Ninh Binh and the Central North

Ninh Binh has limestone peaks straight from an Asian scroll painting. The Vietnamese call it the inland Ha Long Bay. Here you can drift down a lazy river on a wooden boat rowed by a wispy bearded pensioner using his feet to push the oars, winding round pinnacles of stone through meadows of pink lily pads and lunch on noodle soup in local villages, then learning how to catch freshwater crabs with bamboo traps. You can climb stone steps to hilltop shrines with jaw-dropping views of sunlight glistening off meandering rivers that wind round ridges of rippling rock fading in folds into the distance. You can visit the palace tombs of ancient Vietnamese capitals and cycle past towering mountains, through green fields of rice paddies tilled by indigenous peoples in Mai Chau and Pu Luong. A little to the south the mountains are pocked with caves, like giant pumice stones. The most famous, Hang Tien takes three days to walk through. And there are countless others – catering to varying appetites for adventure.. With its boardwalks and electric lighting Paradise Cave is safe enough for toddlers is easy enough for toddlers – who marvel at the jewel-like stalagmites and giant spills of stone that looked like they’ve oozed out of the walls like melting ice cream.