Ride to the south of Hanoi for ~ 90 km on National Highway 1, and then follow a small road (~8 km) through rice fields to Hoa Lu. Around 10.30am we propose to visit two temples in Hoa Lu of the two kings, King Dinh and King Le - Dinh Dynasty (968-980) and Early Le Dynasty (980-1009). This is the ancient capital of Vietnam with natural protection afforded by the region's bizarre landscape.
Ride on the back road of Yen Ngua Mountain along the mountain range, snaking through limestone 8 km to Linh Xuan village. The road is narrow but newly sealed and easy to ride. There are opportunities to take many photos of this region and the landscape looks like "Halong Bay without water". We will talk and drink tea with local people we meet along the way. Then there are two roads: Ride to Ninh Binh for 1 km from Linh Xuan village (or straight from Linh Xuan village) to Tam Coc, where we have lunch at Anh Dung restaurant.
We propose 2 optional routes for the afternoon:


Route 1
Ride to Bich Dong (8 km) to visit the 3 pagodas, of which two are built into the caves. We propose a short boat trip (30 minutes) to discover the 700-m cave under the mountain.

Route 2
Take a relaxing sampan cruise to visit the three caves of Tam Coc, "The Three Lagoons" in almost 3 hours.
Return to Hanoi on the new Highway 1; we estimate that you will be back in Hanoi at about 6 pm.