Hubby and I decided on a 5-day bicycle trip from outside of Hanoi to the Ninh Binh region, a water-filled karst environment we were eager to explore. We both love the motion of cycling and to see places at the pace of a bicycle. We can go far enough in one day to see a variety of places, yet slow enough to enjoy the scenery, observe how folks live their lives, and not run over the wandering chickens and dogs!
Day 1 – Man Duc to Mai Chau
Mileage – 32.8 miles, Elevation gain – 2,525 ft.
We were picked up at our Hanoi Airbnb and fitted with bikes and helmets. We checked the toolkit, and filled the one pannier for daytime needs – extra water, snacks, sunscreen, windbreakers, etc. Darrell was on a regular “push bike” and I was using an e-bike for the first time. It turned out we were accompanied by both a driver and a mechanic on the entire tour! The owner of the bike tour company was afraid the driver, who called us “grandparents” out of respect, was too old to help us with mechanical issues, and the mechanic wasn’t a driver. So, our “self-guided tour” was really 2 bikers and 2 men in a van – carrying our luggage to the next stay and inflating the tires of our bikes each morning.
On previous tours in Europe, daily luggage transfers were handled by one hotel sending luggage on to the next hotel – since they were only about 35 miles apart. That kind of system has not been set up here. And since wages for workers are low, it doesn’t add greatly to the cost of the trip. Many tourists hire a car and driver for long-distance tours.
We were driven over 2 hours SW of Hanoi to a quieter village near Man Duc and began biking on dirt roads toward a large reservoir. We followed the edge of the reservoir, winding in and out of each bay before finally climbing a large hill to Go Lau. It was approaching dusk, but we coasted downhill to our first night at a lovely homestay in Mai Chau, a traditional White Thai village.
Note: There are 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, with the Vinh (also called Viet) making up 87% of the population, and the other 53 groups contributing a small fraction each to the overall population of about 100 million people. When we were in Hoi An I went to the Precious Heritage Museum and saw photographer Réhahn’s gorgeous images from each of the ethnic groups. It is an amazing free museum!
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| View from our balcony at Green House Mai Chau |
Day 2 – Mai Chau to Ban Lac to Ban Hieu
Mileage - 36.3 miles, Elevation gain – 3,250 ft.
We had a lovely breakfast at our homestay, then got on our bikes around 9 am to start our hardest day. Or I should say Hubby’s hardest day since I was able to just kick the e-bike into a higher gear when the heavily forested hills got too long or steep! I realize I can make the bike ride as easy or as challenging as I want – but it is tempting to not push too hard – especially when you are “conserving” energy for later in the day… Excuses, excuses…
The reward near the end of the bike ride was amazing views over terraced rice fields and an incredibly steep descent on a narrow cement track.
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| Terraced rice fields near Pu Luong |
Just when we thought we were close to our place, we realized we had a 1.5 km hill to climb – and it was the steepest yet. Darrell got in his last big workout of the day getting to the Na Co Lodge Homestay. Thank goodness there was cold beer at the top!
We visited with a French family at dinner who were on a 2-week car tour with their driver. They were seeing many places off the beaten track, arranged by a friend who could speak Vietnamese. We all relied on google translate since few people speak English (or French).
We had a mosquito net over our bed in this small bamboo cottage but there were few mosquitoes and we both slept well!
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| Na Co Lodge Homestay |
Day 3 - Ban Hieu to Ngoc Lac
Mileage – 39.1 miles, Elevation gain – 1,550 ft.
Today began with the steep descent, retracing some miles from yesterday, and then heading south and east to Ngoc Lac. There were a few nice sections but much of it was on a busier road than we preferred and not as scenic as the previous two days.
We ended up in a larger town and stayed in a sterile hotel that looked more like something the Drump would build – including gold fillagree – than the previous two nights homestays.
We did have an entertaining meal with our two side-kicks – where we had tender goat meat (a local delicacy). Our driver shared some of his brother’s homemade rice wine with all of us. We had more than one toast...
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| Toasting to our health! |
Day 4 – Ngoc Lac to Cuc Phuong National Park
Mileage – 46.7 miles, Elevation gain – 1,425 ft.
The next day was our longest ride – but also relatively easy. It was mostly flat through many pineapple fields until we approached Cuc Phuong National Park (Vietnam’s first National Park) which is on two karst ridges. We began biking early so we would have time to see some of the Park after we arrived. Because the Park stretches along both sides of a central 18 km road, Hubby rented a motorscooter and I jumped on the back for a 2-hour jaunt through the tropical rainforest. We took side paths to see both ancient trees and giant tree ferns.
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| Giant tree ferns dwarfing Hubby |
Day 5 – Cuc Phuong National Park to Tam Coc
Mileage – 33.6 miles, Elevation gain – 500 ft.
We woke early and made our instant coffee in the room as usual - and then heard the loud chorus of gibbons as dawn broke! The noise was wonderfully raucous though we didn’t see any of these native primates. We went for a bird walk before breakfast by the places we didn’t have time to visit – the Endangered Primate Rescue Center, the Turtle Conservation Center, and the Carnivore and Pangolin Conservation Center. You can tell they are doing a lot of conservation work at this National Park!
This last day of biking (on Christmas Day) took us to Tam Coc Nature Lodge. We had read the description in our guidebook and I really wanted to stay here – though it was a more expensive option at almost $50/night (crazy huh?). I figured it was our holiday present to ourselves, and it really was a delightful place.
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| View from our balcony over the pool and "moat" |
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| View of the cottages with towering karst backdrop |
The trail was varied – from crowded streets through small towns, to quiet lanes between pineapple fields, to dirt paths through rice paddies, and potholed roads up and down steep hills in dense forested areas. We enjoyed the shifting views of peaceful fields and striking karst topography with hills like the bumps on a dragon’s back!
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| The local karst topography from the Tam Coc Heritage Trail |
