Ninh Bình

Ninh Bình
Smoggy sunset
Ninh Bình

Watching it walk was mesmerising. It moves its feet in rippling waves from back to front.

Ninh Bình

A concrete factory might be a contributor to the smog.

Ninh Bình

Or maybe it's the practice of burning everything that's swept up off the road? There are dozens of these fires each evening.

Ninh Bình

In the mountains. Parts of King Kong were filmed around here.

Ninh Bình

About to row into a cave. We were on a little boat rowed by a guide here.

Ninh Bình
Ninh Bình

This cave was all lit up inside.

Ninh Bình
Mountains and brown skies
Ninh Bình

The geography is awesome.

Ninh Bình
Ninh Bình
Ninh Bình

And another thing on fire...

We've just spent four days in Ninh Bình in north Vietnam. After getting a bit sick of such long travel days we cut a stop from our trip and flew up to Hanoi. From there it was a two hour drive south. 

The air quality here is dire. As we were descending on the flight we could see thick brown clouds and they've not let up since then. The air smells faintly of smoke all the time and the visibility can't be more than a few kilometres. We'll be in this region for the next week or so, so hopefully it will clear up. 

Ninh Bình is famous for its limestone karst mountains filled with caves and cut by rivers and lakes. It's a shame the air was so bad as I don't think we really got to see it at it's best.