Wed., Jan 10 - Off we go Birding````

 

Up at 5:30; now the real trip begins, although we only have to meet for breakfast at 6:45 AM today which I’m sure will be earlier when we’re on the road.  I made expressos and we ate the delicious macaroons that the sweet young man left us last night when he came in to turn down our beds – unlikely to see That again!

More tall narrow homes in Hanoi plus a small piece of the mosaic wall commemorating Hanoi’s 1000 year birthday

It was pouring rain this morning, so David, Bob, Hil, and I all met up inside for breakfast.  I ordered Egg Coffee, as it is a local specialty, and I might not see it again; it was fantastic!   It arrived as a covered coffee cup sitting over a warming candle in another cup.  You let that heat up a bit and then remove the lid to find a foamy mass inside:  coffee- flavored zabaglione!   (It really was remarkably good! HH) Even though it really was a complete breakfast, I didn’t want to miss out on the other varied treats at the buffett and went over to the egg station for scrambled egg, roast tomatoes and mushrooms, pastry and a bit of pineapple.  

Egg coffee in its unique cup & cooker

We said goodbye to the lovely Metropole and loaded up into our van at 8 AM with Tien who will be our bird guide for the rest of the trip along with Bom, our skillful driver.   The van is large enough to spread out a bit and very comfortable.  ‘We set off heading south from Hanoi on a crowded freeway for 45 minutes until we finally left the city for agricultural areas.  The towns still have multi-story “shot-gun” houses that we had seen in Hanoi.  The property tax is based on street frontage resulting in long very narrow houses that are quite picturesque.  

 

At 9:15  we stopped at a rest stop for a bathroom break and discovered the shop next door with hundreds of snacks items, many unrecognizable and all unique.  We bought some dried mango and candies.

Convenience store full of sweet, salty, fruity snacks

Katy with her Kaity Coffee Crackers tin

At eleven we entered a marshy area with tall Karsts, weathered limestone spikes and spires, and very steep sheer hills.   They look exactly like ancient Chinese paintings with misty rocky hills.  We drove along dirt levees, stopped and walked a ways in the rain, balancing cameras, binoculars and umbrellas!  Across the water we finally made out large primates hanging out in bamboo and clambering up the limestone walls and through trees: this was the very rare Delacour’s Langur, one of the rarest primates in the world!   We saw about ten of the of the beautiful beasts, with their dark grey fur, pointy topknot, and amusing white fur shorts!   With the bad light we couldn’t get good photos, but here is a picture from Bob’s SE Asia Mammal Guide.

You can see two of the langurs with their white “shorts” in the yellow circles

Drawing from the Mammal guide

We stopped in a spiffy restaurant that is part of an hotel and were served 5-6 dishes served family style with various sauces, none very spicy even with chilis in them.  Delicious sections of pomelo, a pink citrus similar to grapefruit but sweeter were dessert.

HH and David at lunch

 

We were scheduled to go out on the water in little flat boats, mainly to see the Langurs, but since we had succeeded in doing that, we thankfully didn’t have to in the rain!   It would have been difficult not to end up in the drink just getting in and out of them!!

Amazing misty limestone karsts

We continued on past wonderful scenery but in continued rain.  We stopped at one place where Tien’s wife (they are from this area) had a new supply of mealworms for him.   He and his son have been placing mealworms on a rock to entice a rare babbler to to come near the road!   And there he was!  Bob’s first life bird of the trip:  the Greyish Limestone-babbler!    He was so greedily eating that I could get quite close for a photo!.

We finally arrived at Cuc Phuong National Park, Vietnam’s first NP, established in 1962 by Ho Chi Minh himself!   There is a fancy resort about 20 km away, but we are staying in the rather basic Park Headquarters Hotel.  Rock hard beds, showers that flood the entire bathroom, but it does have internet and hot water, so I guess we’ll survive.

We met at six for dinner: dishes of various meats and veggies, good cabbage, a strange omelet, and breaded cutlets of an unidentified source.  Sweet bananas for dessert.   Tomorrow we are meeting at the van at 6 AM for some birding through the park, and then breakfast somewhere.

I tried the shower…there are rubber sandals provided to keep one from slipping on the dangerously polished floor.  I tried not to spray the entire bathroom in the process, and partially succeeded.