Ninh Binh home to roughly 53,000 Vietnamese is the land that the tourism industry has yet to exploit. This I discovered immediately while I walked around undisturbed. Josh and Laura echoed my thoughts later at dinner. Actually, people were smiling. People were waving. People were saying hello. Surely this wasn’t Vietnam.

According to the Lonely Planet, most travellers give Ninh Binh a pass because there’s “nothing to do here”. However, its location is perfect for seeing sites such as Tam Coc, the Kenh Ga Floating Village, Cuc Phuong National Park and Van long. Yet the majority of people come from Hanoi on a day trip and head straight back to Hanoi that same day.

When I passed through here a couple weeks ago, I thought it would be a good place to relax before I leave Vietnam. So here I am.

I’m not disappointed. At first glimpse it looks like every other city in Vietnam. You just have to walk a few steps to notice the difference.

These two men were the first of a handful of people, (which included police officers, farmers and regular people) who asked me to take their picture. If only more people were open to having their picture taken. Actually a few times I was caught off guard when a few people asked me to take their pictures. Usually I have to put on a smiling face and ask sweetly.