How many Múa steps?

I’m not brilliant early in the morning. If it’s before 7am, I’m usually incapable of all activities with the exception of two: locating caffeine and locating food. Yesterday, despite the ridiculous humidity, I made an exception.

We’re in the region of Ninh Binh, famous for its temples, rice fields and limestone mountains – often referred to as the Ha Long Bay on land. We thought it was a little off the beaten track, but perhaps not. We’ve definitely found the tourists. That’s not necessarily bad, but after seeing the crowds climbing to the Múa viewpoint the day before, we thought early morning would be a better bet.

The above photo are the onward steps up to the higher viewpoint. Of course Emma went up them like a sweaty mountain goat. I had more of the lumbering dripping sweaty elephant vibe. I’d grabbed my rucksack in the morning for an extra lens, totally forgetting about all the other paraphernalia still in it that I then had to lug up the steps. This didn’t exactly help. Oops.

Despite us being up here before 7am, there were still quite a few people on the rocky health and safety hazard.

Unfortunately it was at this point that the mega rain showers finally caught us out. Right there, as pictured above, with Emma and I sat cross legged on the little platform, the heavens properly opened.

Thankfully, because I’d carefully packed the rucksack with a crystal-clear mind in the morning – I had an umbrella with me. That was lucky!

We chilled, still sat cross legged under the umbrella for ~10mins until the rain subsided a little, then went to fetch some Vietnamese salt coffees.

To be honest, the cooling rain only added to the experience. Another good day!