Vietnam Trip: Day 6 | Ninh Binh, Tam Coc and Dog Meat

In morning after my arrival in Ninh Binh I setup a tour with my hotel to see the Tam Coc area, which turned out to be one of the nicest tours during my time in Vietnam. The mode of transportation was on the back of a motorbike – the best way to experience the scenery around Ninh Binh.

One thing I noticed right away, was that the people in Nihn Binh and Tam Coc were extremely friendly and welcoming, greeting me and the French couple I was with. This was the total opposite from what I encountered in Hanoi. The people in Hanoi were extremely pushy, unfriendly and sometimes even aggressive, though not violently. I’ve spoken to travelers I met along the way about my experience with Hanoian people and they seem to all agree with my observation. I’m not saying that every person in Hanoi is this way, but it sure seems to apply to most people living in this city. So you can imagine it was truly refreshing when people starting waving at me.

Well what should I say about Tam Coc? It was so beautiful that it’s really hard to describe. It was a mixture of Thailand and the mountain hills of Japan like you often see in the movies. So here are some pictures and videos, which of course can’t do this region any justice. There are also some pictures of a village I visited, where I had the opportunity to take a photograph of a lady preparing dog for dinner. So be sure to check out the pictures below. Enjoy! Oh, if you want to the receipe for the dog dish, drop a message I’ll send it to you.

Tam Coc

[Show as slideshow]

[View with Cooliris]

A few Short Clips of Tam Coc

I was very glad I came here. Ninh Binh is not your normal tourist destination and I only saw a handful of tourist all day. This is generally were you meat locals. So definitely visit Ninh Binh if you want to go off the beaten track on your Vietnam tour.

In the evening it was time to catch a soft-sleeper train to Hue – a 12-hour ride. At least I got to sleep on the train and save on the hotel cost.