Ninh Binh with a Toddler

For our second domestic trip within Vietnam, we decided to go to Ninh Binh Province for two days and one night. Check out our activities as we explored Ninh Binh with a toddler.

Day 1

We were picked up by our local guide with driver and commenced on our two-hour journey to Ninh Binh Province.  This was our first time outside of Hanoi by car, so we were anxious to see the countryside. Once we arrived we stopped for lunch at a tourist spot that specializes in goat meat. After we had lunch and fueled up, we headed for the Mua Caves and to hike up the Lying Dragon Mountain.  

We finally ended up at the parking area and saddled up Lily on Matt’s back for our ascent up the stairs. The grounds at bottom of the mountain are beautifully landscaped with a pond, flowers, and rice patties.

We started our climb up to the top and it didn’t take very long actually, but as we got higher and higher the steps got steeper and more narrow so I was thinking that going down was going to be a lot worse for me. We finally made it to the top (huffing and puffing) while sweating bullets, but it was much cooler up at the top and there was a small platform for people to sit and enjoy the view.

Matt and the guide decided to go to the tippy top of the peak which involved about 20 more steps up some sharp rocks, while Lily and I stayed behind. There were some girls standing on the edge trying to take some glorified Instagram photos and Lily noticed they were standing too close to the edge so she yells at them “be careful!”; everyone laughed at our sweet baby. After spending some time at the top, we wanted to pack up again and head down, whereupon I noticed Lily was doing a number two. This poor baby had been constipated for a few days and this is the spot she was going to finally get it out. So after she was done, I attempted to change her on this mountaintop and she said: “No, daddy change me!” I thought this is going to be interesting because Matt is horrible at changing Lily standing up. As he was trying to change her, turds are falling all over the place and I can only just sit there and cover my face as people are laughing at him. Luckily there was a trash can up there and we didn’t have to bring the stink down with us. I can’t wait to tell Lily this story when she is thirteen in front of all her friends!

After we made the scary descent down to the bottom, we let Lily run around and swing on these large swings hanging from the trees. We also checked out the actual cave, which wasn’t that impressive, but it did have a spring inside which was neat to look at.

Next, we drove to the ancient capital of Hoa Lu where we visited the temples dedicated to the ancient kings of Vietnam from around the 900s: Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh. It was interesting to see the difference in the two temples and to admire the gorgeous landscape of the steep limestone mountains surrounding us. We enjoyed the time walking around while Lily slept in her stroller.

Day 2

After eating breakfast we checked out of the hotel and loaded up in the car bound for the Trang An Grottoes. Once we arrived, we noticed that there are three different routes to take by boat and we opted for the shortest one. This route had a few stops at some temples to observe, many caves to go through, and a stop where the movie Kong: Skull Island was filmed. In our boat was us three, our guide, and two other tourists. The lady paddling the boat spoke to Matt in Vietnamese and loved looking at Lily. We wore life jackets but since Lily was so small they didn’t have one for her, but she insisted on wearing one anyway.

Lily was good for the majority of the boat ride, but once it started to get closer to the second hour she wanted to watch a show on my phone or lay down on the bottom of the boat.

At the last stop, the King Kong movie set, they had people dressed as the movie extras to take photos with and one person was running in the direction of Lily and she saw him and started screaming and saying “so scary”. So we opted out of taking a photo with one of the extras.

Here’s a little video of the screaming incident…

Here are some of the photos from the boat ride.

 

 

If your toddler can handle sitting still for long periods of time in a boat, then this is a great way to see the beautiful landscape. If not, you might want to skip this excursion. After the boat ride, we went to a local restaurant for lunch and then went on the road back to Hanoi.

Overall, Ninh Binh with a toddler was a fun experience and very manageable, if you are prepared. I definitely recommend getting out into the countryside of Vietnam and exploring the beauty.

Don’t Forget to Pack: Depending on the time of year will determine the type of clothing, but if it is sunny, make sure to pack sunscreen and hat for when you are sitting in the boat or hiking up the mountain.

Food: Since we live in Vietnam we are comfortable with Vietnamese food, but did eat at a local pizza and pasta restaurant so that Lily would eat something (pizza!).

Observation on Ninh Binh: We didn’t get to explore much of the actual city of Ninh Binh, but the surrounding areas and landscape were beautiful.

Hotel Review: We stayed at The Reed Hotel right on the edge of Ninh Binh and only a five-minute drive to the city center. It was super nice, clean, western style, and breakfast was great as were the amenities. Even though we were only there for one night, it was comfortable for us and our local guides, who also stayed there.

Things we didn’t do but wanted to: As I mentioned, we really didn’t see much of Ninh Binh city so that’s one thing we could have done if we had more time.

Check out more blogs about our travels here.

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