rest of the day doing bike maintenance, making sure everything was still tight and working – the roads here rattle everything to no end, and the dust and gravel takes its toll too, so that a couple of hours making sure everything was OK was needed (not to mention a long nap in the wonderful beds they had at the Green Peace Bungalows.
Last night the owner shared with us some of his rice-wine (2 years old) in which he was soaking berries to give it flavor and colour – most impressive….but it gave us a bit of a hangover in the morning….
It was a nice break to be able to talk to the hotel owners (a bit) and the restaurants to be able to order something more than noodle soup – was a great relaxing day (even if overrun with tourists and hawkers).
Hi Roland,
I am really enjoying your reading your posts and looking at your photos. You have seen so many new things already. Certainly a different way of life. Thank you for sharing your trip with us. Safe travels.