Them Dutch People

Eets A Buttahflai

They're everywhere.

And we get along!

Today I met two Dutch psychology students, who are also a couple, which is interesting. We had booked a day tour together without knowing it and ended up on three motorcycles, with drivers, that would drive us around all day for 12 dollars. It ended up being the most relaxed, fun and surprising day of the trip so far. The scenery, once you get out of town, is mindboggling.




The Buddhist Temple


Chua Bai Dinh is going to be a big thing the next couple of years. The complex is huge, in construction and will be ready to recieve every Buddhist on this planet at once in about a year or two. This morning, it was pretty much empty. Below is a picture of a ten meter tall, 100 tonnes heavy bronze statue of you know who, although it really doesn't look that big in the photograph. At the time there was a small service going on which had a man banging on a bowl with a stick. The result was about ten times as creepy as what you're imagining right now. This was Temple of Doom-creepy, without the barehand-hart surgery but with the ominous chanting.

Entrance to this complex is free of charge, which was to be expected.

This statue is 10 meters high, honestly

The Old Capital




Hua Lu was the capital of Vietnam about for roughly 40 years, about a thousand years ago. Some of the old structures still stand and are in more than decent shape. This place was also pretty vacant. So more fun for us three!

Duntahduntaah!

The Cave That Really Wasn't A Cave


Well, there actually was a cave at Mau Cave, it had a statue of a tiger in it. We didn't get how this would be of any importance so we turned our heads towards the heavens and saw this shrine on top of a mountain-like structure. The only thing standing between us and that were about 500 steps and a climate that has you sweating for turning your head. In the end, it was more than just worth it. The view was stunning, the surroundings peaceful and the company enjoyable. There were also butterflies, which gave the whole experience a somewhat dreamlike feel. It's pretty much like a scene from a movie, just without the love interest. (True for 33,33333333333 % of the party set out to climb this thing)

Race you to the top

Being A Boat Among Lots Of Boats


Tam Coc is a place where you get on a boat and get steered around for 2 hours over a local river, which name escapes me. It's a lot more exciting than it sounds and the people paddling use their feet, and of course, paddles. There are these karst mountains, a burial site, angry looking chinese tourists, mountain goats, happy looking Vietnamese tourists and friendly buddhist monk tourists who waved at us and took our picture. Given the fact that these guys were bald and were dressed in orange, the opposite would have been more obvious, but it just didn't turn out that way.

Great, more boats!

I'd recommend going to my dropbox to see more of the amazing statues and structures we saw today. The photo's aren't labeled or anything, so good luck! The ones you're looking for are in the Ninh Binh folder. 

Tomorrow, the three of us venture into our first nature reserve, this one was put on the map by Ho Chi Minh himself and it has monkeys. There is no way this could possibly go wrong.