Day 16: Thu 14 Nov - Ninh Binh to Cuc Phuong National Park

-
21-33 deg C
Ride: 40km

"Ride through karst scenery of Ninh Binh to Cuc Phuong National Park. Cuc Phuong National Park is one of Vietnam’s most beautiful and important protected areas; The ancient forest contains almost 2000 species of trees and amongst them lives some amazing and rare animals including the Clouded leopard, Delacour’s Langur, Owston’s Civet, Otters and Asian Black Bear! Check in the Cuc Phuong National Park guest house. It is simple and comfort. Hotel: Cuc Phuong Resort & Villa. Cycle: 40km."

We arrived at Ninh Binh station about 3:30am and our bus (another one, not the original) was waiting to take us to the hotel. Amazing that although they knew we were coming, all the lights were off and the gate was closed! It took about 30 mins for the hotel staff to get organised to get our keys. Before retiring to our rooms, we were told we would be riding away at 9am, so we had about five hours to go back to sleep. Wendy had a shower before climbing into bed; Greg was already asleep.

We were up at 7am for a less than salubrious breakfast, but fed the worms. We were a little late in getting away as we needed to set the bikes up (seat height) as these are the second lot of bikes. We are both very happy with these bikes, especially the lovely cushioned seats - means we don't have to put our own seats on. W

Once we were on the road, we stopped about 5km into the ride for a caffeine fix, then again at the 20km mark for a cool drink, watermelon and snacks. We stopped a little more often for photos today, as the scenery was the best so far. 

We arrived at our accommodation for the night in Cuc Phuong National Park just after midday and were able to check-in. Hot and sweaty, all we wanted was to get out of our rising gear, have a wash, put some fresh clothes on and wash the dirty stuff from the last two days. Alas, there was no water; they neglected to tell us this when we checked-in, not even our guide knew about it until Wendy WhatsApp'd him to ask if there was a special code for water access (apparently one of the main water pipes into the resort had been damaged). He was very apologetic, but it was not his fault. The aircon works well, so we did some catching up on social media then made our way to the restaurant for lunch, still sticky and smelly! 

After lunch we walked around the 'resort' and found the pool - manky as. It looks as though maintenance has been sadly lacking. Back in our room, we had a snooze then Wendy got up and tested the tap, and hey presto! A little trickle at first, and then it was 'normal'. So all is not lost, we did not have to go to bed dirty.

We met up at the bar for pre-dinner drinks, then the restaurant at 6:30pm for dinner. We had something different tonight - goat hotpot. They provided the veggies and thinly sliced, and lean, goat meat, and we had to cook our own. It was not to everyone's taste, but Wendy found it nice, having done a few hotpots in China. Greg found the broth to be better than the meat, but he is not a big meat eater.

Room #215, Yen Nhi Hotel, Ninh Binh


Ninh Binh









Our new bus

Gearing up to ride from Ninh Binh

Greg looks like one of those goats with the long floppy ears



Ride scenery



Coffee stop






A duck farm

Bungalow 209, Cuc Phuong Resort, forgot to take the pic before we did the laundry!



Resort at night

Early evening

Goat hotpot dinner
















Comments

  1. TinkieNovember 15, 2024 at 5:04 AM

    You're certainly are getting to see many different parts of Vietnam - today looks great as well. My Dad was a butcher and he said "kid meat" and "lamb meat" were equally delicious. If it was a "old goat" it may not have been that good?? Still having great fun reading your blogs, thanks. Love, Mum and Dad

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 14: Tue 12 Nov - Hoi An to Hue

-
Image
25-27 deg C Ride: 0km "Transfer beyond Danang to take on Hai Van Pass and climb 500 metres over 10 kms. After lunch, turn off the main highway and take a coastal side road for 44 km almost all the way to our destination. Energetic riders will make it all the way into Hue. Climb the Hai Van Pass, ride along the peninsula to Hue. Overnight in Hue. Hotel: Duy Tan Hotel. Cycle: 60km+" We were at breakfast early than usual as we had a 7:30am start. We were supposed to ride away from the hotel for 20km, however, it was still raining quite heavily, so we opted for the bus. We arrived at Danang Beach, and five brave souls rode away about 30 minutes later; they were keen to ride the Hai Van Pass. Alas, the rain gods were not listening, and about 7km later the riders had to stop and take shelter in a coffee shop. By this time, however, the bus had gone straight past them as the driver did not know they had stopped. We did a u-turn about 10km up the road and caught up with the riders, b...
Read more

Day 9: Thu 7 Nov - Nha Trang

-
Image
24 - 28deg Walk: 8km "A day with boat trip to islands. Experience the coast of Nha Trang aboard a boat as we set out in the morning, for our first stop at the aquarium. We then head out to Hon Mun Island where we have the chance for swimming and snorkelling in the crystal clear waters. From here we continue to Hon Tam Island where you have the choice of relaxing on the beach or for the energetic – there is a choice of water sports. Our lunch stop is at the fishing village of Lang Chai where we have time to explore before boarding our boat back to Nha Trang harbor. Overnight in Nha Trang. Cycle: 0km." Unfortunately Wendy was not up to getting out of bed today due to a rather nasty lurgy. We're hoping that a day of complete rest will help her recover. After breakfast the remaining nine met in the foyer to decide if the weather was good enough for a boat trip. We decided to take the chance, which turned out to be correct. So it was onto the bus for a short ride to the harbou...
Read more

Day 6: Mon 4 Nov - Ho Chi Minh City

-
Image
30-39 (feels like) deg C Ride: 19km "After breakfast, transfer out of the bustling city Ho Chi Minh to Tan Phu Trung village; ride through rubber plantation to Cuchi tunnels site and visit the most famous tunnels in the world, dug by Vietnamese during American war. Overnight in Saigon. Cycle: 25km." We set off from the hotel at 8am, heading for the Cu Chi Tunnels. We stopped about an hour out of the city and the bikes were waiting for us opposite a Vietnamese roadside coffee shop. After getting re-acquainted with the bikes, we headed over to the cafe for a comfort stop and an iced coffee that was strong and delicious. We finally hopped on the bikes and rode away. About 10km up the road we stopped for a drinks and snack break; hardly earned it.  9km later we arrived at Cu Chi Tunnels, parked the bikes, had another cool drink then headed into the tunnel complex. First up was a 20min film about the Vietnam war and how the VC used their ingenuity to overcome the superior technolo...
Read more