Day 295 - Tam Coc Boat Ride
Sunday, April 28th, 2019.
Today we all woke up tired and the kids asked if we could just stay in the guest house. Sunshine had homework to do and wanted to paint by the small river behind our homestay. I told them that we had decided to stay an extra day in Ninh Binh because there was so much to see and we had only covered two attractions. But honestly, I was also kind of happy and relieved that no one wanted to do anything.
Today we all woke up tired and the kids asked if we could just stay in the guest house. Sunshine had homework to do and wanted to paint by the small river behind our homestay. I told them that we had decided to stay an extra day in Ninh Binh because there was so much to see and we had only covered two attractions. But honestly, I was also kind of happy and relieved that no one wanted to do anything.
I get mixed feelings and have to fight with my internal dialog. Part of me says, come on, you made it this far, who knows when are you coming back, you just need to do it. The other voice says it is ok to have some time off and do nothing. Well, do nothing is not true, I had to catch up with the blog but it's still nice to just sit and write than having to figure out how to get to one place and another, prices and more.
Gregory wasn't feeling well, he definitely got a cold and couldn't or wouldn't get out of bed. I even brought him breakfast to the room. We decided to spend the morning in the hotel and in the afternoon take the boat ride in Tam Coc. I kind of wanted to go to UNESCO Trang An but it was far and it is pretty much of the same that we can see in Tam Coc lake.
We all enjoyed our morning doing different things. We also had to move from two rooms to a family room because the guest house is full tonight. Around 2:00pm we walked to town, to the same place we had lunch yesterday. Why risk it if it was good and cheap? Afterward, we walked to where the bus dropped us in front of the lake, to buy the tickets for the boat ride and the entrance fee. There is a sign that says foreigners two people maximum per boat while the Vietnamese families could go 5 or more! We paid 150K VND ($6.50) per boat and then 120K VND per person (about $5). So really, not that expensive considering that the poor man rowed the small boat for an hour and a half.
The best part of the ride was the stunning view. There are no words to describe the magnificent karsts around the river. We went through some dark grottos and when we came out, wow, the view was just amazing and beautiful. The sky started to darken. A few minutes later, it started to rain hard. The rower took out some plastic ponchos we put them on. I really loved the experience at first, of course. It was magical and I felt very much alive but after a while, I started to feel wet and cold. The rower stayed in the cave entrance for a while, together with other women in their snack boats. They tried to sell us food or water and when we said no, they insisted that we buy some for the rower. I told the rower that we preferred to tip him and he smiled.
We waited for our rower to eat his banana and Gregory's rower to finish his cigarette. In a way, I was happy because it was still pouring. After a few minutes, they rowed us back to the dock. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the rowers were using their feet to row! It was very impressive to see how fast and easy it seemed for them. Some rowers, men and women (mostly older), used one hand to grab their cell phones, another to grab the umbrella and both feet to row!
When we made it to the deck, we gave one dollar tips to the rowers and they were not happy about it! They wanted five dollars each. We told them that we didn't have dollars but they wouldn't believe us. I even told him that many people didn't even bother giving a tip. They barely took the money and left with an angry face. [Gregory's note: I think they see tourists as big bags of money, and dumb ones at that. To insist on a $5 tip for a $5 boat ride takes some guts, but maybe some people fall for that.]
At the dock, a woman recognized us and it was the daughter at the guest house where we are staying. She was working there. We said hello and then we left. We stopped at another stand for banana fritters. They are bananas wrapped in batter and fried, so tasty! We also stopped for snacks at a small store and while we were trying to decide what to get, we heard someone singing Despacito and I started sing along. Across the street, there was a restaurant with a karaoke machine. I started dancing. The man across the street called and with some hesitation, I ran across the street. I arrived almost at the end of the song but they started playing a song from Enrique Iglesias and I stayed to sing. I couldn't follow and mostly because I didn't know the words but I sang and danced happily. When the song was over is when I felt embarrassed. What in the world was I thinking? Oh, I miss dancing and singing in Spanish for sure!
We introduced ourselves and then I said goodbye to the Spanish men. Daniel, of course, filmed me and I'm not sure if he is going to blackmail me with that! We walked to our homestay, took a shower and got rid of our wet clothes. I finished catching up with the blogs and we all just hang in the room until bedtime!
Tomorrow we leave at 9:00am to take the train to Dong Hoi. We spend the night there and we continue the next day to Hue. We are doing this mostly to break the long trip to the south of Vietnam!
Gregory wasn't feeling well, he definitely got a cold and couldn't or wouldn't get out of bed. I even brought him breakfast to the room. We decided to spend the morning in the hotel and in the afternoon take the boat ride in Tam Coc. I kind of wanted to go to UNESCO Trang An but it was far and it is pretty much of the same that we can see in Tam Coc lake.
We all enjoyed our morning doing different things. We also had to move from two rooms to a family room because the guest house is full tonight. Around 2:00pm we walked to town, to the same place we had lunch yesterday. Why risk it if it was good and cheap? Afterward, we walked to where the bus dropped us in front of the lake, to buy the tickets for the boat ride and the entrance fee. There is a sign that says foreigners two people maximum per boat while the Vietnamese families could go 5 or more! We paid 150K VND ($6.50) per boat and then 120K VND per person (about $5). So really, not that expensive considering that the poor man rowed the small boat for an hour and a half.
The best part of the ride was the stunning view. There are no words to describe the magnificent karsts around the river. We went through some dark grottos and when we came out, wow, the view was just amazing and beautiful. The sky started to darken. A few minutes later, it started to rain hard. The rower took out some plastic ponchos we put them on. I really loved the experience at first, of course. It was magical and I felt very much alive but after a while, I started to feel wet and cold. The rower stayed in the cave entrance for a while, together with other women in their snack boats. They tried to sell us food or water and when we said no, they insisted that we buy some for the rower. I told the rower that we preferred to tip him and he smiled.
We waited for our rower to eat his banana and Gregory's rower to finish his cigarette. In a way, I was happy because it was still pouring. After a few minutes, they rowed us back to the dock. Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the rowers were using their feet to row! It was very impressive to see how fast and easy it seemed for them. Some rowers, men and women (mostly older), used one hand to grab their cell phones, another to grab the umbrella and both feet to row!
When we made it to the deck, we gave one dollar tips to the rowers and they were not happy about it! They wanted five dollars each. We told them that we didn't have dollars but they wouldn't believe us. I even told him that many people didn't even bother giving a tip. They barely took the money and left with an angry face. [Gregory's note: I think they see tourists as big bags of money, and dumb ones at that. To insist on a $5 tip for a $5 boat ride takes some guts, but maybe some people fall for that.]
At the dock, a woman recognized us and it was the daughter at the guest house where we are staying. She was working there. We said hello and then we left. We stopped at another stand for banana fritters. They are bananas wrapped in batter and fried, so tasty! We also stopped for snacks at a small store and while we were trying to decide what to get, we heard someone singing Despacito and I started sing along. Across the street, there was a restaurant with a karaoke machine. I started dancing. The man across the street called and with some hesitation, I ran across the street. I arrived almost at the end of the song but they started playing a song from Enrique Iglesias and I stayed to sing. I couldn't follow and mostly because I didn't know the words but I sang and danced happily. When the song was over is when I felt embarrassed. What in the world was I thinking? Oh, I miss dancing and singing in Spanish for sure!
We introduced ourselves and then I said goodbye to the Spanish men. Daniel, of course, filmed me and I'm not sure if he is going to blackmail me with that! We walked to our homestay, took a shower and got rid of our wet clothes. I finished catching up with the blogs and we all just hang in the room until bedtime!
Tomorrow we leave at 9:00am to take the train to Dong Hoi. We spend the night there and we continue the next day to Hue. We are doing this mostly to break the long trip to the south of Vietnam!
For pictures please click here
https://photos.app.goo.gl/zyzuvPULL4mQEQRq6
p.s. The pictures of the river behind our homestay were very impressive because it was almost all covered with lilies. We witness a father with a daughter in their boat collecting the traps he had put the night before and then he emptied the content in a bucket. We found out later by our host that there were crabs. The funny part about this river is that the current changes directions, in the morning it goes one way (don't ask me if north or south) and at night it goes in the opposite direction.
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