Ninh Binh

Bridge:  The hotel was lovely.  $15 for a spotlessly clean and comfortable room.  Hoa and his wife, Xuan and their sons made our stay great.  We rented a semi-automatic bike and drove 8km to the Tam Coc River where we bought tickets for a boat ride.  We hopped into a tiny tin rowing boat and were rowed by a man and his wife we presumed).  The scenery was fantastic - like a miniature Halong Bay.  We rowed through 3 enormous "grottos" that had stalagmites and stalacites hanging down from the cave rooves.

Such a peaceful experience.  Unfortunately it was slightly spoilt when, on our journey back towards the boat dock, they stopped in the middle of the river and revealed a huge sack from under the seat full of souvenirs!!  They hassled us for almost an hour to buy their crafts which were ridiculously expensive.  We refused - not because they weren't nice souvenirs, but just because of how they'd gone about the whole procedure.  They then very rudely insisted that we give them both a tip when we got off the boat!!  

The great river experience had ended and had left a bitter taste in our mouths.