Most BEAUTIFUL and UNDERRATED Place in Vietnam! Better Than Ha Long Bay?? + Airbnb TOUR

Good morning adventurers. In our last video we flew from Hong Kong to Hanoi and then we took a car down two hours south to this little area Ninh Binh, well the nearest town, we're a bit outside of it. In our previous videos we were saying how we're just kind of getting tired of the city vibe because we've been traveling in a lot of cities so we immediately went from the city to the middle of nowhere in the jungle in Vietnam. It's amazing. The views are absolutely incredible and we are so excited to finally get out and explore today. It's going to be amazing. The place we're staying right now is built on top of these rice fields and there's people working in it all day. You can hear ducks, chickens, cows, dogs, everything, but it's sitting beneath this huge rock face that we're right up against. It's so cool. It's one of the coolest places that we've stayed I think. It's like a little piece of paradise. Yeah, so it's pretty reminiscent of Ha Long Bay which is where we were originally going to go but then we read that it's super touristy up there. It's also the weather has been pretty cold and pretty dreary and I read that it's not very fun to be on the bay when it's like that so then I found this place which is kind of like Ha Long Bay but on land or in rice paddies. It has a really similar look and a really similar vibe so you kind of get a lot of the same thing but less crowds and there's not water so if you're into that then probably go to Ha Long Bay. Well there is a lot of water, it's just in the fields, like the flooded rice fields. But check out this view that we have. So this is the bed that we're sleeping in and then we wake up to this incredible view out here. How insane is that? You can pretty much point the camera in any direction and get an amazing photo here so make sure you head to our Instagram to see how our photos here are turning out because pretty cool stuff. It's just in it, yeah. But they also provide free breakfast here or at least included in the price so we're going to head to the main area over there and eat. So there's this catwalk here that we walk along every day, it takes you from hut to hut over here but it also takes you to the main area and then out to the entrance of the place. We've always said we wanted to stay in an overwater bungalow and this is as close as we've gotten so far and I love it. Yeah, I mean it's technically over water. Yeah, you can hear there are actually fish in the field which is, I didn't really think that there would be fish in a rice field but they jump up at night, it's kind of nice, you just hear all the nature. Yeah, like plop, plop, plop. For breakfast we're eating pho gà which is just a Vietnamese noodle soup with chicken in it. We don't usually eat noodles for breakfast but when in Vietnam. Yeah, and it is a little bit chilly this morning so this is perfect, it's nice and warm. Also, we got coffee but we didn't go quite Vietnamese, normally this would also have a layer of condensed milk at the bottom there so we just got black coffee which is so cool because here's how they do it, they put the grounds up there and then the water goes through into your cup. But we did a bit of a hack, we asked also for some ice and then we went into the town and got fresh milk and we're going to make our own iced coffees this morning. We're going a little overboard but it's worth it for the iced coffee. It is, it is. So the plan today is to hop on this little death trap and brave the Vietnamese seas. Okay, positive vibes, we're going to be alright, we're going to take it real slow and safe. It's going to be so much fun, we're going to be so good, he's going to be the best driver. We're going to be Gucci. Seriously though, the plan is to go to, there are a bunch of really cool spots to see around here with epic views and pagodas and all kinds of cool stuff so we're just going to do a little scooter tour today. Yeah, hopefully Google Maps does not let us down, this area is a bit uncharted it seems on my phone, this place apparently doesn't even exist so, but I think once we get out to the main roads we should be okay. Alright, let's go. Nailed it. A little rusty but you know, you guys know the first time we rode scooters was in Thailand. And that was a year, over a year ago. So it takes a little getting used to but I'm getting right back in there but. Yeah and he's never driven with somebody on the back, he did a great job. We're heading to a site called Hang Mua, I think is how you pronounce it. It's 500 steps that take you all the way up to this epic lookout. Also, it's funny just as you arrive on this road, they immediately start waving you and saying, oh bike park here, bike park here. I don't think you have to park there but we don't really know if you need to or not so we just do what they say. There's like 20 different parking spots of course. We saw the first one and we went in there and now we're walking way far down a dirt road but that's okay. Hopefully that means we got a cheaper price maybe? Now the long journey to the top begins. We have begun the climb up to the top. This dragon here is one of the like iconic things about this staircase. Is this the only one? There's an epic one at the top. The mountain is referred to as the lying dragon. There you go. Yeah. Well this scene feels about 500 already right? We gotta be close. Alright, let's go. This is a popular wedding photo spot. We've got wedding photos going on way over there. We've got some right there. Our wedding photos were not this epic. Not even close. We made it to the top. To the very tippy top. We're literally sitting right on the spine of the dragon. It's pretty amazing. But of course there are quite a few other people. Definitely advise to come early. We tried to come early but we just couldn't get out and about quick enough. But I think if you came by like 8am or so there probably wouldn't be this many people here. Isn't this incredible? Who the heck built this dragon on top of this mountain? That's insane. It's amazing. The views all around are insane. Some of the coolest views we've seen in a long time. Maybe some of the most beautiful we've ever seen actually. You can actually see over there there's a river with a bunch of people boating through it. It's very cool. So we started this morning somewhere way over there behind that rock. And then drove out there, over there, and then down this road. This is really cool but it's a little bit dangerous. This is what you're walking on. Just a bunch of holes. We still managed to get a pretty good photo over there. So I'll have to put it up on the screen if it turned out good. The people seem to come in waves. So there's a bunch of them for a second. If you wait they clear out. And then before the next group climbs up you get a couple seconds. So come early or have a lot of patience. Wear very sturdy footwear. Do not wear a long skirt that you can trip yourself up in. And go slow. Alright we are getting hungry so it's time to get back on the road. For lunch we have come to Ninh Loan Rose Restaurant. And I hear it's very good and very cheap. But seriously we did just randomly find it on Google. It's tough because obviously everything around here is really touristy. But it got really good ratings and people said it was cheap. And they didn't try to price gouge. Which I think the meals we ordered that are coming in a minute were under $2 each. Maybe $1.50 USD. Maybe. They had smoothies that were very affordable. And they have kitty cats. It's kind of the perfect place. It was a nice find Mr. Buehler. Our food has arrived and it looks beautiful. Look at this. I did. It said fried chicken with tomato and pineapple. Which I think it's just stir fried chicken. And then a whole heap of rice. I think I got a lemongrass and chili chicken. Yeah. Which is going to be great. I wanted a little spice. And I love lemongrass. I've been all about it. Yeah I think it's going to be so good. It smells amazing. Let's get the perfect bite in here. It's sweet. It's salty. It's savory. It's wonderful. The chicken is cooked really well. Really nicely grilled in there. It all just looks so fresh doesn't it? Yeah exactly. I think it's just all super fresh. They just chopped it up and grilled it for us. I love it. For our next stop we have come to a place called Bich Dong. I think. Bich Dong? Otherwise it's Bich Dong. I'm thinking that's not the way to do it. But Bich Dong is pretty fun. Bich Dong. When I saw it on the map I was like are you serious right now? She said hun we're going to Bich Dong. It is actually a series of three pagodas I believe. They were built in the 1400s by a couple monks. And you go through a series of entryways like this and then into pagodas and you have to go through a cave I think to ultimately get to the third one. There are more stairs. Put on my pants this time because I stepped on my skirt one too many times and almost killed myself last time. We're a bit disappointed though. The photos online make this look absolutely magical and beautiful and while the little entryway is not much else is around here. Yeah so some of the photos have all these epic lily pads over here and it looks really majestic but really I guess they're just doing a lot of work on it. We're wondering though if we can go like right here and get a really nice photo from this angle. But that's what you have to do in a lot of these spots. A lot of times you just have to crop it down to the one spot that looks nice and then you're actually surrounded by all this gunk. Yeah I think the water level is really low so you can see all the debris in there and then obviously the lily pads are all very dead right now. So I think this is the second pagoda. This thing is magnificent. It's built right into the rock face here. Wow it's really cool. It's really pretty but I was reading and the sign says we have to actually go through the cave to get to the third one. So this is the backside of the pagoda. So you can see how it's built into this hole in the rock structure. This is really cool. This is very cool. Although I don't know that I signed up for this many more stairs. Yeah check this out. I didn't realize. Oh boy. What did you do? Twisted my ankle. I haven't done it in a long time but you know what happened? I stepped down from that step over there and then look how the pavement gets uneven right here. So I stepped I think right here and then crunch. I think I can still walk though. It wasn't that bad. I kind of collapsed. Luckily I wasn't filming you guys would have seen me fall on my butt. Okay I think I'm good. Let's go. You guys the scenery is incredible. Lots of potholes though so you got to watch out for those. Jesus. But we just decided to turn down some random road just to scope out the rice fields. Totally worth it. Y'all one really neat thing this area is known for are these boat tours that you can do. But it's not any paddle boat tour. They paddle with their feet. It's women who paddle these boats and they've learned to paddle with their feet instead of their hands. It's funny because they're just sitting there chilling and letting their legs do all the work. Yeah. So there are actually a lot of different places where you can jump on these boats. I don't know if we're going to have time to do it but if you do beware that sometimes they try to get you to buy extra things along the way. Yeah they'll make you buy something for the driver or they'll make you tip extra that you weren't really expecting so you just got to be prepared to pay that. Right next to our place there's about a thousand little ducklings that just chill over here and if you make any sudden movements then they go crazy and go running away from you. We made it back to our little homestay. We're just heading back to our room but they have such cheap beer here so we got a few to take back to our fridge. To celebrate us surviving. Yeah I think we earned a beer after braving those roads. Now the roads can get pretty dangerous in the major cities and I don't think we're going to be riding in those but out here it's not that bad. Nothing worse than what we did in Thailand so it really isn't that bad. People are really great. They honk when they're passing you or when they're coming around a corner so you pretty much always know when somebody's nearby. Yeah you just got to keep your eyes out. We are in for the night. We ended up going to dinner and we've been doing these group dinners where they just bring out a bunch of amazing Vietnamese dishes that they cook here on site. Yeah here at the Airbnb. It's been awesome. It's amazing. So you can do breakfast, lunch, and dinner on site. Breakfast is included. Lunch and dinner very very affordable. Well I hope you guys enjoyed coming along with us and exploring a bit of the area today. I really think that it is a super underrated part of Vietnam. From my research I didn't come across this area of Ninh Binh until we looked into Ha Long Bay and realized the weather was going to be so bad and then I was like I know we want to be up north so we don't have to travel so far after flying to Hanoi and it took me forever until I finally found this but it is so amazing and there it seems so local and authentic still. You can get off the beaten path without feeling like you're really in the middle of nowhere which is a hard thing to find for us. Yeah but it has been so amazing to be here and just kind of recharge and be outside of the city. Yeah we've just been chilling a little bit and it's been so good because I feel like we've just been going non-stop. Alright goodnight adventurers. We'll see you on the road.