Days 76-79 Sunday-Wednesday January 24-27 Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam

Okay, we’ve previously reported how non-ideal the overnight trains in China and ferries in Thailand are, but the public bus and motor taxi from Hanoi to Cuc Phuong National Park make those look like first class flights on BA.  I mean we were exhausted when we got to the park, and all we had done that day was sit on our asses, albeit crammed inside a 12 person bus with 24 other people, and on scooters lugging our luggage on our laps.  At least we weren’t alone on these rides.  We shared the bus ride with all of the locals who sat next to us on bags of rope and on top of refrigerators.  We also picked up a few folks on the highway, and not when we stopped to get them…when we slowed down so they could run and jump onto the bus as it rolled by Indiana Jones-style.  These Vietnamese people are clever and creative if nothing else.

Before we got to the park, we drove through vast fields of limestone hills that harked back to our days in Yangshuo, China.  At that time, I stated that Yangshuo was like nothing else on the planet.  I was wrong.  And at the time, my friend Dave (What up Dood!?) told us not to count out Vietnam.  Well, he was right.  The limestone hills are just as beautiful here, and also stretched into the horizon by infinite paddie fields spotted with locals bending over at work, which was stunning to see.  We were just now getting to know how gorgeous this country was going to be.  And it got even more so when we entered the park.

We spent the first night in the lodge at the entrance of the gate.  There’s really not much to do at Cuc Phuong except hike, visit the botanical garden, and check out the monkey conservation center.  It was raining, so hiking was out of the question, and the botanical garden was too much of a walk to justify seeing something so similar to what we already have on the trip; plants and flowers.  Therefore, what better else to do than hang out with a few endangered langers?  They were such fun little creatures swinging with their body-length arms, but it’s sad to know how many people are hunting them just outside of the cages where we observed them.  It’s good to know that a group like these scientists are working to preserve species like the ones we had so much fun visiting.

The next day we drove 20km into the center of the park where, literally, we were alone in the middle of the forest, completely out of ear shot from anyone else.  Well, except for the three girls who work the restaurant and do each other’s hair all day.  And calling it a restaurant is being generous.  The electricity is only on between 6-9pm, and there’s only one item on the menu; whatever they feel like serving you, which is always some sort of fried rice.  At least they had cold beer in the fridge.  No idea how it stayed cold while the electricity was out most of the day, but who cares if the result is a positive one.

 

Trail to our little cabin, in the middle of absolute nowhere!

 

 Our cabin from afar.  Look at the misty hills!

We spent out days hiking to the 1000 year old tree and exploring a cave that seemed to go on forever.  The deeper we got, the more we felt like hard core explorers.  Tania loves caves more than anything, so it was fun to climb and crawl through the pitch black, guided by a small flashlight, next to my new wife.

 

Tania made it up 100 steps without fainting.  Victory!  Oh wait, there's another hour to hike.  :(

 
 

Gangster, Vietnamese forest-style!

 
 

At the base of the 1000 year old tree.

Hiding behind a mound of stalagmites inside the cave

We spent our nights watching episodes of How I Met Your Mother until the computer battery died (since there’s no electricity after 9), and then listened to the movements outside our cabin, which we were convinced were huge bears and other exotic beasts.  We surely knew they weren’t other people because there were none within miles, so the noises drove our imaginations crazy.  I can only imagine the expressions on our faces lying there in the dark.  Wide eyes jumping back and forth every time a bush rustled just outside the thin wood wall behind the headboard.  Hahaha.  Reminds me of trying to sleep as a kid after watching Nightmare On Elm Street.

Night monsters aside, the lush forest at Cuc Phuong made for an amazing escape, which allowed us to experience some of the natural beauty that Vietnam has to offer.  But we could only take so much seclusion after three days, so it was time to catch an overnight train all the Hue to Hue.  (wocka wocka wocka)