Cuc Phuong National Park

So we ended up taking a sleeper bus from Hanoi to Ninh Binh. All I have to say is, NEVER again! It was so cramped with no A/C and broke down, making us more than 2 hours late. We were worried that out hotel in Ninh Binh was going to close and that we would not have a place! But it all worked out and the owner of the hotel was at the bus stop waiting for us. He and his family run the hotel and they are the nicest most helpful people.

Yesterday we took motorcycle taxis to Cuc Phoung National Park. It was about 1.5hrs through pineapple fields and farm land. We passed by lots of cows and water buffalo - some were even on the road!

We got to the park and had a tour of their primate rehabilitation center and got to see all kinds of Langurs and Gibbon Monkeys. Even the endangered Delacur Langur, also known as the 'white shorts monkey'. From there we rented bicycles and went 20km into the park to a 7km trail we wanted to hike deep in the jungle. On our way we saw thousands of butterflies, all different colours (yellow, white, blue, black, orange...).We had to bike through big clouds of them - it was so beautul! On the hike we got to see a few caves and a MASSIVE 1000 year old tree.
















Biking through butterflies
















1000 year old tree


Sometimes on our hike it got so dark because the canopy was so thick. It even started to rain at one point but the rain didnt even reach us!
On our bike back we climbed up to a cave that prehistoric human remains had been found in (dating back 7500 years). It was a massive cave, but all of the findings had been removed.


We finally reached the place we were staying at, dirty, exhausted and sweaty. 40km of biking and more than a 7km hike in the swealtering heat was a lot for both of us! It was so worth it though. The jungle was really beautiful, despite the giant spiders....

We spent the night in the park and this morning took motorcycles back via a different route. We went through tons of rice fields, some of them flooded from the massive amounts of rain they had the night before. There were people up to their necks in water in the fields trying to harvest the rice in time. It was really interesting and beautiful.

Anyways, today we are heading even more South to Hue. We have a 10hr train ride, which we are not really looking forward to...haha
That's all for now!!!