Luxury small Group, Hoa Lu, Tam Coc, Mua Cave Max 6-8 Pax/ group

This tour was GREAT until the boat ride which turned out to be shocking and sad! Let me first explain that it took us 4 hours instead of 2 to get from Hanoi to the Ninh Binh region because of the horrible traffic associated with the 50th anniversary of the Reunification Day national holiday. This was beyond the control of the tour company, however, I believe this delay came into play later concerning our itinerary. Our guide was Drake, a very pleasant young man, who did his best to keep us on schedule. First, we went to another temple. Then we hiked to the top of Hang Mua (Lying Dragon Mountain) to see an incredible view of the beautiful rice paddies. Super steep, slippery, and uneven stairs, but totally worth it! We were given an hour to do it, and it took the whole hour to do both peaks while stopping for pictures. We felt a little rushed, but it couldn’t be helped. Then lunch (which was delicious) in Tam Coc which is a cute town with super narrow streets, ecolodges, nice restaurants, and probably a resort or two. Seemed to be an international hotspot among the younger European crowd. Would've been fun to stay there a couple nights. Last we did a boat ride through a couple of the many caves in the Ninh Binh province. Our guide gave us a choice between the “nature” boat ride or the “touristy” boat ride. I think he was hoping we would choose the “nature” boat ride as it saved us a lot of driving time since it was right next to the restaurant. We did choose the "nature" boat ride (paddled by local farmers) instead of the "touristy" boat ride. Our guide, Drake, warned us that the person rowing us would try to sell us souvenirs/trinkets at the turnaround point. We didn’t buy any which turned out to be a HUGE mistake because it seemed to greatly annoy the guy rowing us, and he started rowing us back in a huff. Well, a little further down the canal, our guy unexpectedly jumped out of our boat, ran through mud up to his knees, and killed a beautiful stork with his bare hands that we had been admiring and photographing. So frickin' sad! (Also a little traumatizing, especially as a vegetarian.) He stored the large bird under his seat for the rest of the ride back. Anyway, I would suggest NOT choosing the “nature” boat ride! However, if you do choose it, buy the trinket!

The one day excursion was great and I will recommend the bicycle ride in the areas we got to.see.the beautiful scenery. Big thank you to our guide Drake which I definitely will recommend. We got great explanations mixed with its good humour and he is very helpful. Merci.

We are so pleased we booked this tour. The boat ride through the caves was wonderful and our guide Drake was excellent. He was the perfect balance of professional, knowledgeable, and friendly with fantastic English. Thanks to Drakes skill, each part of our tour moved seamlessly from one part to the next, including a great lunch.