As a spoiler alert, yes, I did make it to Ninh Binh.
I slept OK. Woke up a bit, some of which is normal for me, and some of which was probably travel anxiety. And some of which had to do with what happened yesterday after I wrote the blog entry.
On a whim, I double checked the requirements for a Thai Visa Waiver & discovered something I’d not seen before; That the timeframe on that waiver is cut in half for Overland entry to Thailand, from 30 days to 15.
Muttered some things about the SEA region in general that I’m not too proud of, but I did a bunch of research on this, looking at everything I could, and I still missed it.
This is one of the big things that’s had me contemplating giving up & going back to NZ, because it seems like it keeps happening. I miss something or don’t even know that I should look for it. I did the best research I could, and it still keeps happening.
Once this trip is over, I am not going to do another one of this style in a region like this. I’ll use a travel agent or a tour company or something, because it’s just exhausting & demoralising.
I have options, the simplest one being to just fly to Thailand instead, and I’ll probably go with that one unless I think of a reason not to.
On with today.
Headed out reasonably early for me on this trip & got breakfast at the same place I did yesterday. I’m not entirely sure what it’s called, but I think it’s part of the Waterside Hotel. Which is a really long way from any water.
Packing up back at the hostel took way less time than I expected, so I went for a walk, and tripped+fell into a cafe.
The bus arrived roughly when I expected; After the 1200 I was told, and before the 1230 it was scheduled. A Danish couple I met on the boat tour was also on it.
The trip was … Complicated. And with very little warning.
- Bus picked up people going to Hanoi & to Ninh Binh
- Once it got to the office/storefront, all the Ninh Binh people had to get off to collect their bags to board a different bus. This is where disaster nearly struck, because in the sudden “everyone off” I forgot my daypack & had to race back to get it. We were still picking up bags at that stage, so it only took a few seconds, but … That can’t happen again.
- The new bus drove to a frankly dilapidated port, where we got off to wait for a boat
- A boat (with life jackets) duly arrived, and we all went back to the mainland
- The third and final bus was weird. Probably a sleeper, with three rows of double decker reclined seats, and a weird compartment that your feet go into right behind the seat in front, like a ride at a theme park
But, eventually, we got there.
I think I found the bus ride a smidge more anxious than the scooter in Hanoi, but that was mostly a combination of “what will happen next” and the driver hitting the horn all the time.
Got dropped off with the Danish couple again, who were headed for a different place down the same street, and found the Anh Huong Tam Coc Homestay homestay. It’s family run, and it’s a little odd to have the person checking you in referring to “My Home” when talking about the place.
Room is comfortable, looks like I can book a tour or two while I’m here, and it has the thing I need the most right now, which is somewhere to fall over & pass out; That was a tiring day.
