Temples, rivers and kingfishers

Local rowing style

Emerging from underground section of river

Kingfisher on Perfume River near Tam Coc

Pavilion at Hoa Lu near Ninh Binh

This was a really special day that gave us so much pleasure. The journey to Hoa Lu took nearly three hours but was well worth it.  We passed through very different countryside to that which we saw when visiting Sapa (north west Vietnam).  Hoa Lu is south west of Hanoi and the land is much flatter and wetter with rice fields and general agriculture a big feature.The countryside around  Hoa Lu however, becomes more hilly and quite stunning.  It was the capital of Hanoi in the 11th Century and the temple here is very beautiful.  We went on a bike ride after this visit which took about an hour and gave us the opportunity to take in this lovely area more slowly.  We passed through several villages where most of the children would call out 'Hello' as we passed.  After lunch we were taken, in pairs,  for a boat ride on the Ngo Dong river which passes through the heart of this lovely area.  Our 'crew' were two women: as you can see from the picture, she used her feet to row.  The other woman sat next to Peter and paddled.  During the trip we passed underneath three very low and very dramatic caves.  One had the feeling that one should duck to avoid serious head injury because they seemed so very low.  

Anyone who has experienced the joy of catching a flash of irridescent blue skimming the across a river or pond will be feel both honoured and thrilled to have caught sight of a Kingfisher.  Can you imagine how we felt when in the space of a two hour trip down this river, we actually experienced six, yes six, close sightings of this very shy creature.  This truly made a perfect end to our day.