Ninh Binh Trip and ....... Vietnamese wedding

Weekend time and excursion time! We have arranged the day trip to Ninh Binh that is located to the south of the Northern Delta, between the Red and Ma rivers. We woke up at 5.30 AM, got on the mini bus, got some sleep on the way to Tam Coc the first stop on our tour. The Tam Coc (“three caves”) is a two-hour excursion by small boat along the Ngo Dong river, beginning at the village of Van Lam and proceeding through a scenic landscape dominated by rice fields and karst towers. The route includes floating through three natural caves (Hang Ca, Hang Hai, and Hang Ba), the largest of which is 125m long with its ceiling about 2m high above the water. The boats are typically rowed by one or two local women (the row using not only hands but also feet, look below pictures).

The next stop was Bich Dong, a cave pagoda on Ngu Nhac Mountain dating to 1428, a holy site of pilgrimage for Vienamese. The site comprises of three structures: Ha, Trung, and Thuong Pagodas, in ascending order.

The final stop during our tour was Phat Diem complex, is the center of Catholicism in north Vietnam big tourist site attracting foreign and domestic visitors.
The entire complex is unique example of combination of Vietnamese and European Architecture as the kind of symbol merging the Vietnamese Buddhism culture and catholic religion. All the buildings reflect both concepts.

While were visiting the monuments were asked by one the Vietnamese film school student if we would agree to give him little interview what our impression from Vientam, Ninn Binh province. Somehow I was a selected, volunteer to talk about itJ It was fun and of course I couldn’t forget to mention that aim of our stay in Vietnam:-)
So there Arjan is not the only celebrity in our team:-)

Even though the excursion had very rich itinerary and we enjoyed it a lot, the attractions for the day were not over yet. As soon as we arrived to the hotel, we changed our clothes, picked up a present and went to the Vietnamese wedding. We invited by one of our clients to attend the reception of the wedding for 1000 guests that took place on the two floor of the modern conference center in the center of Hai Phong. Due to our excursion we couldn’t make on time and unfortunately we the missed the ceremony of the exchange of marriage rings but we still enjoyed experiencing the Vietnamese reception. As usually our group was surprise for most of the other guests but we could feel to be really welcomed by young couple and their family. The main reception took on the first floor while were sitting on the other one but could follow up all the events on the special screen placed in our hall. The main “activity” during the reception was enjoying so much delicious variety of food as well as constantly making toast with other guests.