This small montane hill resort is quite a popular place for Hanoians to get away from the heat of the lowlands. On weekends, lots of families drive up and the streets can be quite busy. On weekdays, however, it can appear to be a desolated place. Hotels, guesthouses and a few small eateries line both sides of the main street.

Tam Dao has a quiet unique charm about it. There seems to be a strong French influence on some of the buildings there.

When I was there in mid 2006, Internet was not available for tourists yet.

WEATHER : Rainy and misty at times. It can be very cold at night.

GETTING THERE : From Hanoi, take a scooter taxi (20,000VND) to Ben Xe Khach My Dinh bus station. The bus ticket to Vinh Yen costs 18,000 VND. Let the driver know that you are going to Tam Dao and he will let you alight at the appropriate town. From there, I paid 60,000 VND for a scooter ride up to the hill resort.

ACCOMMODATION : I was quite happy with my stay at Khach San Huyen Trang guesthouse . It is along a street that is a stone’s throw from Green World Hotel. It offers good value for money at 150,000 VND/night . The rooms were clean & the satellite TV was most useful as it rained a lot there.

 
Good view from my room which was at the top floor
Plan to have a few extra days there as that area often mists over or rains continously for up to 24 hours.

BIRDING HIGHLIGHTS :

1.            TV Tower and Military Post (Tam Dao I)

I had much difficulty locating this path based on the existing sketch of the area.  While it is a very good and useful sketch of Tam Dao, do be aware that the entrance to the TV tower was not correctly shown. 

The entrance (Right picture) to the TV tower shares the same flight of steps that leads up to the Buddhist Shrine. After the first 30m or so, the stepped path forks into two. The left  flight of steps leads up to the Buddhist Shrine while the one to the right leads up to the TV tower. It is very easy to miss that junction! The trinket vendors, who displayed their wares there, gave the illusion that the path leads straight up to the Buddhist Shrine when in fact there was a split in the path.  I overlooked that junction 4-5 times and wasted alot of time searching for the trailhead elsewhere.  

Birds seen there include Fire-Capped Tit (male breeding plumage), Black-Chinned Yuhina, Grey-Headed Canary Flycatcher, Grey-Cheeked Fulvetta, Black Bulbul (Adult Concolor), Bronzed Drongo, Silver-Backed Needletail.

 
2.            Tam Dao II Mountain.

The directions given in Nigel Matthew's trip report is very clear so it is unnecessary to elaborate further. When I was there, the road was still being dug up and was still very muddy throughout. It takes about 1 ½ hours to walk from town to the end of the muddy road. With just the last 1/3 of the journey to the summit left, a tight path leads up through a bamboo forest. 

Birds seen along the way include Grey-Chinned Minivet, Striated Yuhina, Chestnut Bulbul, Golden-Throated Barbet, Black-Chinned Yuhina (allows close approach).

 
3.            Waterfall behind Mela Hotel

I was there around midday so that might have accounted for why the birding there was poor. I did not get to see the Riverchat there.

LEECHES : None encountered.

MAP/SKETCH : Nil

SCOPE: It can be useful when birding along the road that leads to Tam Dao II. It is not advisable to bring it along when climbing the steps up to the TV Tower.

LESSONS LEARNT :

Even though I had written the agreed price and showed it to the taxi scooter driver, he later demanded a much higher price for the ride. He would not let go of my luggage unless I agreed to pay up the difference. It got quite ugly and after a long and heated argument, I gave in and paid up. It feels terrible to be cheated this way so beware of such underhanded tactics.

There did not seem to be any direct bus service back to Hanoi.  The owner of the guesthouse contacted a scooter taxi driver who gave me a ride back to Hanoi for a hefty rate of 160,000 VND. The journey was very dusty so do have a mask ready.

Instead of going straight up to the Tam Dao Hill Resort, it might be interesting to stay and bird watch for a few days at Tam Dao Nature Reserve which is about a third of the way up the same hill. It is much warmer at that altitude so the bird species there should be quite different.