Friday, March 28
We got up early, packed the last things in our small bags and delivered our suitcases into the hotel's luggage storage and were ready to leave at 7 am! We were heading south and the traffic out of Hanoi was huge and the speed correspondingly low. Lots of motorcycles dominated the roads, and it took a long time before we were out of the capital. Most of the time we drove on major roads that looked like highways, but never the less lots of people were waiting along the roadside - apparently for a bus. Big trucks were driving in the outer tracks, and would -, despite many calls - not pull into the inner lane, so in the end we overtook them in the wrong lane. After a few hours driving the first mountains turned up - mountains like in Halong Bay that suddenly pop up from nowhere - very decorative. Our first goal was a small town called Kinga where we rented a boat and sat on small plastic chairs that we could put on the deck where we preferred to sit. It was a beautiful sail between the mountains and past a village where you could see women doing their washing by the river, cleaning vegetables or fish, people biking along the road and a bridge that could be swung to one side so we could get past and sail further on. When we got back they had prepared lunch for us at a small cafe, and later we drove to Vietnam's largest pagoda which was opened only a few years ago. It was quite a journey to get up to it –first by an electric car to the entrance then to come up through the pagoda was a major effort - up many, many stairs as the Pagoda is located on several levels . It was magnificently decorated throughout, and there were lots of Vietnamese people there. After this visit we were close to Hoa Luu, which was once Vietnam's capital. To mark the 1000 years’ anniversary of Hanoi as the capital in 2010, they have created a new large stately entrance to this place. After this visit we rented bikes and rode the last ten kilometres to Tam Coc through a very beautiful area between the mountains. Unfortunately, the path we drove along was very, very bumpy, so we had an eye on big and small holes along the path and therefore we did not enjoy the beautiful scenery as much as it deserved. When we reached our hotel which is located right next to a lake it was time to relax before we met for dinner at 8pm. This morning it was quite misty, but on the way to Kinga it got brighter, but the sun has not been out. But when we walked our way up through the large pagoda we were quite happy that the sun was behind the clouds!
More about Hoa Luu
Kinga
Tam Coc
Tam Coc
Vietnam's largest pagoda
From the bike ride
Saturday, March 29
Saturday, March 29 It is only 2.30pm but all the same I am writing today's diary now, since the joint program of today took place this morning . The small town of Tam Coc is visited by many tourists - Vietnamese as well as foreigners who come for the sole purpose to sail on a river with three mountain grottos. It is a trip that takes most of two hours and nature is stunningly beautiful among the mountains. When you are there you meet many other tourists and everybody smile and wave as you pass each other. Henning sat and waved with his small Danish flags along the way, and back on land, many school children came running up to greet him again. Most of the boat rowers rowed the boat with their feet, not their hands – how the do it I do not understand – and as they sail they try to tempt you to buy various embroideries that they have on board. They sit behind us and try to get us to buy by saying madame, madame . Henning had told us to avoid looking at her and her things if we did not want to buy anything and it worked. Our rower soon understood we did not want to buy anything and stopped trying and rowed us home in silence! Tonight we meet again and drive into the nearby larger town to have dinner. Just now everybody is having a rest I think, and later we will probably go for a walk along the river. Again today it was quite foggy the whole morning and when I look at today’s pictures it is easily to be seen that the sun is not out, but sometimes it is behind a very thin layer of clouds and the temperature rises a few more degrees which we do not need. The weather invites us to wear shorts, sun tops and sandals! Nice and very appropriate because in Denmark summer starts today and they will turn the clocks one hour forward so the difference in time will be only 5 hours.
Birgit and Grethe with a boat rower, who rudder with the legs
Mountain Cave as we sail under
Clips from Tam Coc . Right-click any .
Sunday, March 30
Sunday, March 30 It was very busy at the hotel this morning. Last night a lot of guests from Thailand arrived so breakfast was arranged after Thai taste and it was difficult even to find a table, but we managed and also found something at the buffet that we liked and were ready to depart from the hotel at 8 o’clock. Our first goal was Vietnam's largest Catholic Church, located in the Ninh Binh province, where there is a very large Catholic population. We arrived at the church well in advance of 10 o’clock when the High Mass was to take place and had a good look around many buildings. There were several churches beside one another and also a number of other buildings where we heard children's voices reciting in unison. When we passed the building they looked curiously at us and we were invited into one of the rooms where there were around 60 children singing and reciting and they also sang a song for us. When they finished in the classroom we had a great moment because all the kids were very interested in getting into contact with us. First they threw their love on Henning, but before long we were all surrounded by children who wanted to say hello – they knew very little English, except very few who could a bit more, but they would also have taken pictures together with us. After a while they were lined up in rows, and we could stride down the front as we walked down to the entrance, where we waited while they all walked past us smiling and waving. We followed them into the church, where they made ready for the morning service by practicing some songs and texts that appeared on screens down through the church. They sang accompanied by the organ, and it sounded really nice. We left before the High Mass started. By then some adults had also come to church but there were probably over 500 children and young people. After this visit we drove to Khoa’s mother where she had prepared a very delicious lunch for us. She lives with some of the family in the house that belonged to Khoa’s grandparents, and nearby is the house where Khoa lived with his family when he was a child They own both houses and Khoa and his wife and children use that house when they come to visit. We met the whole family, and also some of the neighbours who wanted us to pose for pictures. After this visit we drove into a new province - Hung Yen - and just like in Ninh Binh the main town had wide streets and flowering trees and plants along them. Public offices and schools are closed on Sundays, but everywhere it was as busy as on a weekday. Lots of trucks along the roads, constructions in progress, people in the fields, and the small stalls along the roads were open. Our goal here was a visit to a young woman and her family – her name is Huy. We saw her and her husband and children at Henning's birthday, and now they welcomed us here together with her parents and other members of the family. Again we were welcomed and a meal was ready for us with wonderful food and also here like with Khoa’s family we were offered arak, which everybody liked. Then we had to drive about 80 km back to Hanoi. It was dark before we reached halfway. Sometimes the roads were somewhat uneven with large holes, but most of the time they were quite good. That it could still take 2 1/2 hour maybe surprising until you've tried it. The average speed is slow because of all the motorcycles that fill up the roads and you drive through lots of towns where there are speed limits. We had had a lot of impressions in one day, and we were quite tired when we could get into our rooms at our Hanoi hotel at 20 o'clock
Greatest Catholic Church
rent in Ninh Binh
Khoas birthplace
Delicious lunch
Tu Anh and Huy
Huys family