Ninh Binh Back Roads by Bike and Rowboat

Every part can be changed to suit your group.

1. Morning Hoa Lu Temples and the Hang Mua Viewpoint

   We pick you up in Hanoi at around 7:30 AM and drive south for about two hours to Ninh Binh. The first stop is Hoa Lu, the royal capital of Vietnam in the 10th century, where your guide shares the stories behind the temples of the early kings. We continue through the countryside to Hang Mua and climb about 500 stone steps to a dragon-topped peak, where the rice fields, rivers and karsts of Tam Coc open up below. We then walk into a nearby village for a home-cooked lunch with a local family. Along the way your guide points out the small family shrines, rice paddies and duck farms that make up daily life in this quiet province, and there is plenty of time to stop for photos of the limestone peaks rising straight out of the fields.

   
2. Afternoon Village Cycling and the Thung Nham Wetland

   After lunch we get on the bikes for an easy ride to a small pier, away from the main tourist docks. A local rower takes us for about an hour through quiet canals and low caves in the Thung Nham wetland, part of the Trang An landscape. Back on land, we cycle through more villages and rice fields before meeting the car for the drive back to Hanoi, arriving at around 5:00 to 5:30 PM. If you prefer not to cycle or climb, we can plan a gentler version of the day. The rowing is done by local women and men from the village, many of whom have worked these waters all their lives, and the slow pace makes it easy to spot herons, kingfishers and goats climbing the cliffs.