A day tour with a Japanese-language guide that efficiently takes you around the sights of Ninh Binh, about 120 km south of Hanoi, where you can take a leisurely stroll through the ancient city of Hoa Lu and the Tran An Valley, which have recently been listed as World Heritage Sites. Before moving to Hanoi, Hoa Lu was the capital of Vietnam, where we visited the site of the palace of successive dynasties and the temple where royals were enshrined, before cycling through the surrounding countryside. After a lunch of Vietnamese cuisine, we spent about two hours in the afternoon on a rowboat in the Trang An Valley, known as the Guilin of Vietnamese land, and slowly enjoyed the scenic view through several limestone caves, with the explanation of a local sailor guide. Finally, we climbed about 500 steps to the observation deck of "Han Mua" overlooking the entire Tran An Valley, and upon returning to Hanoi, we had dinner at "Bung Cha" in the Old Quarter, which was disbanded. The explanations given by the Japanese guide were very easy to understand, and the lunch and dinner included were reasonable, at only 8,000 yen per person, so I was very happy to efficiently visit the highlights of Ninh Binh.


















