Tam Coc - Cuc Phuong 3 Days 2 nights Self

Day 1

Hanoi – Hoa Lu – Tam Coc (145 km)

As we leave Hanoi at 8A.M., On this Vietnam motorcycle tour we intentionally avoid the A1 highway and ride the winding back roads that are not traffic-packed. We will stop for a quick visit to the village of Sam Xuyen, where you can taste some tea offered by the friendly locals, as you admire the rich, rice paddies, and the astonishing 500-year old bonsai tree that stands proudly and beautifully.

Then, we head south and just before reaching our next destination, Hoa Lu, we stop at a local restaurant, to taste some local cuisine for lunch, before we get back to riding the back roads. On the way, we visit the ancient Hoa Lu remains (the temples dedicated to the legendary10th-century King Le and King Dinh, who chose Hoa Lu to build their capital’s fortress). We’ll be happy to offer more background on these heroes of Vietnamese history.

For the nest 25 km until we reach Tam Coc, we will be riding past steep limestone mountainous areas, narrow valleys, and igneous rock formations that compose a picture-like scenery. Then, we get some rest as local boatmen take us along the Hoang Long River that runs several kilometers in Tam Coc.

Day 2

Tam Coc – Phat Diem – Cuc Phuong (120 km)

We leave Tam Coc at around 8:30 A.M. we ride the back empty roads for 27 km that will bring us to Phat Diem. All the way, we can admire the marvelous rice paddies if we happen to be riding during harvest. At Phat Diem, we will take some time to taste some local coffee and visit sights such as a magnificent, late 1800’s Sino-Vietnamese cathedral, a fine demonstration of the application of European architecture.
Our great adventure takes us to Cuc Phuong, where a local barbecue lunch awaits, namely Sen Thinh. Cuc Phuong is a great pole of attraction for those interested in places with significant cultural heritage, and a perfect combination of wildlife and breath-taking scenery. As soon as we arrive there, we stop at the Primate Rescue Centre for a while, before we get back to riding another 20km, through thick vegetation, until we finally reach the Park Centre. On the way to the Park Centre, we can visit prehistoric caves where people of that era used to live in. The cave’s exit has a welcoming surprise for you. It is the best spot to view the gorgeous surrounding jungle as it sprawls in Limestone Mountains and completes a mesmerizing scenery with smooth transitions between green rice terraces and lush forests and jungles.
We stay overnight at a local hotel

Day 3

Cuc Phuong – Hanoi (150 km)

We depart on this day at 9:00 A.M.Today’s tour includes a 2-hour trail through the jungle. Somewhere in the middle of the 3-kilometer trek, we can take a break and stop for a bit to see the 1,000-year-old Sequoia tree (Tetrameles Nudiflora) that measures D: 5.5m and H: 45m. As we head back to Hanoi, we will pass a number of villages and see happy children filling the air with their joyful hellos, welcoming visitors into their land! Again, the scenery is full with evergreen mountains and rice paddies, carefully concealing a historically relevant cave that used to be an ammunitions and food storage place during the war and is now only used as a sacred place of prayer.

Lunchtime will find us in a well-liked local restaurant, where we can taste traditional Vietnamese cuisine and their barbecue goat specialty! Right after we finish our lunch, we join the Ho Chi Minh train back to Hanoi, through a traffic-free easy road.

The final section of our Flamingo Travel tour will take us through amazing limestone mountains. There, a small one-kilometer off-road track can take us to another cave, which used to be a hideaway for Generals and soldiers alike, during the French War. The cave’s interior is impressive, and an excellent view of the surrounding farmland will be seen after an easy climb up.

After this final adventure, our trip culminates in Hanoi just in time for dinner.