No Halong Bay trip – just looked way too touristy despite what some were saying to the contrary. So off the slightly beaten track it was then to Cuc Phuong National Park about 120km South West of Hanoi. Took nearly 3 hours to get there and once off the main Hanoi-Ho Chi Minh City road, the countryside became more and more impressive. Along the way were some pretty enormous concrete factories which were eating up entire limestone karst formations as their primary raw material sources – thank goodness there are thousands of such formations in Vietnam (including Halong Bay!).
The guidebook had promised a glut of butterflies in April and May and it was true to it’s word. The butterflies were everywhere in the final run up to the entrance of the park. There were long lines of white and pale yellow butterflies weaving their way about in a courting ritual. I lost count of the number that must have ended up in the front grille of the car!
First stop at the park was the primate rescue centre which was a worthwhile venture to preserve the at risk primate population of Vietnam. Read more about it and the National Park on their websites.
The park was pristine and very well managed. Also, it was thankfully pretty empty of tourists. The park is mostly visited by Vietnamese visitors on holidays and weekends. The hike through the jungle was great if a little frustrating…heard lots of birds calling but did not spot a single one. The fruits of the butterfy courtships were evident everywhere with caterpillars dangling from the trees at the end of long silky threads. The hike was pretty strenuous with hundreds of steps in places most of which seemed to be going up. A can of Red Bull from lunch helped with the steps!
The long ride back to Hanoi was spent dozing in the vain hope it would stop me worrying about the crazy overtaking habits of the local drivers! I was very much taken aback when the driver stopped to get some diesel – taken aback because 48 litres of diesel cost just 48,000 Dong – about 2 pounds!!!! Just how much tax are we paying in the UK and what profits are the oil companies actually making on a litre of fuel??
The guidebook had promised a glut of butterflies in April and May and it was true to it’s word. The butterflies were everywhere in the final run up to the entrance of the park. There were long lines of white and pale yellow butterflies weaving their way about in a courting ritual. I lost count of the number that must have ended up in the front grille of the car!
First stop at the park was the primate rescue centre which was a worthwhile venture to preserve the at risk primate population of Vietnam. Read more about it and the National Park on their websites.
The park was pristine and very well managed. Also, it was thankfully pretty empty of tourists. The park is mostly visited by Vietnamese visitors on holidays and weekends. The hike through the jungle was great if a little frustrating…heard lots of birds calling but did not spot a single one. The fruits of the butterfy courtships were evident everywhere with caterpillars dangling from the trees at the end of long silky threads. The hike was pretty strenuous with hundreds of steps in places most of which seemed to be going up. A can of Red Bull from lunch helped with the steps!
The long ride back to Hanoi was spent dozing in the vain hope it would stop me worrying about the crazy overtaking habits of the local drivers! I was very much taken aback when the driver stopped to get some diesel – taken aback because 48 litres of diesel cost just 48,000 Dong – about 2 pounds!!!! Just how much tax are we paying in the UK and what profits are the oil companies actually making on a litre of fuel??
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