MissTtravels

Day 12

A quiet and restful day

After breakfast, we went off in our little bus, and drove for about an hour. We drove through rice fields and many acres of pineapples.

We visited the Cuc Phuong National Park. The objective of the visit was to see the rescue and conservation work being done to protect Vietnam’s many endangered species of turtles, tortoises, primates and carnivores.

We saw the turtles and tortoises first. Many types are endangered because they are hunted for food, the pet trade and the traditional medicine trade. Any area of Vietnam bordering China has a particular problem with this. There is also habitat loss as a contributing factor.

This centre rescues animals from the illegal trade, and conducts a breeding programme to build up wild populations.

Next we visited the primates. There are many endangered species of langurs and gibbons in Vietnam. They captured and traded for their pelts and as pets.

One of the most important animals at the park is the pangolin, very vulnerable because the scales are used in traditional medicine. Pangolins are becoming rarer by the day, as they are very valuable when caught in the wild. The park is trying to rescue as many as possible (sometimes hundreds in one shipment) and captive breed them to build up wild stocks.

It was kind of sad to see the animals caged, but the park is doing important work in saving critically endangered species.

After spending a couple of hours there, we headed back to Tam Coc and had lunch (banh mi) in the town. Tam Coc is heaving with tourists so I am glad our hotel is a bit out of town.

I spent the afternoon and evening relaxing and sleeping, and only emerged from the room for dinner.

We are off to Halong Bay tomorrow.