Who stole Tam Coc?

We are approaching that point where I will stop talking about redoing stuff I have already done! I really wanted to go back to Tam Coc in Ninh Binh. They call it the Halong Bay inland because of the karsts. You get on a boat, and are rowed down a river by ladies using their feet rather than arms. They may also be some of the happiest people in the world!

We booked the day trip, visited some temples to add to my temple count and then stopped off at a restaurant to eat lunch before the boat ride. Then, we got back in a bus and drove 3/4km down the road away from Tam Coc to be told 'Here's Tam Coc'. We did get in a boat, were rowed by a man (who spoke to us in French) and went under some long caves. The journey was ok, but it wasn't what I wanted! (I also didn't get the 'funny feeling' they mentioned in the tour guide. When I asked our tour guide why we were there I was told 'this is the new Tam Coc'. I think maybe its cheaper so either the guide or company would pocket the difference. I guess most tourists wouldn't know any different so it goes unnoticed. We complained to Cham and she got some money back from the company, I was more concerned about letting her know so she doesn't use them in the future.

I almost forgot to mention that in the restaurant we had lunch and a little girl started to drink from my bottle of water as if it was completely normal. About 90 minutes later the same girl walked into a passing motorcycle and was hit in the face, not really injured but I did wonder how not consuming my water could have formed a bubble around her and protected her from the incident.

That evening we met up with Cham to go out for my birthday. We were taken to a street food vendor that serves something like a Vietnamese pastie, a spring role wrapped in some rice flour batter and fried. They were good! Tash then got on the back of Chams motorbike (no pictures sorry!) and I walked rather briskly behind. We went to the bar, which in Hanoi means plastic outdoor seating area serving Bia Hoi (no complaints there!) witnessed Tash drink Bia Hoi (big shock) had some more food and talked for a few hours. We also had a giant prawn cracker covered in sesame seeds, that more resembled a papadum that you dip in a chilli sauce. I will add 'giant prawn cracker' to my list of things to try and make....

Soon it was time to thank Cham (she insisted on paying for the food because of it being my birthday) and wave goodbye to her probably for the final time of the trip.

Temple count 41
Noodle count 9
Hours travelled 49