A two boat trip day: Ngo Dong River and Van Long Nature Reserve.
Another good day, following a better night of sleep. I did wake a few times, but managed to get the right temperature balance on the air conditioning, and keeping the windows closed did a good job of blocking out the sound of the roosters crowing, which again started between 3:30-4:00 am (I thought they crowed at dawn, but not here where they’re early risers). No dogs barking this morning and no sounds of workers, but whoever plays that radio loud, played it loud again, right around 6 pm. I was up by then, though, after a decent night’s sleep.
As I walked into town, I rambled along a number of side and back streets, which are frequent and seem to make up the majority of the neighborhood. Aside from the main street in downtown Tam Coc, this is a very rural village, with working farmlands and rice paddies, just a street or two away from the commercial downtown area.
My first stop was at the Van Lam Wharf, the harbor area in Tam Coc, where I got a ticket for a sampan boat ride along the Ngo Dong River, which feeds into and out of the harbor, for a round trip lasting around 90 minutes. The sampans are shallow fiberglass boats that hold four to six people, rowed by boat operators who famously sit back in their seats, often under an umbrella for shade, and row with their feet. The boats travel along the Ngo Dong river through very tranquil scenery, the river banks lined by rice paddies and karst cliffs. The only thing not tranquil about it is the sheer volume of sampans, which fill the river, moving in both directions, often bumping into one another. Still, it was a lovely ride, also passing through three limestone caves, Hang Cả, Hang Hai, and Hang Ba.
We stopped for a short break at the turnabout spot, with more beautiful scenery in an environment that is a harmonious blend of construction, design, and natural. Just lovely.
On the way back, we stopped again, and the boatman said I should get out here, asked me to return my life jacket, and proceeded to row off, with the other two passengers. I know it wasn’t because I’d offended him (that’s a joke), but it took me a moment to realize that I had purchased a combo ticket, which had other land-based stops. That’s the trouble with not being able to speak the language. Although I’ve been doing okay, there’s also a lot of guesswork involved, or nodding your head and hoping for the best. This worked out fine, though, and there was a small electric shuttle standing by to take combo ticket holders to the next stop, which was the Thai Vi Temple.
The temple is a significant historical site in Vietnam. Although originally built in 1258, much of the current site was developed between the 16th and 19th centuries. Surrounded by the O Lam mountains and overlooking the Ngo Dong River, unlike most Vietnamese temples and pagodas, which are built with wood, the Thai Vi Temple is known for its use of blue stone, instead of wood. The temple was initially dedicated to several kings and generals who successfully defeated the invading Mongols, who invaded Vietnam three times between 1258 and 1288, when they were finally defeated. Vietnam was one of the few countries that succeeded in resisting and defeating the Mongols, and after the final defeat of the Mongolian forces, the king abdicated and came here to live as an ascetic and practice Buddhism.
There was a parade of colorful horses In front of the temple, a ceremonial addition for 2026, the Year of the Horse, but the symbology is also tied to the Tran Dynasty, which founded the temple. In Vietnamese folk religion and ancestor worship, colored horses (ngựa giấy or ngựa thờ) are considered sacred vehicles or sentinels for the spirits of the kings and generals. Red horses represent fire and energy, white horses purity and the heavens, green and blue horses symbolize growth, spring, and new beginnings, and yellow/gold horses represent royalty, and specifically the kings who established the temple.
I returned to the shuttle area, and we were whisked off to I did not where. After a short ride, I realized we were heading back to downtown Tam Coc, and when we didn’t stop I figured we had another destination. I recognized where we were, and where we were heading, from my bicycle ride yesterday, and sure enough we wound up at Bích Động. This combo ticket was a pretty good deal, actually, for $13, with a lovely (but crowded) boat ride, followed by two significant and beautiful sites, and then a return into town. I didn’t stay at Bích Động very long, as I was just here, and after a short while ambled back to the shuttle bus area, and got on. A passenger very politely and in a friendly manner told me in Vietnamese that there was actually a line, which I hadn’t noticed. There’s a good example of how pointing can be a very effective way to communicate, even when you don’t speak the language.
I enjoyed the open shuttle ride, and once back in town around one-ish, I figured out what to do next. I’ve actually seen and visited the major sights within walking or bicycling distance, so I took the plunge and used the Grab app, which is the Uber of Southeast Asia (and actually, Uber sold its Southeast Asia operation to Grab in 2018). One big difference – with Grab you can hail a motorbike ride, which is less expensive than a car, and I’d say at this point, more fun. I decided to go visit the Van Long Nature Reserve, only about 15 miles from Tam Coc, but about a 30-35 minute ride. The app worked well, and I got picked up within five minutes, on a small engine bike, the driver with passenger helmet in hand. The fare was just under $5. By now, I’m enjoying these rides, and feeling pretty comfortable on the back, and of course I returned to Tam Coc by motorbike as well.
Van Long, in the Gia Viễn district of Ninh Bình, is the largest wetland nature reserve in the Red River Delta (the same Red River that flows from Hanoi). I actually had no idea what to expect and wondered if could walk the reserve, but as I bought my ticket I learned this is also a boat trip, lasting around 90 minutes. I walked to where the boats were waiting, traditional flat-bottomed bamboo basket boats designed for shallow wetlands. They hull is made from thin strips of bamboo that have been treated, woven together, and sealed with tar or resin to make them waterproof. Very different from the fiberglass sampans from this morning. That was not the only difference.
This area and the ride was totally different than the busy, crowded, and commercial Ngo Dong River boat ride I took this morning. For one thing, this is not a river. Instead, the water is part of the delta and actually a giant flooded marshland, sort of like the Florida Everglades, which I visited last year. The other and the most significant difference between this morning on the Ngo Dong and these wetlands, besides the prehistoric look and feel of the water and surroundings, is the emptiness and tranquility, and the complete lack of crowds, although we saw a few other boats on the water, and the silence.
The Langurs, with their black fur and white rumps, are one of the rarest primates on Earth, almost driven to extinction in the 1990s, and Van Long is one of the last places on the planet where they can be seen in the wild. They are limestone dwellers, at night living in caves in the sheer rock faces. I saw several today, soon after we set out. Lucky! There they were, several of them, hiding and playing in the grassland before vanishing into the thick vegetation and onto the cliffs. I was also lucky in seeing White Storks perched high in the cliffs. Very lucky, and lucky to have seen both the Langurs and the storks so early on the ride, because I didn’t see either again during the rest of the trip. Not easy to get photos, at least not with an iPhone camera. I was lucky to get these.
Rowing this giant open-water wetland, which is the largest in Northern Vietnam, filled with high grasses and reeds and surrounded by sheer Karst cliffs, the environment is completely peaceful and serene. Other than the the sound of the paddles steadily swishing in the water, the only sounds are those of nature. Just beautiful. When the breeze came up, the grasses and reeds in the water and the trees along the shore line gently swayed back and forth, with the intense sound of cicadas (the loudest insects in the world) swelling and receding in the background, coming from the cliffs, along with the songs of birds, and occasionally the distant sounds of the Langur monkeys.
Once we initially left the boat dock and were out of sight, my boatwoman told me I could take off my life jacket. As we returned and neared the dock, she told me I should put it back on. Hah! A rule breaker. We glided back to the dock after about 75 minutes, where I had arranged to meet back up with my Grab ride, although I wound up waiting about 45 minutes for him; I think he probably took on some more rides while waiting for me.
It got hairy for a moment or two though, as I thought I’d paid Grab directly with my credit card for the ride out, and had already paid him cash in advance for what I thought was the ride back. For a minute there, I wondered if I was being cheated (well, hardly – we’re talking between four and five dollars total), but it turned out that although Grab took my card details, it was set for cash payments, and I was relieved he wasn’t trying to take advantage of me. Well, he was, just a little, as he overcharged me on the way out – but again, that extra 20,000 dong he charged me was only 76 cents. I did pay the “correct” fare on the way back though. How did we communicate, so effectively, and even managed to (politely) argue? Google Translate. That’s the ticket.
On the way to Van Long I was more focused on how long the ride was taking, and increasingly wondering if I’d be able to find a ride back as it seemed quite a distance. Actually, it would have been no problem. Even had Pham, my Grab driver, not have been able to wait for me, there were plenty of Grab rides back. It seemed further away on the way out, than it actually was… and Pham made it seem as though it would not be easy to get a ride back if he hadn’t waited for me. Actually, that was not so, but everyone’s trying to make a buck (or Vietnamese dong, in this case).
Although the message before coming to Vietnam was no one will see you as a wallet full of money, that’s only partially true. Certainly at the level of street vendors, there’s a regular press to have you buy something or step inside, whether that’s parking at scenic sites, street markets, spas, motorbike rentals, souvenir stores, or Grab drivers, but it’s not an aggressive sell and there is a great deal of competition, and probably very little profit, as prices for almost everything are inexpensive.
I enjoyed the ride back, and was more relaxed and aware of the passing scenery, and we passed a large church that I’d noticed on the way out and saw its spire when on the water in the nature reserve. This was Lang Van Parish Church (Nhà thờ Lãng Vân), in the Gia Vân district, and amazingly, given it seems to be in the middle of nowhere in particular, the largest Catholic church in Vietnam, and one of the largest in Southeast Asia.
I got back into town around 5:30, and immediately started to look for a store that sold sandals. My sandals, which I love, are sort of a cheap substitute for Keen sandals, but I’ve never had a problem with them, and have been wearing closed toed sandals like this for years, walking and hiking extensively in them rather than wearing hiking shoes. But these ones were falling to pieces, which I noticed earlier today, and the entire soles are peeling off. If I had found a store that sold glue, I would have glued the soles back on for the remainder of my trip, sadly with just ten days left, but I couldn’t find any. So,I looked for a store that sold closed toed sandals, which was difficult to find as the many sneaker stores in town sell just sneakers, and occasionally a different kind of sandal. But I found a pair of perfectly fitting Keens, which I bought for $38. Well, they look like Keens, and they say they are Keens, but I doubt they are. The inside stitching has loose threads, and I think that alone suggests knock off. But who knows? Anyway, the main thing is I have replacement sandals for the rest of my trip, and even if knock offs (which they probably are), they’ll last quite a while. And they’re comfortable.
Back to the hotel, where I talked with Hiền for a while, had a refreshing drink, hung out on the roof for a while, and then returned to my room to write this blog. I have no idea what I’m going to do tomorrow as I’ve visited many of the “must see” sights , and tomorrow was the day I’d planned to leave for Huế, but couldn’t get a train ticket. Maybe I’ll rent a motorbike or scooter. I’ll look to Duyên or Hiền for advice, but most importantly I have to plan for where I’ll be staying in Huế, for how long, and what to do once there.
Till then, good night, following another really nice day today.