8.00-8.30 am: Tour guide of HTS tour guide will pick you up from your hotel in Old Quarter to depart to Ninh Binh city
10.30-11.00 am: You will reach Hoa Lu Ancient Capital.
In 968, Dinh Bo Linh declared himself as the King. Since then Hoa Lu existed as the capital for the next 41 years (968 – 1009), of which 12 years was under the Dinh dynasty – King Dinh Tien Hoang, the country named Dai Co Viet, and 29 years later was under the Le dynasty – King Le Dai Hanh. In 1010, King Ly Thai To moved the capital from Hoa Lu to Thang Long – present day Hanoi. Hoa Lu became the old citadel. In Hoa Lu there are now 2 temples have been built on the ground of the old royal palace, one is dedicated to King Dinh Tien Hoang, the other is to King Le Dai Hanh. The visit offers a chance to know more about part of feudal dynasties and historical periods in Vietnamese history.
12:00 pm: Today you will enjoy buffet lunch at local restaurant in Tam Coc named Duc Tuan restaurant. The food is served with Asian style, local dishes, organic vegetable. The Duc Tuan is located on the river overview Tam Coc, you can enjoy the view of overall riverside until you finish your lunch
1:30 pm: After finishing your lunch, you will be taking the rowing boat at Tam Coc Harbour. Arranged by local people here, the boat is rowed by both hand and legs. The boat will take you to 3 specular caves with hundreds of limestones on the way. If you travel during harvest season, you will see many terrace rice fields in golden colors.
The boat rowing will be in around 2 hours. Not only you could see the peaceful scenery of mountain, rice paddy fields, temples, you also have chances to learn about local people cultures on their daily life.
Optional activities: Enjoy a bicycle ride through the countryside after the boat trip.
4:00 pm: leave Tam Coc and drive back to Hanoi. Arrive Hanoi at around 6:30 pm. Finish unforgettable full day trip at your hotel in Hanoi!
We booked a private tour to Ninh Binh, to discover some more beautiful places around the province. We heard Thung Nham was a natural and beautiful and wanted to see for ourselves.
It was a lovely and natural site and the birdlife was amazing and as this is a relatively new destination in Ninh Binh province few tourists have ventured here, but my tip is it will become a regular spot for tourists, as the quietness and fresh air were delightful. The pagoda we visited was ancient and excellent and the boat journey through the Tam Coc caves was also very interesting, so we had a great day.