Hi everyone

Welcome back to a new travel post! This time I'll be taking you to the countryside of Vietnam. In my last post i told you guys about the Phong Nha-Ke Bang national park. After spending a few days in the park we continued our way to Ninh Binh. We first stayed a night in Dong Hoi, a place near the coast. From here we took the train to Ninh Binh to spent a few days with the locals and do a lot of hiking between the rice fields.

How we got there

The train was really comfortable and they even had lunch and a television with different movies playing. The price of a ticket was about $25 and the ride took about eight and a half hours. We had already spent one night in Ninh Binh and visited Tam Coc that time. Tam Coc is a place very close to Ninh Binh with a lot of beautiful nature and many beautiful sights. That time we spent a night in the Xuan Hoa Hotel and met the owner of the place. He told us about the tours he offered and gave us some information. We then first continued our way to Phong Nha, but because we had some time left in Vietnam and the tour sounded really nice we now went back to Ninh Binh to do a three day tour.

Lots of hiking and our first home stay

The owner of the place had organized everything and the next morning we left from Ninh Binh with two other couples in a minivan to our first home stay. On the way we stopped at many beautiful places to take pictures and look around. In the afternoon we stopped in a small village for lunch and then continued to go for a long hike in the area. In the afternoon we arrived at our first home stay in the Mai Chau area. We were welcomed by a large group of children who came running towards us. They walked with us to the home stay and were fascinated by my blond curly hair.

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After putting our things down and spending some time with the children we had time to walk around the village and meet the local people. The people in this area live on the money they earn from agriculture and livestock farming. They sell their meat and rice on the local markets. Also tourism is very upcoming in this area and thus a source of income. In the evening we had dinner, and because I’m a vegetarian they had tofu specially for me.

Day two: More hiking and rice wine

After some beers and lots of shots of local rice wine we went to sleep under our mosquito nets. The next day after breakfast we continued our journey to our next home stay. The van took our luggage and we went off for a long but very nice trip through the rice fields and the area, together with the our tour guide. Along the way we saw a lot of the way the local people lived and got invited to take a look inside in one of the houses. And of course we were offered, in the early morning, a shot of local rice wine.

The houses we saw along the way were very simple. Yet I have not seen one person without a smile. The people we encountered were all very friendly and seemed very happy. It really made me think.

Further ahead the van was waiting for us and we were very happy to sit down again. We drove on and stopped at a few large rotating bamboo wheels. These ensure the watering of the rice fields and where fun and interesting to see.

After some more walking and stops we stopped at our second home stay in Bản Hiêu. The family of whom the home stay was had a lot of animals and a large piece of land. Together with another couple we put on our walking shoes after a bit of rest and started walking through the rice fields. The sun was setting and it was such an amazing view. In the distance someone played very loud techno music which didn’t fit the environment at all, but was very funny. Later we heard that there was a wedding going on, probably a very nice one ;-)

Spending the night with spiders

That night we had dinner with the family of the house, talked a lot and had a good time together. When we went to bed and while I was busy maneuvering my mosquito net under the mattress, I found out that we had an extra roommate. Because I did not want to sleep with a giant spider next to my head, I walked to the family of the house who did not mind catching the spider at all. The spider was caught with a bamboo stick and we later heard that they had baked it over the fire and had eaten it.

Because we slept in a wooden hut without windows, there will probably have been more spiders. But for now I was at ease. The next morning we woke up with a fantastic view over the rice fields. That day we walked a lot and after a well-filled lunch we boarded the bus to Hanoi. After spending our last day in Hanoi, we went home on the plane.

The last days of our trip in Vietnam were certainly a few days to remember. I really liked the beauty of the simplicity with which people live in the countryside of Vietnam. It think it’s good to sometimes reflect on what’s going on in our busy lives and to enjoy the nature around us.

I hope you enjoyed reading and i want to wish you all a happy new year in advance!

Lots of Love

Marleen