Nature And Outdoors in Hanoi

Nature around Hanoi is limestone and water, and almost none of it lies inside the city. The nearest piece is the Red River delta: paddies and fruit farms across the river bridge, Co Loa with its spiral ramparts, and a farmed sandbank called Banana Island, 3 to 4 km from the centre. Two hours south the stone stands up out of the fields. Tam Coc means three caves, Hai, Ca and Ba, rowed through on the Ngo Dong river. Trang An is a longer boat route through cave tunnels, and Mua Cave ends in a viewpoint at the top of 500 stone steps. The nickname Ha Long Bay on land fits: it is the same kind of rock, minus the sea.

The easy formats are a four-and-a-half-hour jeep loop in the delta and the Ninh Binh day, which leaves around 7:00, goes by limousine minibus with a group of up to nine or by private car, and is back by early evening. Deeper nature takes a night. Pu Luong Nature Reserve is about 200 km and four hours west, with terraced paddies, bamboo water wheels and Kho Muong, the biggest natural cave in the reserve, and a bamboo raft runs on the Cham stream if the water allows. Cat Ba can be done in two days, with a night in a jungle bungalow at Viet Hai village and a night kayak among glowing plankton. Ba Be Lake and the Ban Gioc waterfall need three or four days.

Practical. Waterfalls such as Ban Gioc are strongest between May and September, when the trails are muddy: pack a rain jacket and grippy shoes. Pu Luong's terraces ripen gold from about September. From December to February the delta is 10 to 20C and grey, and mountain nights are colder. Overnight reserve trips can usually be cancelled without charge until 72 hours before, and day trips until the day before. Wear closed shoes for the Mua Cave steps.