We wake up at the crack of 8:00am and make our way to the train station.
In most places, the train is actually a quicker way to get around, but in Vietnam, it’s not the case - buses are usually just as fast, if not faster than trains. However, since the train station is within walking distance from our hotel while the bus station is a taxi ride away, we opt to hit the rails to get from Hanoi to Ninh Binh.
Given our history with taxis, I’m sure you understand why.
When we arrive, the train station is bopping – there are people everywhere! Since Tet is starting to wind down, lots of people are making their way back home. Fortunately for us, we were given a heads up by the owner of our hotel, so we arrive an hour and half early to ensure we get a seat.
We have four options for tickets - hard seat, soft seat, hard bed or soft bed.
Since we’re travelling during the day, we automatically rule out the beds. And since it’s only supposed to be a two-hour ride, we opt for the hard seat.
Plus, the hard seat is a couple bucks cheaper and that savings can go towards ice cream.
The train ride is very busy but good. The only problem we have is two cases of sore butts. We’ve both lost a few pounds since we began our trip and apparently a good chunk of it came from our behinds… boney butts + hard seats = ow.
Eric didn’t have much a butt to begin with, so he was definitely in pain towards the end of the ride. And despite his numerous requests for me to kiss it better, I passed.
We arrive in Ninh Binh early afternoon and have no idea where we’re going. But as luck would have it, the train station is within walking distance of a few hotels, so we check into one and begin our search for lunch.
Now, with a population of 53,000 people, you’d think there’d be a couple of restaurants open, would you not?
Of course you would. But unfortunately it’s still “Tet time”, so our only options seem to be Pho, Pho or Pho.
I’m not a big fan of Pho and am determined to find an alternative, so we stroll around for a while and eventually find a small café that also serves fried noodles. Or specifically, fried INSTANT noodles… it’s not a great alternative, but it’ll do.
The weather is still quite cold so after lunch we head back to our hotel room to warm up before figuring out how to get to Hue.
Ninh Binh seems nice and we are looking forward to doing some exploring, but we REALLY need warmer weather, so it’s going to be a short visit.
After much searching we find out there are no public buses to Hue and the trains are already booked up for the next 5 days, so it looks like our only option is a tourist night bus.
Yuck.
Neither of us are big fans of night buses and we can’t stand tourist buses. But since our only other choice is renting a car, we book ourselves on a night bus for the next evening… given the way people drive over here, I’m sure you’ll agree we have no other alternative.
We finish off the day with a Pho-less dinner – we have a nice do-it-yourself BBQ instead – and then call it a night.
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