Review of a trip to Thung Ui in Ninh Binh
February 2026
Thung Ui is part of the historical Hoa Lu Ancient
Capital - where Dinh Tien Hoang quelled the rebellion of
the 12 warlords and established Dai Co Viet nation in
968.
And it is also where the altar to Heaven was erected. A
place of spiritual significance and outstanding people!
This limestone valley contributed to creating a natural
fortress for the first capital of the centralized feudal
state of Vietnam.
However, the investor failed to reflect this... The
investor invested heavily in creating very grand and
impressive spaces... but it feels like they tried to put
it into operation sooner than planned, resulting in too
many half-hearted things and a messy appearance...
Some problems:
1. Too crowded: Long queues.
We were among the first guests staying at the resort,
and we were the only ones there: in the middle of the
valley... I was terrified...: The listed price before
discount was over 3 million VND/night
+ Clean room (no TV)
+ Plenty of water, beautiful and modern bathroom.
+ Enthusiastic staff
But:
- There were no evening services, nothing to do except
go down and look at the receptionist. The receptionist
was also scared of ghosts so she couldn't talk
naturally...
If you want to stay, you should only rent a house in the
outer area where there are places to eat and play at
night, and go in during the day according to the service
package.
2. The food was terrible!
- The main dining area at the end of the entire resort
was incredibly disappointing: you could only eat set
meals - you couldn't order individual dishes: it was
like cheap, packaged meals: "The food we have is like
that in the middle of an island, eat or go hungry? Don't
ask too many questions!"
Combo 2: 600.000 VND for 2 people
The cooking is similar to the cheap student meals at the
University canteen.
- That's the restaurant in the area, but the
entertainment area, spanning several hectares, offers
only 4 or 5 mediocre dishes: grilled sausages, grilled
rice paper, steamed buns, boiled eggs... The food is
poor and boring, even worse than a corner of the night
market at a village festivity - not befitting a
high-class entertainment area like this...
3. The service areas are unfamiliar and disjointed.
- There's no proper guidance, so people get confused:
getting kicked off the electric cart...
- The shuttle service takes a long time to arrive.
- The reception and security areas are not coordinated,
so there's a lot of confusion when serving guests.
- The boatmen are unskilled (the boatman who rowed my
family went the wrong way, to the left side of the road,
so other boatmen kept crashing into us; when they
complained to him, he cursed back...) >> My family must
have just been unlucky, but the other boats were
probably good. But I was still terrified, so halfway
there I asked to be let off the boat... Terrible.
4. Some services are very half-hearted, such as electric
carts > 50.000 VND/person (only saves about 200m of
walking time) - only use them when you're very tired or
elderly, otherwise you can walk a short distance.
- Don't take motorbike taxis (the motorbike taxi driver
said it was 1km, but it's only 200m from the parking lot
to the destination).
5. The security isn't very strict: locals still surround
visitors at the entrance to encourage them to park their
cars and motorbikes in their private homes (while cars
can be parked in the spacious and cheaper inner lot),
and other services are quite disorganized: for example,
motorbike taxis often exaggerate the distance to make
customers go a few hundred meters and then tell them
it's kilometers to scare them.
In short: these are the initial stages of operation for
such a large area, so they probably weren't
well-prepared... or maybe they intentionally opened
quickly to take advantage of the locals' New Year's
money...
Hopefully, things will change and improve soon.

Rating:
+ Scenery: 10/10
+ Staff and Reception: 9/10 (enthusiastic)
+ Overall System Operation: 4/10 (chaotic, lacking
coordination and planning)
+ Food: 3/10 (terrible)
+ Entertainment Support Services: 3/10 (just people
watching each other)
+ Boating: 1/10.
Ninh Binh tours -
Located about 100km from the capital city of Hanoi, Ninh
Binh is famous as a land of wonders and cultural
heritage, blessed by nature with many beautiful
landscapes and picturesque scenery, along with famous
landmarks such as: the Trang An scenic complex, the
ancient capital of Hoa Lu with its glorious history, the
vast beauty of Mua Cave, the Tam Coc - Bich Dong
complex, the breathtaking Van Long lagoon, etc. Besides
that, Ninh Binh also contains a treasure trove of
traditional cultural and spiritual values and preserves
many historical imprints from the Dinh, Ly, Tien, and Le
dynasties.
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