We got up and biked over Long Bien bridge, which crosses the Red River, to get out of town on Saturday morning. It was bombed heavily during the war and now is only used for trains, pedestrians, bikes and motorbikes. Many of the bikes were taking produce (rice, flowers, fish, and live chickens!) to the market.
Sunday, we took a tour to Hoa Lu, the first capital of Viet Nam. There are two temples, which are dedicated to two of the original kings (I learned that pagodas are dedicated to Buddhism; temples are dedicated to ancestor worship and deities). The story we were told was that the second king was a general who led a revolution against the first, who was executed. They both were married to the same woman.
We then took boats on Tam Coc. The limestone mountains and rice fields were beautiful. It was a two hour trip and many of the rowers were tiny Vietnamese women. A lot of them rowed with their feet!
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