In Search of Delacour's Langurs in Van Long

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In order to see this incredibly rare langur, we had to leave Cuc Phuong with Mr. Kwa at 6 a.m. We drove to Van Long, a picturesque area with karst-like formations rising from the land around there.

(To read more about Delacour's langur, click here.)

Mr. Kwa awoke a woman in a house who, in turn, jabbed her husband awake and he wandered out with a paddle and led us to the water. We climbed in a boat made of bamboo and floated through shallow water filled with beautiful grasses and stalks of grass dotted with pink snail eggs.

"Langurs?" Wendy said. He shook his head and pointed in the other direction and kept rowing. For an hour he paddled us around a beautiful wetland area with kingfishers and beautiful birds nearby. We could see squirrels high in the rocks nearby, but no langurs. We went into a cave. No langurs.

So we didn't see langurs. But it was still very, very beautiful. As we returned to shore, half a dozen water buffaloes chomped on grasses nearby, neck deep in water. Anyone know how to get a happy water buffalo out of the water? That seems like a pretty tough task.

We're now back in Hanoi and preparing to leave for Bangkok tomorrow!

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Photos

From inside a cave at Van Long
No langurs in here, either!

Three women squatting by the side of the road
They were watching our boat return from the langur-less langur spotting.

Bicycling in the countryside
Many people in the countryside still rely on bicycles as their primary form of transportation.

Fisherman
This fisherman poled his way over to us to show us the crabs and snails he was fishing in the wetlands.

This is a Delacour's langur
This is the highly endangered langur we'd hoped to spot on this boat trip. This animal lives at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center in Cuc Phuong.

Comments

[Judy Pell]

genus Presbytis???
Some of our Presbyterians could qualify as langurs... (a laugh a day..) LOve, Grammie and my langur ..Grampie

[Scott Pell]

WOW!
Brynn, I am so proud of you and all the good work you are doing for the zoo and for our little animal friends. Amazing journey over their in Viet Nam! I loved the description of the hospitality of the villagers who offered their best for you all. Good thing you're a vegetarian, eh? Have a great time in Thailand and I look forward to reading more. Love, Scott

[Angela]

Dang, I can't believe you're leaving Hanoi already! I was just getting comfortable with the idea of you being there, getting all of us back in the States familiar with the area through your stories. Great details, btw. I'm keeping up with all your posts, and your stories and descriptions are fantastic.

[Brynn]

Water Puppets
Angela, Glad you're enjoying it. We saw the Hanoi Water Puppet Theater last night and I thought of you. If they weren't so darn big and heavy, I'd bring one back for you. They're really cool looking - the puppeteers stand in the water behind a bamboo screen to move them around. Off to Bangkok in a couple of hours! Brynn

[Jason]

Thanks!
Thanks for all of the time you are putting into these posts Brynn -- it really is fun to follow along. I think you may have a future in writing adventure pieces for NPR / Nat'l Geograpic -- I can almost hear the sounds in the background as I read your posts. Just in case you are getting bored with the mundane wildlife over there, I saw a couple deer today! :) Hope your travels went smoothly!