Vietnam ::Ninh Binh::.

The bus from Hanoi to Ninh Binh leaves from Ben Xe Giap Bat and cost 50,000ð. The two and a half hour journey dropped Sauce and Mustard off in the middle of Ninh Binh. Straight off the bus, scouts from the New Mini Queen Hotel offered them a free scooter ride to their hotel. Sauce and Mustard declined the offer, preferring to walk.

As they walked away, the scouts dropped their price from US$8 to US$6. By the time Sauce and Mustard had made their way to the hotel, they were offered a nice clean room with hot water and Wi-Fi for US$6 and a scooter for 80,000ð. They spent the next two days exploring the Ninh Binh area on the scooter.



Tam Coc, just 8km out of town, consisted of a river meandering through lush green rice paddies amongst the karst limestone peaks, similar to Ha Long Bay. Sauce and Mustard spent a couple of hours on a boat tour along the river where the oarsman row with their feet.  On their way back to shore they were meet by a small storm that sent everyone ruining for shelter.

Safely debarking their rickety dingy, Sauce and Mustard took shelter in the nearby embroidery shops and did some shopping.With some new artwork and plastic ponchos to keep them dry, they made their way west and discovered the poor cousins of Tam Coc. The local villagers offered them boat tours to a different part of the river for a third of the price and showed them the way to a couple of pagodas.

The pagodas had free entry, but parking cost 20,000ð. The pagoda was a Buddha cave that lead to a thrilling mountain climb with spectacular views of the surrounding area.

On the way to Mua Cave, Mustards camera stopped working. When they stopped to fix it, a family of neighbourhood kids swamped them, pulling on their bags and ask to take photos with them. Mua cave has a whole lot of steps that takes you up to a dragon adorned peak. You can also see the Tam Coc river from the top.

The next stop at the Trang An market was a waste of time. After paying 20,000ð for parking and seeing stuff all, they left for Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam.

As they approached Hoa Lu, Sauce and Mustard were offered free parking with the purchase of two bowls of Pho De (Goat Noodle Soup). There wasn't much to Hoa Lu, the only thing that was left of the ancaient citadel was the temple. Although Sauce and Mustard had a fun walk (climb) up to the summit.

Directionally challenged trying to find the stilt village of Kenh Ga, and with the sun steadily declining, Sauce and Mustard gave up and made their way back to Ninh Binh, in order to catch the sleeper bus to Huè.

Vietnam ::Halong Bay::.

The overnight trip on a Vietnamese junk around Halong Bay begun at 8am at the Cat Ba Town wharf. Onboard with Sauce and Mustard were some interesting and colourful characters. It was a misty day. As the junk forged its way through the fog, hundreds of awe inspiring limestone islands appeared in all shapes and forms, all having concaved bases created by the ebb and flow of the sea.

After a couple of hours of sailing, the boat anchored up by a floating fishing village where Sauce and Mustard got to go kayaking. As they paddled around the amazing islands, they found a hole which led them into a hidden lagoon. Coming back out of the lagoon, Sauce and Mustard found themselves disorientated around the mist shrouded islands and soon became lost. Fortunately, the junk eventually came to their rescue and the two lost kiwis were the butt of the joke over lunch.

Lunch on the deck of the boat was basic, but filling. Sauce and Mustard enjoyed good conversation and excellent views of the bay. Before too long, the boat arrived at Sung Sot Cave (cave of surprises). It is the largest cave in Halong Bay.

The boat then moored in a clam area where Sauce and Mustard kayaked to another magnificent hidden lagoon. This time they made sure they stayed with the group. As the day warmed up, Mustard took a dip in the cool water of Halong Bay.

Saying good bye to the interesting and colourful characters on the boat, Sauce and Mustard were left to enjoy sometime alone. They stayed overnight on the junk and had the boat all to themselves for the next day where Sauce and Mustard did more kayaking without getting lost and visited Monkey Island. They didn't get to see any monkeys. Sauce had a refreshing swim back to the boat while Mustard waited like a beautiful maiden for the ship to pick her up.

After spending some quality time together on a private cruise, Sauce and Mustard got dropped off back at the wharf at Cat Ba town. The price for a bus-boat-bus ticket back to Hanoi was going to cost 220,000ð but Sauce and Mustard insisted on only paying  190,000ð.

Vietnam ::Cat Ba Island::.

On the 12th March, Sauce and Mustard found themselves on a bus to Cat Ba Island. The bus was leaving from the Luong Yen bus station where they arrived in Hanoi two days earlier. For 190,000ð each, they got themselves the bus-boat-bus tickets that will take them all the way to Cat Ba town from Hanoi via Haiphong.

Four and a half hours later, Sauce and Mustard were greeted by an eccentric Vietnamese entrepreneur by the name of Mr Tung, who offered them a room for US$5 a night. His hotel, Hoang Gia Minh Hotel, is located on Nui Ngoc road. Once again, after checking in and dumping their gear, they went out hunting for food.

The next two days, Sauce and Mustard hired a motorbike from the energetic Mr Tung for 80,000ð/day to explore Cat Ba Island. Their motorbike adventure took them to beautiful caves, slippery and muddy bush walks, scenic lookouts, isolated beaches and local fishing villages.

Not far from town lay Hospital Cave, a Vietnam war era bunker built into a magnificent network of caves. The majority of it was forbidden to tourists, so Sauce and Mustard spent most of their time climbing the cave walls.

Just ahead of Hospital cave, is the free jungle track up to frog pond. The track takes about 5 hours return. It runs through lush green bush, long grass covered hills and thick jungle and up and down various rock formations.

There's a few more caves along the road which are closed, so Sauce and Mustard jumped the fence and explore the caves. In the middle of a pitch black cave, both of their torches ran out of batteries, leaving them to clamour their way out of the cave back into the light.

For a good view of Cat Ba Island, Fort Hill at 177m is the second highest point on the Island. Entry ticket was 30,000ð per person and for those who are too lazy to walk, 10,000ð to take your bike up with you. It has a excellent views of the Halong Bay area and Cat Ba town.

Cat Co 1 and Cat Co 2 are the two main beaches. If you choose  to visit them in the summer time, there's usually an entry fee. March, being the low season, Sauce and Mustard didn't have to pay a single cent and walked the beaches in peace and quiet.