Day Trip to Tam Coc

Yesterday we took a day trip to Tam Coc in Ninh Binh to see the ancient capital and the temples and to take a boat ride along the river through the karst mountains.  Mike and Aidan also went bike riding around the nearby rice paddies.  We had a nice buffet lunch, with delicious local goat meat (sautéed and in a nice soup), stir-fried vegetables, rice, and fruit. Here are a few photos from out day trip.

 Outside the gate of the ancient capital

Tourist photo op on water buffalo

 Aidan took a turn too!

Approaching the temple

The alter

 The offering of dragon fruit, bananas and Buddha's hand fruit.  Inside a lot of people left cookies and coke for the gods!

Family with limestone mountains in the background

Aidan and Mike ready for their bike ride through town and the rice paddies

Off they go...

Sampans waiting to take travellers up the river

Now they have lifejackets.  Two years ago when I was here there weren't any.

Ready to go

Rowing is hard work!  They locals frequently use their feet for this 1.75 hour trip

The limestone cliffs are very steep.  We saw goats and cranes along the way.

Here we are in our sampan.  I got to row at one point and learned how hard it is

We saw many little temple like structure which we think are memorials to the dead

The cliffs are very steep 

We rowed under several rock structures along the way, sometimes in almost complete darkness!

The caves were not very high.  Aidan almost hit his head a few times!

Some enterprising ladies selling snacks on the river

Interesting rock formations

Getting ready for a celebration (New Years?) by outfitting sampans with candle in lotus flowers