It is a pleasure riding on the back of a motorbike through rural areas of Vietnam. The general cleanliness is remarkable, without litter and garbage. We set off from the mountains of Pu Luong for Ninh Binh at about 9am. It turned out to be a sedate ride of about 8 hours, with several stops along the way. We were in no hurry. This is the objective of a motor bike trip, isn't it?
For the past several days, I had got used to rough roads, in fact, dirt and slush tracks at many places. The road from Pu Luong to Ninh Binh turned out to be paved all the way, with light traffic, though. We passed a few rivers along the way, not too far from Pu Luong.
My guide Ta stopped at a town to chat with the locals, he seems to know folks in the entire area.
On passing Chinese Fishing Nets, my first thought was.. Wow.. because I have seen them in Kochi in South India. However, I soon realized that Pu Luong is a lot closer to China than Kochi is, so seeing Chinese Fishing Nets in Vietnam should be less of a surprise.
Being in a relaxed mood with no more hard riding, we soon stopped for a coffee at a little cafe by the highway. While we waited for the coffee to drip, the owner brought us hot, green tea to sip.
The lady also wanted a picture with me. Everybody seemed to be in a relaxed, cheerful mood that morning. It was cold, as you can tell, from the heavy jackets and my scarf.
Riding on this stretch was no challenge at all, as we went sedately along.
Another break, this time at a rice noodles factory. A small enterprise set up in a home. The rice is cooked in boiling water to form the batter. The batter is laid out in a thin circular film on a flat pan over a fire.
Once the circular film has cooked a bit and formed a semi dry cake, it is expertly picked up using a wooden cylinder.
The next step is to transfer the semi cooked, thin, cylindrical rice cake to the drying area. The circular cakes are draped around bamboo poles and left to dry. Once dried, the cakes are fed into shredder type machines where the end product - thin rice noodles - are produced.
The dried rice noodles are then packed into rolls, ready for shipment to the next stage, which is probably packaging into standard shaped containers for branding and sale.
Traffic along the highway is quite light. Lots of two-wheelers carrying people andproduce, occasional mini buses, large inter city and trucks and hardly any passenger cars.
We passed kilometres of farmland, and some cliffs rising out of rivers and lakes that reminded me of the scenes in Ha Long Bay.
The Ho Chi Minh Highway is quite pleasant, and the surface is smooth. Traffic was very light. The road winds a little by mountains and occasional bodies of water.
Impressive infrastructure such as a suspension bridge connecting small villages along the highway.
We stopped for lunch at a very comfortable restaurant along the highway - Nhà Hàng Hạnh Nga. Lunch consisted of delicious, fresh greens, tofu and soup with rice.
All this washed down with light Saigon beer, and followed up at the end with hot, green tea. Superb, indeed
As always, villages we passed by were neat and tidy, even the stray dogs were calm natured and did not chase us.
We had to do some cross country riding across hillocks and mud tracks as we approached Ninh Binh.
Saw stacks of sugarcane by the highway that farmers were trying to sell.
Ah, this is Ninh Binh scenery, limestone cliffs and water bodies.
Stopping off to buy fresh pineapple is one of the joys of motor-bike travel.
Riding on unpredictable tracks is another thrill.
A large lake welcomed us as we approached Ninh Binh and the Trang An area, with vertical limestone cliffs by the highway.
Having bought Sugarcane and Pineapple on the way, maybe we should try some Mutton, now?
My hotel that evening was the Than Thuy Hotel (pictures further below). My guide Ta invited me to dinner along with a few other guides, among them the extremely well known Toan. The restaurant we went to was Tam Gia Trang in Ninh Binh.
Our menu that evening was the hot pot soup.
Among the ingredients going into the soup was chicken head.
Restaurant Tam Gia Trang allows you to carry your rice wine. Consequently, a good time was had by all. In the picture below, on the left is Guide Thang and in the middle is Guide Toan. Cheers!
That's me on the left, with my Guide Ta in the middle.
Guide Toan on the left, yours truly in the middle and my Guide Ta on the right. A superb time was had by all, with lovely rice wine and delicious, hot pot soup.
This is the hotel I stayed in, arranged by my guide Ta. Three floors high, well located, clean building and rooms and a friendly and helpful manager.
For those who need it, the hotel arranges pick up from and drop to Ha Noi and the airport, as well as tours in the area.
So, that's my story so far, Ha Noi to Mai Chau to Moc Chau to Pu Luong to Ninh Binh. A couple of days in the Ninh Binh area, and I would be off to Ha Noi and then back home.
This series of my adventures in North Vietnam is pictured here:
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