Broadly speaking, Cuc Phu’o’ng National Park can be divided into 3 sections – the area by HQ at the main gate, the area by Mac Lake and the area by Bong substation.

There is an Endangered Primate Rescue Centre at the park which is a 15 minute walk away. Several foreigners work there. Visits to the rescue centre can be arranged from the park’s HQ. The park seemed very well visited by the Vietnamese, especially the students.

WEATHER : Fine.

GETTING THERE : From Hanoi’s Southern Bus Station take a minibus that heads to Ninh Binh (50,000 VND). As usual, there is likely to be more than a bus that is waiting to fill up with passengers so choose one that has more passengers inside. Along the way, the driver will let you alight at a T junction where you will then need to negotiate with scooter taxi drivers for a ride (80,000 VND) to Cuc Phu’o’ng National Park’s HQ. The scooter ride was about 50km and we passed several villages which were very dusty. Like most locals, you might want to don a mask. Have one ready. Also, be prepared for a bumpy ride. The scenery along the way was quite amazing. Occasionally there are steep bare rock hills that punch abruptly to the sky through the wide expanse of rice fields. I have never seen such unusual geographical formations before. If you choose to drive there, please note that there did not seem to be any obvious English signboards that direct traffic to that national park.

ACCOMMODATION : At the gate of the national park where the HQ is located, there are two types of accommodation. I spent my first night in a budget room (US$6/night) but it was extremely dusty, hot and poorly ventilated. For health reasons, it is wiser to pay a little more for the significantly better and cleaner air-conditioned room.

At Bong substation, the chalet went for US$15 /night and its standard was between the two extremes at the HQ. Electricity was only available at night. As in most of the nature parks that I have stayed in in Vietnam, power failures were not uncommon there. It is really useful to have a torchlight with you there at night.

The accommodation at Mac Lake is seldom mentioned in trip reports. There are several nice dormitories there and the rooms face a scenic lake.

All meals in the park need have to be pre-ordered.

 
BIRDING HIGHLIGHTS :

 1.      Around the Park’s HQ

(ie to Mac Lake, to Endangered Primate Rescue Center & the road opposite Botanical Gardens)

There is good birding on both sides of the tarmac road.  Birds seen there include Red-Whiskered Bulbul, Crimson Sunbird, Oriental Magpie Robin, White-Rumped Sharma, Rufescent Prinia, Olive-Backed Sunbird, Brown-Cheeked Fulvetta, Hill Mynah, Black-Crested Bulbul (many), Black-Naped Monarch, Puff-Throated Babbler, Bronzed Drongo, Oriental Honey Buzzard (dark morph), Grey-Eyed Bulbul, Black Bulbul (Adult Concolor), Blue-Winged Leafbird, Common Iora, Plain Flowerpecker, Ashy Drongo (Adult Mouhoti), Grey-Capped Pygmy Woodpecker (Adult Kaleensis), Greater Racquet-Tailed Drongo, Red-Headed Trogon, Black Drongo, Scarlet-Backed Flowerpecker, Bar-Winged Flycatcher Shrike, Scarlet Minivet, Brown-Backed Needletail, Striped Tit-Babbler, Lanceolated Warbler, Sooty-Headed Bulbul (Adult Thais), Common Tailorbird, Green-Billed Malkoha, Yellow-Rumped Flycatcher, Spotted Dove, Racquet-Tailed Treepie, Arctic Warbler, Greater Coucal, Crested Serpent Eagle, White-Winged Magpie, Asian Palm Swift.

I seemed to get more species at the HQ area than up at Bong Substation. Perhaps that was because I got severe diarrhoea at Bong Substation from eating their canteen's food.

2. Botanical Gardens

Ask the HQ park rangers to unlock the main gates to the Botanical Gardens for you. At a slow birding pace and if you keep to the path, it takes about 2 hours to reach the second inner set of locked gates. Birders may not go further as that is a protected area for deers. Do not be alarmed when the ranger locks the main gates behind you. If you want to bird watch all the way to the end of the path and back, arrange with the ranger to let you out about 4 hours later. 

Birds seen there include White-Bellied Yuhina (Adult Zantholeuca), White-Browed Piculet, Green-Eared Barbet, Lesser Coucal, Crow-Billed Drongo, Yellow-Bellied Prinia, Slender-Billed Oriole, Chestnut-Capped Babbler, Thick-Billed Green Pigeon, Red Junglefowl, Ruby-Cheeked Sunbird, Black Eagle, Brown Shrike, Sultan’s Tit (Adult Sultanea), Ashy Drongo, Asian Koel, Rufous Woodpecker (Adult Annamensis).

3. Bong Substation

There are several small paths through the forest there. As I was down with diarrhoea there, I was not up to finding any Pittas. As such, many of the birds that were seen there have already been seen at park HQ area. Birds seen include Red-Whiskered Bulbul, White-Rumped Sharma, Asian Paradise Flycatcher, Scaly-Crowned Babbler, Hill Mynah, Arctic Warbler, Common Tailorbird, Olive-Backed Sunbird, Puff-Throated Bulbul, Black-Crested Bulbul, Black Drongo, Blue & White Flycatcher, Green-Billed Malkoha, Asian Fairy Bluebird, White-Tailed Flycatcher.

LEECHES : None encountered.

MAP/SKETCH : See picture below

SCOPE: It is useful around the HQ area, the Botanical Garden and around the chalets at Bong Substation.

LESSONS LEARNT :

Transport to Bong Substation costs 350,000 VND but if you talk to the rangers, some of them can give you a scooter ride there for much less.

The HQ staff informed me that there is bus service that leaves for Hanoi every morning at a fixed time for 70,000 VND. If you take that bus, it will save you the hassle of changing various modes of transport. At the gate of the park, while waiting for that bus, I accidentally flagged down a chartered tour bus that was bringing a group of trainee teachers back to Hanoi. After a little bargaining, the driver agreed to give me a lift for the same rate. Sometimes, it doesn’t hurt to ask.

Trainee teachers having an impromptu group cheering competition on the bus back to Hanoi.