Cuc Phuong National Park

After arriving in Hanoi after the overnight train trip, all we did was store our luggage at a hotel and we were back on the road again, on the way to Cuc Phuong National Park which is about 150 kms south of Hanoi.

On the way to the Park we made a stop at Hoa Lu which was actually the capital of Vietnam under the Dinh (968-80) and Le (980-1009) dynasties.  The site was a suitable choice for a capital city due to its proximity to China and also its location within the mountain range located there.
(As I'm sure you're getting used to - these pictures were again taken out the bus window while travelling, but they do give you a bit of an indication of what the mountains in the area are like.)

The ancient citadel of Hoa Lu, built in the 10th century, once covered an area of about 3 square kms but sadly has been largely destroyed.

This very unique individual was near the entrance gate of the citadel.

Cuc Phuong National Park is one of Vietnam's most important nature preserves.  Ho Chi Minh personally took time off from the war in 1963 to dedicate the area as a national park - Vietnam's first.

Cuc Phuong National Park is home to the Endangered Primate Rescue Centre.  This highly successful centre has around 150 primates in rescue and breeding programs.  There are currently about 15 different species and subspecies of Gibbons and Langurs on site, and whenever possible the centre tries to release the monkeys back into their native environments.

After visiting the rescue centre about half the group decided to go on an 8 km trek to see an enormous, 1000 year old tree.

Accommodation was pretty basic tonight, but it did have power (some of the time) and mosquito nets (all of the time), and I more than survived.