October 30,

Jeff was up at six and woke me at seven. We packed, showered, then went to breakfast by 0800. We both had the bread, omelet, laughing cow cheese, & butter; and a ginger tea. Jeff had watermelon – I ordered but saved my banana for later. I also had their black coffee since I needed stronger than mine… I didn't sleep well last night. Jeff paid our bill and we hugged Jenny – she knows how to do customer service, joyfully.

Our bus arrived late at 0852. We were close to the last to be picked up this time. When everyone was on board we received a 355ml bottle of water. The bus drove the 30-ish minutes to the ferry. The whole bus boarded the ferry! That was more what you expect, but different from last time, at least that was our experience. At 1008, the bus drove off the ferry and we are on the road again.

Now, I stretched out and slept a bit, as Jeff was able to move into a empty seat. At 1100, our bus pulled into a bus stop and we had a 20 minute break. We got a small bag of chips and a Coke for me. 1125 we were loaded back up, and moving on. The bus is a full sized one with it being, maybe 2/3 full. It is mostly youngsters – backpackers.
We turned onto the slower route – according to Google Maps – going through town after town, over rivers/canals after rivers/canals. There is still quite a bit of traffic. I almost forgot the craziness of the driving in Vietnam — almost. Our bus driver seems to be a prime culprit! He passes when we have solid line in the center – let alone a double solid. He even passed as we were coming to barriers for starting a divided road, or a roundabout 😬😱🤯!!! I should stop looking, but I can't!! What a way to stay awake! He just turned left from the right hand lane, overtaking the left turn lane drivers, by timing the traffic 🚦 light. Now, he's passing on the right shoulder/scooter lane that is 1/2 as wide as a regular lane. Oh Meo! Oh Myo!!

At 1240, the driver pulled over on the busy road. He got out having a 4 min break, long enough to smoke and get a tea. I needed a break from watching! Everyone stayed on the bus. Hey, if the driver's 🥱 and needs a break, I'm okay with him pulling over. At 1310, we arrived in Ninh Binh – in one piece. The driver pulled over, and a lady came in who spoke English. She found out everyone's hotel. So the bus changes to a delivery service, as we are all shuttled to our places.
When we get to a suburb of Ninh Binh – Tam Coc, we are dropped off. It's 1330 on the dot. We are let out off the main road the bus was on. The road our place is on, T's with this one. Jeff texted our contact and we are told to wait for a pick up. We see a lady, and she waved at us. She met us, and took my roller bag. We were making too much ruckus for three dogs – they barked and threatened our rolling bags. She had to get at them three times. They are not her dogs. We were escorted by the lady to Pomelo Garden, our new home for four days. It's a cute place, having many Pomelo Trees, a garden & a pond, and a little pool. She had us sit down and gave us a greet with a cup of tea and slices of pomelo! She took our passport info – then she showed us our room, # six of at least nine rooms. We unloaded, got our bearings. Now we went out to find some food.

We only went about a kilometer ( about 2/3 of a mile), and stopped at Banana Garden Tam Coc. We thought we ordered Pumpkin Soup, but we recieved Crab Meat Soup instead. It was good on it's own merit, but when you think your getting Pumpkin Soup… Anyway, the rest of the order was correct. We shared Sauteed Chicken with Cashews, onions, and bell peppers; and Sautéed Pork Belly with Sweet & Sour Sauce, onions, bell peppers and cherry tomatoes. Each order came with a large scoop of rice. Jeff had two different Saigon Beers – one red, one green; I had a Mango Smoothie. We also bought a big water. We were treated with a small plate of watermelon gratis. The total bill 366K Dong ($14.47).

When we finished, it was 1500. We walked a bit further to take in some sights and just move around. We both noticed a “petrol pump” that held 6 liters, for scooters to fill up. This was new… at least it is not fuel in two liter recycled water bottles, which is common in some SE Asia countries we have been to. We then walked past souvenir shops and by a tiny lake that leads down a river or a canal. This is why tourists come for this picturesque paddled boat excursion. We hope to do it tomorrow morning. Anyway, we stop at a small grocery store and head back to our place. It started spitting rain a bit. When we got back, we went for a dip in the little pool. You can't really swim in it. It. was. cold! We did not stay in it long, and cleaned up.

We went out for sunset and I started blogging. One of the staff pointed out a full rainbow in the east as sunset afterglow was going on in west. God lit up the sky tonight! MY, MY! Absolutely, breath-taking… we were in awe!!! Jeff went out and picked up a scooter as I finished up the blog. Awesome day!