Tam Coc

So Adam and I have been totally following the tourist trail in Vietnam so far and decided to do some more touristy things and head to Nimh Binh to go to a place called Tam Coc. This tour first took us to some temples, and to be honest, we are templed out. So, that was the downside of the tour. After the temples we got to ride bikes for an hour to our lunch spot, and the place where we got to get a boat to tour the Tam Coc region. The bike riding was hilarious. The bikes are very unlike bikes at home. Think very dorky with big seats and baskets.....

After lunch we got in a boat with one man rowing, and one woman that was his "helper". It was just the two of us in the boat. The scenery was amazing. They say this place is the "Halong Bay of the rice fields". We went through 3 caves and at the end of the last cave there are people in boats trying to sell you food and drinks. Of course you feel pressured to buy things, and apparently you are suppose to buy things for your rowers as well. It is a total scam, but we new this going in. On the ride back the purpose of the female rower becomes apparent as she whips out all her embroidery and wants you to buy it. We didn't buy any. We do feel badly though as there are so many people in the region wanting to take tourists out, that each person only works 2 days a month. No wonder they try to sell things! All in all, it was worth the cheeziness to see the scenery!