Nihm Bihn River Tour

After spending a day in Hanoi we decided to head to Nihm Bihn before meeting up with Jeremy in Halong Bay.

It was about a 3-4 hour van ride from Hanoi to Nihm Bihn.  We stayed at Thuy Anh Hotel which was recommended by lonely planet.  The town of Nihm Bihn itself had little to offer.

We searched for a restaurant and ended up in sports bar.  They didn’t speak any English but understood that we wanted food.  They brought us two plates with french fries, some salad, and meat.  Hummm… Vietnamese meat.  Earlier that day we had seen dog skinned and being sold for food.  Yes, they eat dog in Vietnam.

The boat ride through the limestone mountains was cool.   We had two young girls (16-18 years old) who paddled us through the river, sometimes with their feet, with all the other tourists.

It was about a two hour long trip and well worth it.  There were limestone green mountains around every turn, caves, mountain goats climbing the steep cliffs, rice paddies, and large dragon sculpture on one of the high peaks.