Feb 3 – The Loooong Saturday

 

We got up and met Hil at 6:30 AM for breakfast at the hotel buffet, and I had my last fried noodles.  At 7:30 we said goodbye to David and packed into the car he had arranged for our transport to Ho Chi Minh City Airport.  Our flight isn’t until 12:45 PM, but the traffic to the airport and the airport itself are supposed to be a horror and we were warned to be very early.  Well, the drive was very pleasant and quick.

  Bob got a chance to see old Saigon as we drove through parks full of flowers and trees, wide boulevards, and charming older neighborhoods.

Katy's final breakfast noodles

Lovely hotel lobby

More dragons for Tet

We arrived in 30 minutes, way before EVA Air desks opened, but this airport, unlike LAX, has cafes and sitting areas outside check-in, so we sat and waited a while before getting our boarding passes. Once the counters  opened, we were quickly checked in and proceeded to passport control and security with a long, weaving line.   Fortunately, Hilary noticed Bob’s name on an electronic sign for random check of luggage, so we trudged back to the EVA desk, Bob was asked if he had packed any batteries, he opened his suitcase, found them, was told they were OK, and back to the passport control.  Through this time, and onto, and through, security.

 Now we had many hours to wait, plus a one-hour flight delay.   Shopped, snacked, and finally on our EVA flight to Taipei.  We had two window seats, but it clouded in pretty quickly; we got a nice multi-course lunch, and landed.

 Hil bought us coffees, we found our gate and boarded at 6:45 PM.   We had very comfortable Premium Economy seats: slippers, face cream, headphones, etc.  We had cocktails, another large meal and drifted off to intermittent sleep.  All the window shades were pulled tightly closed as the night was very short, flying east, but the flight long, so the staff didn’t want us to see the brilliant sunshine and get rambunctious!  (I had a multi course meal in Royal Laurel class with all sorts of interesting things to eat ending with a bowl with two small scoops of ice cream that were rock hard.  Eventually, they softened enough to eat but by then I was ready to snooze. HH)

A final Hello Kitty from EVA Airlines!

 We were served a nice lunch (I had the savory pork porridge for a last bit of Asian food), and we landed at LAX.  Hil has Global Entry and so went through passport control quickly.  (There was no line at Global Entry.  I stood in front of one of the machines that takes your photo for a few seconds and then waited to be called.  The agent was talking with someone else but said Hilary? and waved me through! HH)  When we emerged, she had organized all our luggage on a cart!  We exited Tom Bradley Terminal into the damp cold.  Hil went off to find her hotel jitney as she is staying the night in LA before flying back to Tucson on Sunday.  We were picked up by the Santa Barbara Airbus and slept most of the way to SB and a taxi home, just as the rain started.

 

We found over 4” in our rain gauge, and more to come.

 

Sunday:  We didn’t wake up until 10 AM!  Rain and wind beating on the east side of the house, water flowing into my bathroom and in Mitsy’s room. I threw down towels and newspapers all over!   We drove down to the Cat House Hotel, and there was Mitsy howling, and now she's ensconced on Bob’s lap, both very happy! 

Bob’s promised turkey dinner!

HH - I stayed at one of the Marriotts by LAX and had a salad for dinner and slept on the softest mattress that I've seen for a while.  I got up about 6:30 AM on Sunday and headed for the airport before 8.  Even on a Sunday the hotel shuttles tend to be pretty full.  I only had to get to the first terminal for Southwest so that was easy but traffic was so heavy that it still took awhile.  It was not raining in LA yet so we were able to take off before the storm hit though the skies were threatening and I could see that it was already raining in Santa Barbara. I was greeted by stacks of blocks which means my wall is finally getting repaired!  Excellent news. For those of you who don't know, in mid-December, my elderly neighbor hopped in her car (I've not seen her drive in 2 1/2 years) and ended up using my driveway instead of the street and ran right into my front wall.  She was apparently having some sort of drug interaction.  Anyway, it caused quite a mess so I'm happy to be getting that put back together finally!

A long, fascinating trip!   Not as bird-y as Bob would want, but Vietnam is a great place to visit, amazingly friendly people, lots of interesting and beautiful things to see!   And being able to see 3 different, rare types of langurs was incredible!

Hasta el proximo viaje!

Friday, Feb. 2 - Cat Tien NP to Ho Chi Minh City

 We met up for breakfast just before 7AM having packed up and being almost ready to go. Breakfast had hot eggs (finally) and rolls and watermelon juice.  The odd thing about the lodge is that the owners took off yesterday to celebrate Tet/Lunar New Year in Di Linh where they are building a retirement place.  They had implied that they would be at the Lodge and Mai’s sister had come to help as staff like to take the week off to celebrate.  But as we returned from the birding in the morning yesterday, Roy told us he needed to say good-bye as they were just leaving.  

The difficult part was that the remaining staff speak NO English and of course we speak NO Vietnamese!  Oh my.  We did manage to get dinner last night and our laundry with acting out what that was.  But we did not get any house keeping service yesterday.  Anyway, we did get a hot breakfast this morning. And chatted with Phil - an Englishman who has been there before and was called in to take care of a few things but he speaks no Vietnamese either.  So a bit weird but we managed.  Once Tien showed up then he made sure the bill was settled and coordinated transport of the bags and then us to where the ferry picked us up.

One of the Lodge cats who seemed to sleep 90% of the time but was very friendly

Sunrise in the humid sky over the river

Katy and the Lodge helper barely having a spot to sit

And there was the smaller ferry with Bom!  It was good to see him and he helped with getting us and the bags on the small boat.  We barely fit but were across the river in a few minutes and all back in Bom’s nice van.

Katy and Bob with the river and ferry behind

Houseboats in the middle of the river farther down towards Ho Chi Minh City

Bom drove us to Ho Chi Minh City which took about 4 hours. We stopped at a gas station to avail ourselves of a bathroom and were surprised to find music, Tet decorations and flashing signs!

Entry to the Ladies Room at the gas station

Flashing lights and music entertained us in the bathrooms

Dragon topiary!  This is the Year of the Dragon

It isn’t that far and there is nice highway part of the way but the rest of the way is slower road and then once in the city, the traffic was very heavy.  Ho Chi Minh City has many more cars than other cities we’ve been in though there are plenty of motorbikes too. We arrived at the Majestic Hotel which has been around since 1925 and is just across the street from the river.  We had to say good-bye to Tien and Bom.  They have both been terrific.  Tien is the co-founder of Viet Bird Tours which has a very nice website.  He has been an excellent bird guide.  Bom has been a wonderful driver in a country where the driving manner is so contrary to how we are used to driving and he is a very nice, sweet person. 

We had lunch on the 5th floor bar/restaurant and then Katy and I decided we should at least take a hop on/hop off bus tour to see a bit of the city since we leave in the morning.

My spacious room at the Majestic

Courtyard of the hotel with pool

Very cool bridge just down from the hotel - this is crossing the Saigon River

The front desk was very helpful and provided a map and told us where to pick up the bus and how much it should cost. As we walked down the street, crossed 3 side streets (without too much trouble!) we saw fantastic Tet decorations being put up - a multi-block long dragon or multiple dragons are being built.  There was a fence around the area so we could only get photos of the tops but it should be great.  After a few blocks, we saw a red bus waiting at the sidewalk.  We got tickets and after waiting about 20 minutes got on the bus.  We rode for 2 stops and then got off and on the bus that starts at the beginning of the route.  We went upstairs and watched all that we went by.  

Part of a dragon being created for Tet - Multiple dragons of different construction were being built in 3-4 blocks of garden space

The War Remnants museum - would be interesting to be able to visit

One of the Gaudi-esque buildings we saw

Traffic!  

Mounds of flowers being sold for Lunar New Year/Tet

One of the tallest buildings in Ho Chi Minh City with helipad on the side

Front door of our hotel

View from my balcony in the evening

We went by the old City Hall, the Post Office but then down streets of consulates, the zoo, the War Remnants Museum, past the City Health Department where some outdoor ceremony was taking place with singing and past a huge round about that had a tall sculpture and water and is a site for photos.  A large number of women dressed in colorful Ao Dai were posing in groups or individually.   Traffic was very heavy at times but we proceeded down the route eventually arriving along the Saigon River.  We got off across from our hotel.  We are meeting up for dinner at 7 PM for a final meal before we all depart on Saturday morning.

Thu, Feb 1 – Birding Day 2 at Cat Tien NP

 

Bob and I joined Hilary and David at 5:30 AM for breakfast of warm rolls with cheese and jam.  We set off with Tien and his son in an open-air truck and drove further into the park.  We had hoped to see some pheasants in the early morning.  The forest is primary deciduous and particularly dry at the moment.  We passed bamboo thickets and very straight, enormous trees, some encased in strangler fig vines.

  

Hil in front of a strangler fig

We stopped to admire a rust-colored (probably poisonous) snake that Tien managed to corral in our direction so we could photograph it.   The open-air truck is great for experiencing the forest, but we had to be careful to avoid the long spiny tendrils of vines hanging over the road which could severely wound someone in a truck like ours.

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The innocent looking barbs on this vine will catch your skin and apparently tear into it!  Duck !!

 

We returned at 11 AM to avoid the heat of the day, and also because the bird action also slows down then.  We had lunch of hard-boiled eggs with pomelo sections and rested until 4 PM when we went out again in a truck.   We saw several groups of Black-Shanked Douc Langur monkeys which have made a substantial recovery and are well-protected in this park.   Supposedly there are some elephants hidden away in the park, but we didn’t see any.

 

We returned for dinner and the last list at 6:30:  great spring rolls followed by fried chicken fillets, cabbage and rice.

Tomorrow we pack up and drive to Ho Chi Minh City where we hope to have a quick city tour to at least get a brief idea of the city.

Wednesday, Jan. 31 - Birding Day 1 at Cat Tien NP

 Bob, Katy, and I started the day early with breakfast at 5:30 and took off at 6 in the open air truck with Tien.  David didn’t join us today.  We had about a 25 minute ride to the entrance to the hide that Tien’s son has been watching for us for the past week.  The air was really pleasant as we drove through the Eastern side of the park with the not full any ore moon bright overhead.  We got to the locked door (that was new) of the hide entrance and walked a short ways to the hide.  This was a very nice hide that you can stand up in. Tien placed the great folding chairs out for us and then proceeded to do his hide feng shui magic to attract the birds.  

Tien setting up the hide viewing area

It really is amazing as they start coming in before he even leaves and gets back into the hide.  We had a few really good birds starting with a male Blue-barred Pitta.  We had seen the female at the beginning of this trip but not the male.  He is stunning and is the bird photo on the front of the new Birds of Vietnam guide book. We saw Red Junglefowl - male and female.  

Red Junglefowl and a Northern Treeshrew

Bar-bellied Pitta

We saw a number of birds that we’ve seen before but seeing them in a hide often lets you study them in more detail and closer up.  Two Green-legged Partridges strolled in and then two Lesser MouseDeer walked quickly through the back of the open area. 

White-rumped Shama

Lizard

At one point, Tien said he heard leaf movement outside and that would be more langurs.  We followed him out and across the dirt road was sudden movement in the high up branches.  A large Black-shanked Douc Langur dropped 30 feet!  Then another one followed.  We had seen 2 other kinds of Langur so far so it was great to get to see this third type.  We found a large male sitting on a branch as he displayed himself in various ways.  As he moved down a branch, a female followed with a baby attached to her front.  Very cool.

We also saw 2 types of treeshrews, the Northern Treeshrew and the Northern Smooth-tailed Treeshrew, plus a lizard that we are trying to identify.  He didn’t have great manners as there was part of a meal worm hanging out of the side of his mouth for quite awhile!

At just after 10, we walked down the road for a bit to see what else might be around. It was starting to warm up and quiet down but Tien found a Grey-faced Tit Babbler which we all saw it and was another Life bird for Bob.  He is up to 61 for the trip so far.

The truck picked us up at 10:30 and we headed back for lunch and a rest during the hot part of the day.  It is apparently much hotter and drier than it should be here while up north, Hanoi has been having rain and cool.  We are very glad that the trip was planned from north to south.

Lunch consisted of small fish patties and a dipping sauce and a vegetarian ramen noodle dish - both very good.  This was followed by perfectly ripe papaya.  I had seen a very large papaya on the counter and this was part of it.

It was hot and sticky in the early afternoon and I read my book for awhile on the sofas by the dining room under a ceiling fan.  The AC only comes on for a few hours at night in your bedroom.  Power is interesting here and is provided in multiple manners - solar and generator are the main sources but the power did go off twice today and I heard the generator being started up again and fans coming back on.  We didn’t have wifi for most of the afternoon so I’m a bit behind writing up the day.

We met on the outside 2nd floor deck at 4 to see if it had cooled off enough to find and see a few birds.  We did see huge flocks of Ashy-headed, and Thick-billed Green Pigeons  roosting in a huge tree covered with some kind of fruit that they obviously liked.  The tree was so full of birds that it made it seem as if there was a breeze moving the leaves and there was no breeze (unfortunately).  We also saw an Oriental Pied Hornbill.  A visiting Danish photographer/birder came out and took photos and looked through our scope.  We sat out until about 5:30, returning at 6:30 for

View from the deck

Once again, the food was great.  We started with a delicious carrot soup and then a small clay pot of pork with rice and cabbage and carrots.  Dessert was sections of banana fried with dribbles of chocolate sauce - excellent.

Tue, Jan 30 – to Nam Cat Tien National Park

I got confused and jumped out of bed at 5 AM, got dressed, only to be reminded by Bob that the alarm wasn’t set to go off until 5:30.  Joined David and Hil for a wonderful breakfast of plate-sized crepes drizzled with the Villa’s honey and a dash of lime.   We ordered more – more than we could eat - and checked out full and happy!  

Delicate and delicious crepe pancake

All rolled up and ready to devour

 

We are leaving the Dalat Plateau (~3000’) for the lowlands (~1500’).   We drove on the main highway south and west through long strips of retail and small towns, stopping at a large grocery store where Bob picked up a life bird, White-winged Starling.

  

The residences in both north and south Vietnam, are usually very narrow and long, often with a store in front who's advertising often contains English words: message, beauty, wedding, makeup, pharmacy, bakery.   These are stores for locals, not tourists, so it’s a mystery as few people, at least the adults, speak English.   No sign of French language anywhere, maybe some French influence in the architecture, and, of course, in the bread!

 

Signage in English & Vietnamese

We entered a little town where we stopped to say hello to Bom’s mother – Bom is going to stay with her for a few days while we visit Cat Tien NP.  No non-park vehicles are allowed in the park, so Bom dropped us off at a river crossing where we unloaded all our luggage off the van and helpers carted it aboard a small ferry.  

Heading to the larger of the 2 ferry boats - for a very quick trip across the river

Within a few minutes we were across, and were met by a park jitney that drove us a short distance to Forest Floor Lodge, a real tropical jungle lodge with all the sounds of the tropics!  (Right now the tree frogs are roaring!).  We settled into our basic, spacious field station-like room.   The humid heat will take a bit of getting used to after a week in the highlands.

 

Dining area

Our room

We met up at the second-floor dining area overlooking the river for a delicious lunch of great spring rolls and crispy onion crepes.  

 

At three we set off in a larger open-air truck with five metal bench seats, so we all had plenty of room -although not much knee room as we’re all pretty large (well, tall) people.   Tien’s son joined us as he’s in training to be a bird guide like his father and this is a good opportunity to learn how to work with clients.    

 It was really too early to go out as there was no bird action for about an hour, but then things picked up and we got great views of Green Peafowl (green peacocks) and other species.  And we saw a Red Muntjac, a small reddish chunky deer.  

We returned at 6 PM.   I wanted a shower before dinner and stood for a while running the water hoping it would get hot.   It finally did and as I was soaping up, a large black scorpion came zooming out of the drain!   I should have photographed it in the interest of science and the daily list, but didn’t, and with Bob’s help, put a plastic glass over it so I could continue my shower, hoping Mrs. Scorpion and all the baby scorpions weren’t going to follow!

We left for dinner and informed Roy, the English entomologist owner, about my bathroom trophy and that we couldn’t get the AC, which runs a few hours a night while the generator is on, to work.   While we had a dinner of chicken curry, he fixed both problems, and we are now sitting in a cool room getting ready for bed.