Mua peak cave & Tam Coc boat ride day trip

Great day trip! A rainning day but great trip with with Jack, he is funny guide about his job and enjoying what he is doing. We went to Tam Coc take boad ride, biking around the village and have a tasty lunch! Highly recommend this trip!

Tour Date: 7 January 2020. Prepare for a long day (around 11.5 hours), not 8 hours as advertised. You will be spending 6 of these hours on a bus. Ninh Binh 90km away and you are up against Hanoi traffic, it took over 2.5 hours each way plus drives between places. PROS: The scenery is spectacular and the itinerary was great. We had enough time to climb the steps to Mua peak, cycle around the rice fields and laze around in a boat and enjoy the view. It was nice to stop off for a bathroom break on the way at a place that sells souvenirs made by people with disabilities, lovely items, great price. The buffet lunch was also not bad, less options if you are a vego but none the less fine. CONS: 1. The mini bus was horrendously uncomfortable. The seats were very narrow, my partner and me are neither tall nor large people but we were squashed. The bus was almost full and it not really practical to recline the seats as it would impact on the person behind you. 50% of the day was spend on the bus and that 50% was dreadful. This is the main reason why I am rating this tour as only 2 stars. 2. The ‘tour guides’ were not helpful, knowledgeable or professional. They were 4 young men ( plus the driver), excessive for 16-18 people. Group split into 2 as half were off to different activities. 3 of the 4 men were with our group. Our guide did not say much or give us any info, he was not rude and his English was fine but he basically only herded us from place to place and seemed pretty disinterested in being there. The other 2 guys offered nothing and were just along for the ride and to take up seats in the bus. We even picked up someone’s friend /relative after lunch and drop them off somewhere. It felt like 4 friends had hired a rundown bus to courier tourists to make some extra cash. When we picked up a few stragglers in the second group, all four guides were on the bus and none of them bothered to get off to show them where we were parked. They were looking around and only saw us because my partner was waving to them from the window. Tours should be interesting and informative, tell you things which you would miss if you went there on your own. Not only did this tour not enhance the experience it put a negative spin on the whole day. My feedback to this tour company: invest in a new bus and train your staff!

Well paced tour, view is breath taking, very friendly tour guide (Chris?) who went beyond his duties and pointed me to the best egg coffee and pho place in lo su.