Northern Vietnam: Hue, Ninh Binh

April 18, 2026|Rick Juliusson

While we prefer long stays in one place to truly settle in, after two months in Central Vietnam (Hoi An) what a shame it would be to not broaden our understanding of this beautiful country with a week in Northern Vietnam. Thanks to a sooner-than-expected expiring tourist visa, we pack it all into a scant four days.

Hai Van Pass and Lap An Lagoon

We con another 6 travellers into sharing a rental van for the day of our departure. This lets us stop - after a treacherously steep and windy ascent out of Da Nang - at Hai Van Pass. The historical boundary between the northern Đại Việt kingdom and the southern Champa kingdom, a gate and fortress was added in 1832 with a sign declaring it to be "Thien Ha De Nhat Hung Quan" (The Most Magnificent Wonder of the World). The strategic pass continued in military importance through the French colonial occupation, and was dubbed “The Street With No Joy” during the American War.

Down the other side, we stop at Lap An Lagoon, where I lean into my two-month Vietnamese to convince a relaxing fisherman to take us out in his boat. He cruises us through the well-established “water roads” of buoys out to his oyster farm. Pulling up one of the strings he shows us the oysters he is tending (they take 9 months to mature). He also points to the elevated hut where he either naps or sleeps (couldn’t quite make that distinction), and explains that the shells littering the bottom of the boat are what he attaches to the underwater strings for the new oysters to grow on.

The huge inland lagoon is completely filled with oyster farms, each section owned by a different fisherman like our guide. When I eat oysters at the waterfront bar later, there’s no doubt about where they come from nor how fresh they are.

Hue Imperial City - The Old Capital

Four hours north of Hoi An we arrive at Hue, capital of unified Viet Nam from 1802 under the Nguyen dynasty until 1945, when the emperor was forced by people’s uprising to abdicate. This 31-year-old ended the Nguyen Dynasty and thousands of years of monarchy in Vietnam, and he lived the next 60 years as a "citizen of an independent country". It’s not that old, but feels both ancient and contemporary - like it’s anchored to the long dynastic history and to a land that continues to honour the same traditions and culture.

With only a few hours before our evening flight to Hanoi, we ditch our bags at our friends’ hotel and go straight to the Imperial City - the UNESCO heritage fortified complex that was the residence and cultural centre for the imperial rulers. In terms of grand scale and minute intricacy, this truly ranks right up there with the many “must-see” historical spots around the world - especially the “Forbidden Purple City”, the actual emperor’s residence in the middle of the complex.

Detail even on the roof

Lots of Instagram posing

The closer you look, the more detail you see. I was especially thrilled to discover the love birds (in 3-D mosaic) and the flirting deer:

We could have simply flown straight from Da Nang, but this long drive and long tiring day were so worth the extra effort. Once in a while it pays to drop the “We live here” vibe and simply be a tourist. The pass was beautiful, the lagoon was a unique experience, and the Hue Imperial City was a true wonder.

Ninh Binh

After yesterday's epic journey, the rural ricefields and abrupt limestone karst peaks of Tam Coc are balm for the soul. A 2-hour boat ride at the UNESCO heritage Trang An takes us through deep caves and under-mountain tunnels to remote temples (pro tip: Choose tour #3, it’s much quieter since all the tour groups do the two shorter ones).

The first video below (left) shows our entry into the first tunnel, though which we went all the way to to the other side of the mountain, emerging into a serene isolated lake with a temple. The second video (right) shows the traditional foot-pedal method of the region, and the circus that is peak-tourist-time and route.

Wine-making in the cave

500 steep stone steps above Mua Caves, a protective dragon is perched, surveying the sunrise glory of the ricefields all around, and wishing me a Happy Birthday.

An advantage to being on slow bicycles with no destination (and no tour guide) is Discovery. We spy a mysterious structure up a gorge, and emerge into a mystical cemetery tucked behind some hills and the river.

We cycle everywhere across this flat expanse, visiting ancient temples, eating tender goat (a unique specialty here thanks to the perfect goat-habitat limestone peaks) and just enjoying meandering through rural rice fields at the base of rock outcroppings that feel like giant teeth bursting suddenly from a watery rice-paddy mouth. A more serene place to celebrate my 59th birthday I could not imagine.