Zelma’s Trip

The driver who took me to Cuc Phoung didn’t appear to know exactly where it was and this led to lots of comedy diversions.  Every time he stopped to ask someone the way they pointed in the opposite direction to the way we were going.  This amused both me and the driver; it was fortunate I wasn’t in a hurry.  The countryside was amazing with lush green mountains and paddy fields below.  There were also lots of interesting people and animals to look at.  There were dozens of people walking their buffalo along the roads and on a couple of occasions there were very excited buffalo who had broken free from their handlers galloping with glee down the sides of the road.  In both cases there were relatively less excited Vietnamese people wandering slowly behind them, perhaps in the hope that the buffalo would slow down eventually.

Most of the animals here seem to have a good understanding that if people sound their horns on the road then they need to get out of the way.  We did have a near miss with a puppy though who was obviously too young to understand.  There was also one hilarious rebel buffalo who was stood right in the middle of the road looking disdainfully at all the traffic which was beeping loudly and going around it.

When we got to the park I got a bungalow room.  When I went in I was fascinated that there were so many insects on the wall that I didn’t recognise.  The novelty of these wore off relatively quickly that night when they all turned out to be very noisy cricket-type insects.

The following morning I went to the primate rescue centre (or something like that).  It’s a kind of monkey rehab, think rescue centre here not Amy Winehouse/ Pete Doherty!  The monkeys are initially in large jungle type cages and are then released into a “semi-wild” enclosure before being released into the park.  There were a lot of baby monkeys when I visited which was great.

I then went to the reception and was informed that it was 10 USD for a ride and a guide (hey that rhymes) to the Park H.Q.  I deliberated this for a moment and then heard two Australians talking who were riding to the centre.  I managed to blag a lift and went on a 6km trek with them to an ancient tree.  They had to leave to get a bus and I decided to do another trek by myself.  The first trek was easy, pleasant and flat.  I thought the second trek was similar but it soon transpired that my map-reading ability is about as good as my sense of direction.  Although not hugely greater in length, the route was mountainous and you were continuously going up and downhill.  Weirdly all the paths were concrete, apparently Ho Chi Min directed the army to undertake this mammoth task, but they all had mud on the surface and were really slippery.  I took a couple of pictures of myself mid-trek, one of which looks like I am close to death which I may, or may not, put online.  Along the route there was another old tree.  They had so many old trees of importance in the park, there was the ancient tree, the thousand year old tree, the slightly decrepit tree, the geriatric tree – okay so I made the last two up.  There was also a cave which I ventured into briefly as I was slightly paranoid that if I slipped and hurt myself I may remain there for some time.  Half-way round the trek I met a couple of French guys (who live in Germany) who had both a guide and a translator.  The guide asked me what I was doing and I told him I was walking.  They looked quite concerned but let me go on my way.  I later discovered that the trek was listed as moderate to difficult and that a “guide is essential”.  I managed to finish at the same time as the aforementioned group and they let me get a lift back with them.  On the way we stopped at the “Cave of prehistoric man” where remains of early man were found.  By remains I mean tools etc, rather than bones but actually they may have been found also.  The Australian guys had previously had a big discussion about the cave (due to its title) along the lines of whether it would be full of porn, really messy etc which I found relatively amusing.  When I got back to the part of the park I was staying in I had some amazing steamed fish.  I also spoke to a guide who asked where I had come from to the park.  When I replied Thanh Hoa he said, “Why did you go there?”  I must admit this was a very good question and I was not really able to furnish him with a suitable answer.