We rented bikes for 30,000 dong and cycled to a temple on a peak above Mua Cave (20,000 dong). We left at 6am, the map wasn’t to scale and not really labelled so it ended up being 3kms further than it should be. By the time we arrived we were very hot - to the point of sweating through our shorts, tummy and bras!!

  The flat front tyre on my bike didn’t help the situation. We were the only visitors, perhaps nobody else had had our ‘great idea’? At the base of the hill was a small island in a pond surrounded by trees, the canopy cast a cooling shadow but it was still humid in the gloom. Below the first steps is a cave containing a stone cat which at a glance looks alive.
                                  

The '500’ steps certainly felt like less but took considerable effort in the heat. We took regular breaks and drank a lot, reaching the top in one of the sweatiest hot flushes of my life at 8am. Thankfully the view was spectacular! Another knackering cycle later we got back to the hotel and flopped under the air con.

In the afternoon we went to the Trang An Grottoes, a lake which is home to 17 caves. You board a boat for 4 people and are rowed by one of the women through ~8 of the caves. It’s amazing, you have to duck into the boat as you wind through the passages. It cost 100,000 dong pp (+tip).

                                

The same motorbike drivers that took us there were patiently waiting. Mine loved speed and told me stories in mumbled english which I 'mmmm'ed and 'ahhh'ed at. It cost 120,000 dong ($6) for the round trip.

We ate dinner at the same place and caught an early night.