Tam Coc , Vietnam 越南陆龙湾 ： Mesmerised 陶醉

陶醉

群山围绕，

细水长流，

习习凉风，

自我陶醉。

Memerised

Mountains punctuating the banks,

River meanderng in between,

Splashes whispering along,

As we gentling rowed，

mesmerised

5.2.2013

第二天  宁平与陆龙湾

早餐是在旅店的餐厅用。我吃鸡肉炒面，面有点咸。 8点在旅店外等旅巴， 等到8.35 巴士才来。是辆休闲车。这个团有11个人。导游是Vuong，曾经在澳洲留学的一个年轻小伙子，讲了一口流利的澳式英语。路程是2小时。半路停车休息，那里有餐厅和精品店。

第一站是去一个古城，名叫宁平（Ninh Binh）。古城外风景明媚，四周都是山峦环绕。古城的桥更是漂亮。导游说今天我们幸运，因为那里有个庆典，会有穿传统服装的少男少女。过了桥就是个广场，那里真的有好多穿着传统服装的越南少女，她们的服装一律是黄色的开衩长旗袍，戴着越南独特的圆锥帽。个个阿娜多姿地站着或坐着，任你拍照。害羞的则把帽拉底，遮脸。她们使我想起西贡小姐。男的也是黄色马褂，戴黄色的圆帽。古城里的庙进去不能拍照，还得脱下帽子。

看完了庙，我们离开古城，去吃午餐。午餐是在码头的一个餐馆，我们吃自由餐。有很多选择。炒饭和米粉不错，汤很好喝。吃了午餐，我们开始搭船游陆龙湾（Tam Coc）。Tam在越南语是三的意思，而coc就是洞穴。那就是说，我们坐船会经过三个洞穴。一艘船只能坐两个人。开始坐船很不稳，摇来晃去。后来就渐渐地比较稳。沿河风景好美。周围的山就像武夷山，我个人觉得比武夷山美得多。我坐在前面，船夫是什么样子我都不知道，他也没讲话，不像武夷山的船夫讲得好多。我看其他的船夫都是用脚划船，这又使我想起绍兴的东湖。

回到河内是6.30。导游给了我们他的名片，内有贴心的美食介绍。导游说今天是他一年内的最后一个团，等下他就要回家乡。他的家乡离河内要7个钟头的路程。

Day 2 Ninh Binh and Tam Coc

After taking breakfast at the hotel, I waited for the guide of my day tour. He came in a van at 8.35 am. There were 11 of us. The guide, Vuong was once a student in Australia, so he spoke good English. The journey took 2 hours. We stopped at a restaurant-cum-souvenir shop for a rest after an hour. After that we proceeded to Ninh Binh. We were lucky that there was a ceremony at the square where there were lots of teenagers wearing traditional Vietnamese costume.Donned with Vietnamese cone-shaped hats, the girls were charming. They would pose for our camera though the shy ones would hide their faces with the hats, making them all the more attractive with a mysterious touch.The temple was nice but no photography was allowed.

After Ninh Binh, we had our buffet lunch at a restaurant by the jetty. The lunch was nice . After lunch, we took a boat ride to Tam Coc. 'Tam ' in Vietnamese means 3 while 'Coc' means caves. So, there are 3 small caves that we would cross.The scenery along the river was spectacular.The boatman even rowed with their legs! It was a nice trip.

At 6.30 pm we returned to Hanoi. The guide, Vuong, gave us his name card. At the back of the card, there were his recommendations of Vietnamese delicacies. He was very thoughtful.