Cuc Phong National Park

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Dear Home,

We are currently making our long journey into Laos which is taking us two days. At the moment we are waiting for a train to take us to Vinh which leaves in about 5 hours and takes another 5 to get there. From there, we will stay the night and then catch an early bus tomorrow for approx. 12 hours into Laos...lovely!

Despite this, we have just spent a great two nights in the jungle at Cuc Phong National Park following a rather eventful journey down from Hanoi. Im sure the parents reading this will be glad to know that our extensive first aid supplies came in very useful when our bus from Hanoi swerved and, to avoid hitting the central reservation, hit a lorry instead. The wingmirrors smashed and the shattered glass came into the bus which unfortunately went into one ladys hand. Between us and an American med student though, she was well looked after!

From Ninh Binh, we took a local bus to the national park which took us completely off the tourist trail and through lots of villages and paddy fields, with a gorgeous mountain backdrop. When we finally arrived, we checked into another room on stilts and went to bed with the sound of the jungle outside.

Yesterday was spent visiting a monkey and turtle rescue centre as these animals are often hunted and smuggled across the border into China for medicinal purposes. We then hired bikes and went and visited a few of the attractions of the park which included a lake and a 'cave of the prehistoric man'. The latter was huge and we could see a network of caves behind it but as we had left our headtorches in the room, the thought of crawling around in the dark and finding some ancient bones freaked us out a little! Finally, we sat next to the lake and read while the sun went down.

We left the park early this morning and will hopefully be in Luang Prabang, Laos, by tomorrow evening, which we are both very much looking forward to.

For now, we are going to try and see how many card games we can play to pass the time. We will let you know how we get on soon!

Lots of love to everyone,

Izzie and Jenny

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