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Long Nature Reserve, signed to the right about 2km to the east of Tran Me. The road ends beside the ticket office (just past a new hotel complex), where you pay 35,000đ per person for a ninety-minute trip, being poled across the wetlands and among the limestone outcrops in a low-slung bamboo sampan. Take your binoculars: the crags are home to a small, isolated population of Delacour’s langur, and the reed beds provide refuge for migratory waterfowl. At present there’s a good chance you’ll have the place to yourself, with only the eerie cries of monkeys and birds to break the silence, but this is unlikely to last. Hawkers are banned from using boats, but already they gather round the ticket office whenever a tour bus appears and there is even talk about opening restaurants along the dyke.

The second boat trip departs from a canal bank about 4km away on the south side of Tran Me; take the lane immediately after the post office with its landmark radio tower. In this case a skinny motor launch takes you on a 45-minute ride (40,000đ per person) through scenery which is certainly attractive but doesn’t quite stand up beside that of Tam Coc or Van Long. However, the main purpose is to visit Kenh Ga, a village accessible only by water. The village boasts houses and even an ornate church, but many families live on boats and the whole place seems to be engaged in watery pursuits: boatyards turn out concrete-hulled barges to take gravel and quarried stone downstream; there are fish farms and great flocks of ducks, and sampans bustle about, often propelled by people rowing with their feet. Kenh Ga (Chicken Canal) supposedly gets its name from a hot spring where chickens were soaked in the near-boiling water to make them easier to pluck. The water is also said to be good for digestion, skin ailments and general recuperation and the site was developed for bathing, but the facilities are very run-down now. Better to press on to the final destination, Van Trinh grotto, a little-visited cave system where the guide will point out gnarled rocky outcrops which conjure up images of turtles, dragons, elephants and wizened faces. The local tourist authority has now installed lighting and concrete pathways, but you’ll still need stout shoes, especially during the dry season when boats can’t pull up outside the cave and you may have to walk the final kilometre.

The central provinces - Part 2 | Ninh Binh and around | Van Long and Kenh Ga |

Practicalities

Van Long and Kenh Ga can be reached independently by car or motorbike; count on at least 120,000đ for a xe om for the return trip from Ninh Binh. Hotels in Ninh Binh and a few Hanoi tour agencies also offer organized tours combining both places, with prices starting at around $15 per person for a one-day excursion.

There are cheap food stalls in Tran Me, but the most convenient place to eat is the small restaurant next to the Kenh Ga ticket office. There is no menu but a good choice is the local fish and a dish of their excellent spring rolls. If you order before you set off on the boat trip, the meal will be ready on your return.

The central provinces - Part 2 |

Travel details

The central provinces - Part 2 | Travel details |

Trains

Da Nang to: Hanoi (6 daily; 15–20hr); Ho Chi Minh City (6 daily; 16–21hr); Hué (6 daily; 2hr 30min–3hr); Nha Trang (6 daily; 9–12hr).

Dong Ha to: Dong Hoi (5 daily; 1hr 20min–2hr 10min); Hanoi (4 daily; 12–15hr); Hué (5 daily; 1hr 20min).

Dong Hoi to: Dong Ha (4 daily; 1hr 40min–2hr 35min); Hanoi (5 daily; 10–12hr); Hué (5 daily; 2hr 35min–4hr); Ninh Binh (3 daily; 9–11hr); Vinh (6 daily; 3hr 30min–5hr).

Hué to: Da Nang (6 daily; 2hr 20min–3hr); Dong Ha (5 daily; 1hr–1hr 20min); Dong Hoi (6 daily; 2hr 40min–3hr 30min); Hanoi (6 daily; 13–16hr); Ho Chi Minh City (6 daily; 19–24hr); Nha Trang (6 daily; 11hr 20min–15hr); Ninh Binh (3 daily; 14hr).

Ninh Binh to: Dong Hoi (4 daily; 10hr); Hanoi (3 daily; 2hr 30min); Hué (4 daily; 13–14hr); Vinh (4 daily; 4hr).

Thanh Hoa to: Hanoi (5 daily; 3hr 30min); Ninh Binh (3 daily; 1hr 20min); Vinh (5 daily;