According to my hostel there was only one bus to Ninh Binh and it left at 6pm. That put me arriving at 9pm and I didn’t want to wait that long and miss out on seeing the place in the daytime. At this point I know their goal is to sell, not assist, and so I dug a little further and found out I can take a bus from Giap Ba bus station and that busses leave every hour.
I take a taxi to the station and the second I get out there is a guy yelling ninh Binh at me and motioning for me to follow. I instantly do t trust him but he is headed to the ticket office so I follow. My ticket cost 40,000 dong and the lady selling me the ticket is all smiles and motions for me to follow him. He leads me out to a bus and we put my big bag in the back. i climb on to three other people on a 25 person bus. I grab a seat and we sit there for 30 mins. I wonder if I should ask what time we’re leaving.. Another person arrives. I’m watching the station entrance as we sit there and I’m beginning to understand the process a little. Guys stand out near the entrance finding passengers hustling their bus. Even as we inch towards the exit of the station they are literally grabbing people and putting them on the bus. Slowly but surely every seat is being filled as we now circle the station. 40 mins later we are on the main road and the hustler for our bus is standing at the open door of the bus as we move yelling at people. We’ve now packed the aisle way 30+ people on board a few packages as well. I’m sharing my row with a pregnant woman. I realize now I’m fully vested in this new venture and I saw a small prayer. If my pack in the back of the bus is still there when (and if?) I arrive to ninh binh it may be a small miracle. I have my most precious belongings with me. It’s just clothes and toiletries in the back. Worst case scenario.. Well, a scenario would be I have to buy clothes and do without my creature comforts.
I offer a piece of candy to the pregnant lady beside me. She smiles and declines. We make a few stops (barely actually stopping) once we’ve exited the city and make a stop halfway to ninh to use the bathroom. I don’t leave the bus but a few people jump off quickly to buy food etc. the pregnant lady returns and offers me a share of her bread and rice rolls that have seseme seeds on the outside and either cooked egg or beans on the inside. It’s slightly warm and delicious.
We are arriving into town now and the bus is barely stopping to let people off here and there. there was no announcement or notification when we actually made it to the bus stop. I only realized it when I saw the sign outside the terminal and started yelling at the guy to get out and open the back to get my bag that hopefully was there. It was but the secod I stepped out I was mobbed by atleast three guys offring me a taxi. I knew I needed to find a phone to call my homestay so I headed inside to see if there was one I could use. No luck but one of the taxi drivers offers me his and he talks to them and then says he will take me for half he price. I didn;t know what else to do but since we already agreed on a price I figured I might as well. We head outside and he pulls up his moto. I start to protest since I have my big back pack and he insists that he can balance it in front of him. Ive seen worse at this point so I finally agree. again I am saying little prayers for my safety and for my trust in mankind that he will in fact take me to where I am supposed to go.
9 km bike ride later and weird roads through a tiny village outside of ninh binh I arrive as the sun is setting behind the limestone hills. i am welcomed by the staff to the palm/bamboo huts along the edge of a private lake. They have a pet goat, pig, little dog and all the staff are very very frindly. They have an english class for the local children every night at 5pm and ask me if I might be interested in teaching the following evening. They also have already seen my new ukelele sticking out of my bag and have excitedly asked me to play. Ny room is comfy and has a balcony oer the water with a hammock. I dump my things and head to their open air lobby to have dinner. The food here is amazing. I just can’t even.
My body has been freaking out since yesterday. I think the adreniline rush of the phone jacking caused too much stress and I am sick. My plan is to sleep and rest and let my body recover before the next location and adventure of Hue/Hoi An.
