Hanging out in Hang Mua

Today Nathan (Gavin’s colleague’s husband) and I took the motorbikes the Hang Mua, which is has a cave that we didn't visit, but also has 500 steps to climb up onto the top of one of the karsts.  On the way we got to drive through tiny, narrow streets of a Vietnamese neighborhood, barely wide enough for a single car.  Motorbike is definitely the way to travel around here!

A perfect lotus flower near Hang Mua.

Landscaping at Hang Mua.

Lots of cute swings to pose on.  :)

We huffed and puffed (because of bad air quality around here, not because I am out of shape, I swear!  ;)  ) our way up to the top of the karst, where a large dragon statue looped up and down out of the karst.  At the top we had a beautiful view over the rice paddies and Tam Coc lake.  Unfortunately the rice paddies are all harvested now and just look like big mud puddles.  I bet this view would have been absolutely amazing in the spring when the rice paddies are at their brightest green!

At the top of the 500 steps.

View over the karsts at the top of the 500 steps.

At the top of the 500 steps, overlooking muddy rice paddies.

Dragon at the top of the 500 steps, overlooking Tam Coc.

After Hang Mua, we rode through Tam Coc town to the Thung Nham Nature Reserve.  The motorbike ride there was the best we have done so far - so beautiful and close to the karsts, and they are covered in green foliage here!

The Thung Nam Nature Reserve is an up-and-coming tourist attraction; there is a ton of construction going on of restaurants, landscaping, etc.  The little map we received on entry had a few sites listed that were not yet built.  First, we took a boat ride into Hang But (snigger), which actually means Cave of Buddha.  We wanted to see both the 10,000 year old tree (very underwhelming when we saw it), and also the “Primary Forest,” but we couldn’t find the Primary Forest at all.  We followed a supposed hiking trail for about a quarter mile until the underbrush overtook it, and then we gave up.  :)  We then continued on the path to the Bird Park, where we got to see trees full of small pelican-like black and white birds.  As we were watching the birds, it started to rain, so we decided to head back to the entrance and pick up our motorbikes and get back to the hotel.  On the we happened upon the exit to the Mermaid Cave, so we went through it backwards to help keep dry.  :)  It was a waterlogged cave with a bamboo boardwalk through it, and stalactites lit in tacky colors.  It also required a lot walking in a full crouch to get through it, so my legs got their second workout of the day.

Lotus flowers in bloom on our boat ride to Hang But.

The thousand year old tree.  The wide part at the bottom is NOT the tree,
just a big rock that the tree is growing on.

The bamboo boardwalk inside Mermaid Cave.

Disco stalactites.

The Bird Park. The little white dots are the pelican-like birds we saw.

After returning to the park entrance, we stopped for lunch at a random unimpressive restaurant in Tam Coc, then headed back to the Reed Hotel.  I had a few hours to kill before dinner, so I decided to take advantage of the spa at the hotel.  For around $25 I could get two hours of various treatments! They started by scrubbing my hair for about 10 minutes, then sat me in a large barrel of brown liquid that smelled vaguely like tea.  (for some reason I assumed it was just for my feet, so I almost fell in when I stepped in and found it was deep!)  Then I got into a hot tub with the same liquid, and one of the attendants scrubbed my arms and back.  Afterward, I got to lay in their salt rock sauna - the floor was covered in heated pink salt rocks and had a small wooden pillow for my head.  I was too tall for the room; my feet had to go up the wall, or I had to lie spread eagled.  :)  After a few minutes, the attendant rubbed a mildly exfoliating scrub all over me and sat me in the HOTTEST steam room I have ever been in, and put my feet in a barrel with hot water and herbs.  The steam vents were right under my bum, and it felt like I was getting a steam enema.  I had to stand up several times because I couldn't take the heat.  :)  Then I had to go shower off the scrub, and after that it was human car wash time in a room full of jets spraying my body from all directions.  Last, the attendant blow-dried my hair on a ridiculously high speed setting, which is of course the best thing for curly hair.  After all this I guess I was finally clean enough for a massage.  :)  The massage itself was actually really good.  She mostly used her hands, but also walked on me with her feet a bit!  Then I thought the massage was over, but she went out for a bit and then I hear her come back in and put on some heavy duty rubber gloves, which was a little alarming…  Turns out they were for heat - she did a hot stone massage on me next!  She also rubbed and thumped a big herbal compress all over me.  And after the massage, I was brought into a small dining room and served something like a savory-spiced oatmeal and some tea.  Quite the full treatment!

Don't let Vietnamese women wash and dry your
hair, my fellow curly haired friends...

After the massage I met up with Gavin and we went to a dinner the conference directors put on, and then we came back and went to sleep.  Tomorrow Gavin is finally done working and can have a little fun himself!