"Ninh Binh---another Ha Long Bay?" a Ninh Binh Travel Page by Animas

I had no idea about Ninh Binh at the first time I heard this name from my friend who had only saw the picture of it from the guide book...finally we decided to go there and we were so lucky! First we asked for day tour but it's only on Monday-Wednesday and Friday...however we are 6 persons so we payed a little bit more and got private tour...we left HaNoi at 7.30am and Ninh Binh is located 90 kilometers south of Hanoi on Highway 1. While the town itself has little of interest for tourists.

We arrived at Hoa Lu before 10am ---visited 2 temple of Two Kings---Dinh and Le.

A short-cut from temple to Tam Coc on bumping road we had lunch near by the lake (??? ---Im not sure it calls lake or not but it looks like a lake with a dock ) then three-hour sampan ride through the karst hills was a highlight of a visit to the area. The journey ends by passing through three long tunnel caves.