Day tour to sapa town
During my second day I booked a day tour to Sapa town in northern Vietnam. The town is famous for trekking in the rice fields. I was not keen to hike the rice fields during the winter month because the scenery was not that great. The best time to visit the place is from march till may. The weather of Sapa was relatively cold compared to that of Hanoi
I started from Hanoi around 7 am and reached Sapa by 11.30 am. The road from Hanoi to Sapa was very scenic. It was a small town surrounded by mountains. Sapa region is also home to lot of tribes. The facial structure of the people of Sapa were completely different from that of Hanoi. It was a great place to buy lots of handicraft products.
Sapa town square was the centre of the town. There was a huge amphitheater in front of the church at sapa. You can also rent SEGWAY and ride it on the stage of the amphitheater. I rode the SEGWAY for an hour at the amphitheater. Sapa is also famous for its mutton. You can try the mutton at any of the restaurant near the town square.
After finishing my lunch we started our return journey around 3.30 pm. We reached Hanoi by around 10 pm. There was heavy traffic in Hanoi because of Christmas holidays and almost all the roads were converted into single lane.
Day tour to Ninh Binh
I had a flight scheduled around 5 pm from Hanoi so I couldn’t take the regular day tour to Ninh Binh from Hanoi. I booked a cab for myself for the tour. The total cost was USD 110 and it involved tour to Hang Mua grotto, Bai Dinh temple, Hoa lu & Trang An. I booked my cab and other tours from HVG travel (http://hvgtravel.com).
Hoa Lu-We started from the hotel around 5 am and it was around 2 hours drive to Ninh Binh. Our first stop was Hoa Lu. It was the capital of Vietnam during the 10th century. The area consists of rice fields and limestone mountains. The Hoa Lu complex includes several monuments like temple, tomb, pagodas, lakes and grottoes. I reached at the place very early so there was hardly anyone at the complex. After 10 am the group tours from Hanoi arrives at the place and it becomes very crowded.
Hang Mua– Our next stop was Hang Mua grotto. It was a limestone hill having a small pagoda and a cave. It takes around 1 hour to hike to the top of the mountain. You get the scenic view of Tam Coc and the winding Ngo Dong river from the top of the hill. Limestone mountain, rivers and tour boats together made a great view. After taking lot of pictures of the surrounding I came back to the base of the mountain in order to explore the limestone cave. There was a beautiful limestone cave at the base of the hill. There were two separate peaks at Hang Mua and each offered different views of the surrounding. It is advisable to climb both the hills but the view from the left hill was more scenic. I will advise you to reach the place early morning in order to avoid group tours.
Bai Dinh Temple – Our next stop was Bai Dinh temple. The complex has an original temple and a newly built complex. This is the biggest Buddhist pilgrimage site in Vietnam. The complex also consists of bell tower. There is also a huge statue of Buddha on the Bai Dinh mountain. The bell tower at the complex consists of a 36 ton bell. There is also a 100 m tall pagoda inside the complex. The complex is located far from the ticket center. Frequent electric taxi was available to transfer the tourists from the entrance till the temple complex.
Trang An – Our last stop of the day was Trang An scenic area. The place was famous for its boat cave tours. Initial part of the tour involved boat ride under lime stone caves. We crossed lots of paddy fields on our way. The Ngo Dong river along with the limestone hills provided a great picturesque landscape of the surroundings. It was a great 2-hour scenic boat ride. After 1.5 hours ride from Trang An we finally reached the airport on time.
It was a great tour to Vietnam. The people were extremely friendly and prices were very affordable compared to other countries. Recently there has been increase in tourism to the country. I recommend people to visit Vietnam as soon as possible because few years down the line Vietnam will become another Thailand.
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