Having had a go at the push bikes the day before, it was time to upgrade to Vietnam’s preferred form of motorized transport: the scooter. We rented one from our home stay for the day for 120,000d (4.57 EUR) and filled it up a bit further down the road for 65,000d (2.47 EUR). We had several things in mind that we wanted to visit, but figured it would be best to ride to the one that was furthest away first and then gradually work our way back, and so we set off for the Van Long Nature Reserve.

Navigation

We soon learned that Google isn’t the most reliable source for navigation here as it directed us over a dirt road that wouldn’t have gone amiss in the Vietnamese round of the World Rally Championship. I rode a motocross bike when I was little, and I think that helped us avoid the worst of the bumps and pits, but our poor backsides and scooter didn’t have a great time there.

Having negotiated the dirt track, we ended up on the road which runs on a bank directly south of the reserve. This road is elevated, giving you a great view on the surrounding landscape and also on Giáo xứ Lãng Vân Ninh Bình, a church that is still under construction.

Much like Trang An, Van Long is visited by boat. The entrance fee of 50,000d (1.9 EUR) per person will buy you a 1.5 hour boat trip with rower in a boat suited for 2 passengers. Our rower turned out to be a very friendly older lady who didn’t speak a word of English, but still managed to point things out to us and absolutely refused to let us help with any of the rowing.

Visiting Van Long

We got lucky with our timing and had the reserve to ourselves for most of the trip, making it a very peaceful experience. The trip is different from Trang An in the sense that there is much less of a crowd, more wildlife (mostly birds, monkeys if you’re lucky), fewer temples (none) and fewer caves (one). It’s easy to see how Trang An is drawing bigger crowds, but Van Long is still very much worth the visit. It’s cheaper, quieter, more of a wetlands environment, and features the sort of surreal view of tropical wetlands with a church being built in the background.

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Back at the dock, we tipped our friendly rower lady 40,000d – which she seemed happy with – and got out of the boat.  We’d parked the scooter for free on the parking lot of the Van Long Green Hotel, so we rewarded them by having a coffee there. We got seats in their restaurant which was clearly aimed at much larger groups, but was completely empty besides us. The menu featured a kind of coffee we didn’t know yet – mountain coffee. I soon learned that this is a cold coffee with shredded ice on top and a layer of sweet, condensed milk at the bottom – which you are supposed to stir in depending on how sweet you want it. The rest of the country just calls this an iced coffee with milk.

The next stop on our scooter ride was Hoa Lu, Vietnam’s capital during the 10th and 11th century. Sadly, most of the buildings from that time are gone, and the main features now are a couple of temples that were erected on the spot of the royal citadel in honor of the 2 first emperors of Vietnam. These temples are within a walled off section of the complex, and costs 20,000d (0.76 EUR) per person to enter. The rest of the ancient city is free to visit – people even ride scooters through it so you can also avoid paying one of the places near the bridge into the complex  for parking.

Climbing to Hang Múa

Leaving the ancient capital behind us, we stopped again at Hang Múa, a viewpoint and a cave which also features some kind of hotel / resort on the grounds. On the one road leading there from the river, there were again ample people trying to get us to park in their spot by blowing whistles and waving badges around. We ignored all but the last of them, and left the scooter there for 10,000d (0.38 EUR). The entrance ticket to the area set us back another 100,000d (3.76 EUR) per person.

The cave is more like a cavern with a tiger statue in it, and entirely forgettable. Fortunately, the viewpoint redeems the place. It’s a short but steep climb up the steps, which split after a while and actually leads to 2 distinct viewpoints. The one off to the right goes to a rocky outcrop that gives you a really good view of the landscape in the direction of Trang An, while the one to the left leads to a small pagoda and the dragon statue that you’ll see in most pictures advertising this place.

This route gives you the best view on the valley in the direction of Tam Coc, with layers of limestone mountains in the background. You need to be there right before the rice is harvested to get the idyllic shots of the river meandering between yellow rice fields. Our view didn’t quite match that since the harvest had already happened, and because it had been raining quite a bit in the days before, but it was still a very enjoyable experience.

Back down the steps, we enjoyed a cold beer before concluding that daylight was starting to get a bit scarce, and that it would be best to get back to Tam Coc before dark. We made our way back to our homestay, arriving in Tam Coc with about half our fuel left. We had dinner in the cheap but tasty Father Cooking restaurant on Tam Coc’s main road, and turned in early because of the early start on the next day.