Halong Bay of the Rice Paddies
Trip Start
Aug 15, 2007
1
56
103
Trip End
Aug 31, 2008
Where I stayed
Queen Mini Hotel
In order to break up the 13 hour train ride to Hanoi, we decided to spend a night in Ninh Binh which is about 3 hours south of Hanoi. The town is nothing special but its closeness to sights such as Tam Coc (also called Halong Bay of the Rice Paddies for its limestone mountains) are making it more popular for backpackers. We stayed at the friendly Queen Mini Hotel just a block from the train station. The following day we arranged a car for an excursion to Tam Coc where we took a boat trip through rice paddies and large limestone formations. Unfortunately the rain had drowned the ride paddies so that we didn't get the sight we had hoped for, but it was still well worth it. The old citadel in Hoa Lu was a great stop also.
