Karst Country Camp
Flat lanes between limestone towers, in the only real autumn in Vietnam.
House of Triathlon camp · Hội An 2026
About This Camp
The north has a genuine autumn, and by mid-October the humidity that defines the rest of the calendar has gone. Ninh Binh is limestone towers standing straight out of the rice fields, with flat lanes threading between them that carry almost no traffic (ideal for long, steady work) and climbs towards Cuc Phuong when a session needs them. Ha Long Bay is along the coast from here. A different country from the July camp, in every sense that matters to a training week.
Camp Focus
Aerobic volume on flat, car-free lanes in dry northern-autumn air. The closing week of the season, and the one that feels least like a tropical camp: 25°C, low humidity, and roads that let you hold a number for hours.
The week
A typical week, session by session
Day type: pool or sheltered-water swim · long flat ride between the karst, or the Cuc Phuong climbs mid-week · afternoon run through the rice fields · evening debrief.
Fri · 15 Oct
- AfternoonArrival
- EveningEvening debrief
Sat · 16 Oct
- SunrisePool swim
- MorningEndurance ride
- AfternoonEasy run
- EveningEvening debrief
Sun · 17 Oct
- SunrisePool swim
- MorningLong ride
- AfternoonRecovery
Mon · 18 Oct
- SunrisePool swim
- MorningBike intervals
- AfternoonEasy run
- EveningEvening debrief
Tue · 19 Oct
- SunrisePool swim
- MorningRecovery
- AfternoonFree
Wed · 20 Oct
- SunrisePool swim
- MorningClimbing block
- AfternoonRecovery
- EveningEvening debrief
Thu · 21 Oct
- SunrisePool swim
- MorningBrick
- AfternoonRecovery
- EveningEvening debrief
Fri · 22 Oct
- SunriseEasy run
- AfternoonDeparture
What these sessions are
- Arrival
- Land, build the bike, meet the group. Nothing is trained on the first day.
- Evening debrief
- The group sits down with the coaches: the day's data, pacing, fuelling, and what changes tomorrow.
- Pool swim
- Technique and a structured set, in a pool, where the set can actually be held.
- Endurance ride
- Steady aerobic riding, at a pace you could hold all day. Most of a camp week is this.
- Easy run
- Running kept genuinely easy, off the bike or on its own.
- Long ride
- The long day on the bike. Route recced before you arrive, support vehicle following.
- Recovery
- Mobility, an easy swim, or nothing. The session that makes the next hard one possible.
- Bike intervals
- Structured efforts above endurance pace, with the recoveries written in.
- Free
- Nothing scheduled. The afternoon is yours.
- Climbing block
- Sustained uphill work, on the best climbing road the base has.
- Brick
- Bike then run, back to back. The part of a race you cannot rehearse one discipline at a time.
- Departure
- Bikes packed, transfers out. The camp closes on the Friday it opened on.
Indicative structure, not a contract. Sessions move for the weather, the sea and the group that turns up. There are deliberately no durations, distances or intensities here: those get written for the athletes actually on the camp, once the coaches have seen them train.
The destination
About Ninh Binh / Ha Long
Best season
October-December (northern dry season)
Terrain
Karst / Flat + rolling
Limestone towers rising straight out of the rice fields, flat lanes between them, and Ha Long Bay along the coast. The one northern destination on the calendar, and the only one where October means dry air and 25°C instead of tropical heat.
Why train here
The north has a real autumn: by mid-October the humidity has dropped and the mornings are cool, which is exactly when a southern camp stops being comfortable. The lanes through the Trang An karst are flat, quiet and almost car-free, and the climbs towards Cuc Phuong are there when a session needs them. Hanoi (HAN) is the arrival airport.
Getting there
Airport, transfer, arrival
Fly into
Hanoi / Noi Bai (HAN)
Takes international flights.
Airport to base
2h
by road
Arrival
Friday evening. First session Saturday morning.
Your bike
Bring your own; rental available as an extra.
Fly into Hanoi (HAN), roughly 2 hours by road to Ninh Binh. Arrival Friday evening, first session Saturday morning. Bring your own bike; rental available.
Accommodation
Stay in the Trang An valley. Shared room with two or three single beds, full board. Single room available on request ($375).
Included at every camp
The Recovery Corner
Cold-water immersion, compression boots, massage guns and a stretching area, set up on site and open to every athlete on the camp. Not an upsell, and not a spa slot booked by the hour.
- Ice bath
- Compression boots
- Massage guns
- Stretching area
What's included
- Accommodation (7 nights, Friday to Friday)
- Full board (breakfast, lunch and dinner daily)
- Shared room, two or three single beds
- Two coaches on site, 8 to 12 athletes
- Coaching: swim / bike / run, every session
- Support vehicle on every ride
- Pool / open-water / site access
- Race nutrition on key sessions
- House of Triathlon welcome pack
- Training data follow-up
- Vegetarian option on request
Not included
- Flights (you book your own)
- Bike (bring your own, rental available as an extra)
- Single-room supplement ($375)
- Travel insurance
Price
From $1,295
per athlete · 7 nights · full board · shared room
- Early birdCurrent rate$1,295
- Standard$1,495
- Late bird$1,695
The early-bird rate is what you are quoted by joining the waitlist today, and it is held for you when registration opens. Standard applies once that window closes; late bird in the final weeks before the camp.
- Single room: +$375
- Non-athlete companion: $795
- Road bike rental available. Contact us for details.
- Flights are not included.
Join the waitlist
Nothing is booked and nothing is charged today. The list is what gets you in first, at the price the camp opens at.
- Priority access: we contact you before registration opens to everyone else.
- Opening rate guaranteed: you keep the early-bird price, whatever tier is running when you book.
- 15 – 22 October 2027
- 1 week · 7 nights · Friday to Friday
- All Levels · 8-12 athletes
- Ninh Binh / Ha Long