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Published: April 9th 2017
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I had a bit of a long travel-day getting from Phong Nha to Ninh Binh. In my original plans I was going to be stopping halfway at Vinh, from where I would go west to the Pu Mat National Park on the border with Laos. There are northern white-cheeked gibbons at Pu Mat and of course I wanted to look for them, but my bank balance is lower than I had anticipated it being at this point in the trip so I dropped that park from the route. Pu Mat is home to the only remaining sustainable population of this species of gibbon but even so they have mostly been hunted out from the more accessible areas, now mainly being found in the rugged mountains along the border. The chances of seeing gibbons there is probably remote, but if I still have enough money after finishing off the more northerly areas then I may get to head back down.
With Pu Mat out of the plan, I had to instead go direct from Phong Nha to Ninh Binh (which is pronounced Neeng Beeng, incidentally). From Phong Nha I caught the local B4 bus to the townlet of Hoan Lao (on
the way back to Dong Hoi) where I stood on the side of the road until a Hanoi bus rolled on by. From here to Ninh Binh took eight and a half hours. One of the annoying things with catching buses from the roadside is that you don't know what the fare is - you have to just accept whatever the driver or conductor says it is. The other day I caught a bus from outside Bach Ma to outside Dong Hoi. It took about three hours or so and I got charged 200,000 Dong. The bus from Phong Nha to Ninh Binh, almost three times the travel-time, cost me 250,000.
The bus dropped me in Ninh Binh, but on the highway which is on the other side of town from the bus station where the budget accommodation is. The motorbike-taxis there wanted 200,000 to take me across town, which immediately went down to 100,000 when I scoffed at it, and then almost as quickly dropped to 50,000 then 40,000 then 30,000 when I started to walk away. This last price is actually the correct one - I asked a nice police-lady on the other side of the road
- but I have this thing where I don't mind bargaining but if someone starts off with a ridiculous rip-off price because you're a tourist then I won't let them have my money at all. I'll find someone else who isn't so greedy.
I had found out beforehand that the "best choice" of the budget hotels is the Queen Mini Hotel, so that's where I went first. If it wasn't what I wanted there were several other choices nearby. It was okay though, and a room for US$8 is cheap enough - although I still don't understand why so many hotels quote in US Dollars when they only accept Vietnamese Dong as payment.
The reason I was at Ninh Binh was to visit the Van Long Nature Reserve, about 20km outside town, which is home to Delacour's langurs. Like the Hatinh langurs these are monkeys which live on limestone outcrops. Unfortunately for all the species of "limestone langurs", the outcrops are often their only refuge because the forests which once spread across the land between the outcrops are now entirely gone, converted centuries ago into rice fields and farms. The langurs now tend to be isolated from one
another in small populations, unable to move between mountains as they used to, and vulnerable to hunting. The Delacour's langurs are now critically-endangered with less than 250 animals left in the world.
As with the Hatinh langurs the best time to try to see Delacour's langurs is morning or late afternoon. However due to the unusual topography of Van Long I suspect you could see them at any time of day because the outcrops aren't on land but rather surrounded by wetlands. They are like mountains in water, and the viewing is done from boats. So the langurs would be most easily seen on the cliff-faces where they sleep but even in the middle of the day I think you'd be in with a good chance. Of course you want to maximise your chances, so morning or afternoon is still the best option.
It was too late to go to Van Long when I arrived in Ninh Binh (it was already 5.30pm when I got off the bus), so I went the next morning instead. At the hotel the owner had told me a motorbike-taxi to Van Long would be 200,000 one way or 300,000 return. This seemed
kind of expensive given that it's only a half-hour ride out there. So after an early breakfast I walked to the bus station around the corner and found a guy who would take me there and back for 100,000. Back at the hotel I got the owner to check with the guy to make sure he hadn't misunderstood what I wanted but he had understood fine. However I wasn't sure how long I'd be out there so we agreed on 150,000, which was still half the price the hotel had quoted me. (For what it's worth, renting a motorbike for the day would have been 100,000, but petrol is extra, and I reckon I would have got completely lost trying to get to Van Long on my own because there were no road-signs with it labelled as far as I saw).
The ticket for the nature reserve was 80,000, which I think is 20,000 entry plus 60,000 for the boat. The boat itself is a shallow oar-powered bamboo thing - almost a raft - made watertight with a thin layer of concrete inside. The lady on my boat knew exactly what I wanted to see.
Vooc (pronounced "vok") is
the Vietnamese name for doucs, but at Phong Nha I had discovered that it seems to be the name for langurs in general because the Hatinh langur is
vooc Hatinh. I told her I was after
vooc and she responded with "monkey!" Totally bilingual we are.
It only took about fifteen or twenty minutes to find the langurs. First I saw just one, sitting up near the top of a cliff, but soon it became apparent there were several more amongst the trees growing on the rocks. All up there may have been twenty or so individuals. Whereas Hatinh langurs are entirely black apart for white sideburns, the Delacour's langurs have bright white hind legs and lower back, rather amusingly making them look like they are wearing tight trousers. Also really noticeable was how long and thick their tails were in comparison to most monkeys.
There was an unfortunate haze in the air which wasn't apparent to the naked eye but it sure was through binoculars and the camera lens. None of the photos were sharp, irrespective of whether I used auto-focus or manual-focus. I did get some photos I liked though (out of the 200-odd I took!),
especially after some of the langurs came right down near the water.
My lady boat-rower seemed very excited about seeing the langurs although she probably sees them every day. I think she was excited for me seeing them really. The Delacour's langur is the 50th species of primate I have seen in the wild in Asia, and there are few species which would make a better milestone than this one. I had been told and had read that the boat-ladies do the hard-sell for big tips but mine didn't even ask. I gave her a tip anyway, which is uncharacteristic of me, but I was in a good mood.
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