Time to venture out of the city and commune with nature! Ninh Binh consists of 3 different types of landscapes – wetlands, coastal delta and uplands. And famous for its goat meat, much firmer, leaner and fresher as they are raised on rock mountains rather than hills. Goat meat’s weird smell has to be eliminated prior to sale – its preparation by processors, by marinating and spicing it, makes it saleable! On road sales are everywhere!

Known as “Halong Bay on land”, the province is an area of natural beauty, Tam Coc and Trang An being the main towns. The area boasts a stunning landscape with karst mountains, deep green valleys and winding rivers.

Tam Coc offers boat rides past green fields and the feet of mountains into the mouth of caves…where they encounter stalagmite and stalactite surprises! A very touristy enclave though with lots of touts and pressure to buy ‘merch’ and boat rides. These boat ladies were (mostly) very prepared for the photo, for which I asked permission, always!

Trang An…47 grottos and caves, 31 valleys and stunning karst sceneries. But the staging post for getting onto a boat to enjoy those sights looked horrendous…

Van Long Reserve provides another opportunity to ride a boat on winding canals of the wetlands, the area dotted with over 30 caves and limestone mountains….and a place to spot bird species for ‘twitchers’! This is my choice of a relaxing time floating on the river, communing with nature!

Bai Dinh Pagoda is the largest Buddhist complex in South East Asia. The ancient 100m pagoda was built in 1136 …from 2003, the Truong construction enterprise has invested in restoring and expanding the complex area to 1000 hectares today, with a bell tower, palace and various temples. There are 500 Arhat statues carved out of blue stone by artisans, lining 1.7km of 2 corridors in the complex, with 300 steps. It was definitely a challenge, but I made it.

Dinner – I needed it! Decided to sample Cha Ca (grilled fish with dill, spring onion and tumeric). I wasn’t prepared for the amount of oil the fish and veg were cooked in, but a delightful meal nevertheless.

A full day, exhausted and early to bed!