Tailormade Holidays in Vietnam

Located a three hour drive south of Hanoi, Cuc Phuong is Vietnam’s first established National Park, being established in 1962 by President Ho Chi Minh. Encompassing an area of limestone hills clothed in evergreen-dominated primary and secondary forest, specialities here include Red-collared Woodpecker, Bar-bellied, Blue-rumped and Eared Pittas, Silver-breasted Broadbill, White-tailed Flycatcher, White-winged Magpie, Greyish Limestone Babbler, Limestone Leaf Warbler, Fujian Niltava and Pied Falconet. Large numbers of thrushes can be found overwintering in the park, best spotted early in the morning along the access road. The park can be explored via a superb network of walking trails, taking one deep into the centre of the park and the best birding spots. Mammals can be elusive here, but both Yellow-bellied and Back-striped Weasels can be spotted in grassy secondary forest, while a variety of squirrels frequent the trees. Cuc Phuong is also famous for Owston’s Civet, but a huge stroke of luck would be required to chance across this nocturnal creature.

Time spent exploring Cuc Phuong combines well with a visit to the nearby Van Long Nature Reserve.

The verdant expanse of Cat Tien National Park encompasses the largest remaining tract of lowland tropical evergreen and semi-evergreen forest in southern Vietnam, supporting an incredible diversity of flora and fauna.

This is one of the best birding sites in Vietnam, with highlights including Germain’s Peacock-Pheasant, Green Peafowl, Blue-rumped and Bar-bellied Pittas, the beautiful Siamese Fireback and the elusive Orange-necked Partridge, alongside an array of flowerpeckers, cuckoos, trogons, hornbills, barbets, woodpeckers, pittas, broadbills, bulbuls, ground babblers and sunbirds. Not only is this a top birding hotspot, but it is also the country's premier destination for mammals. The forest is home to no less than six species of primate, including such endangered regional endemics as the elusive Annamese Silvered Langur, the beautiful Black-shanked Douc, the shy Pygmy Slow Loris and the agile Southern Buff-cheeked Gibbon, whose unmistakeable song can be heard more than three kilometres away. Indeed, Cat Tien is arguably the finest location in the world to encounter all four restricted-range species. Other key mammals to look out for include Leopard Cat, Lesser Mousedeer, Gaur, Northern Slender-tailed Treeshrew, Small Indian Civet, Javan Mongoose, Yellow-throated Marten and Vietnam's last viable population of wild Asian Elephants. The endangered Siamese Crocodile can be seen at Crocodile Lake alongside birds such as Green Peafowl, Grey-headed Fish Eagle and Lesser Adjutant.

Butterflies at Cat Tien are also excellent. Mud pooling often attracts swallowtails, pierids and blues, including Lesser and Spotted Zebras and Chain Swordtails, with a broad array of other species also seen in the Park, including Golden and Common Birdwing, Common Clubtail, Red Helen, Great Orange Tip pierids, Common Yeoman, Striped Albatross, Common Palmfly, Great Mormon and Peacock, Grey and Yellow Pansy. Amongst the dragonflies, the beautiful red-winged Fulvous Forest Skimmer is often recorded, with Eastern Scarlet Darters frequenting pools. Common Tree Frogs hold a constant presence, and reptiles include vibrant Tokay Geckos and the impressive Indochinese Flying Lizard.

The energetic, cultural hub of Ho Chi Minh City – formerly Saigon - has a rich history and offers a myriad of wonderful landmarks, including the Notre Dame Cathedral, Old Saigon Post Office, the former Presidential Palace and vibrant Ben Thanh Market, alongside many fascinating museums. The city is a mishmash of architecture, reflective of its varied history, with French colonial-style buildings and wide boulevards sitting aside modern skyscrapers interspersed with beautiful pagodas. The dominant religions within Ho Chi Minh City are Buddhism with Taoism and Confucianism, worshipped in the many ornate temples dotted around the city. A wonderful gastronomic scene can be found here, from vibrant street stalls offering delicious local delicacies through to fine dining restaurants, and a couple of days spent wandering the city allows one the chance to become fully immersed in urban Vietnamese life.

The Mekong Delta lies just south of the city, and an overnight cruise aboard a converted wooden rice barge offers a wonderful opportunity to explore these verdant waterways. As the boat drifts through lush tropical scenery, one will feel a sense of passing back in time as local villages reveal themselves along the banks, alongside fruit orchards, traditional boat yards, fields of sugar cane and handicraft markets offering colourful wares.

Together, the Kontum Plateau and the airy hill station of the Dalat Plateau form Vietnam’s Central Highlands. Vegetation at Dalat comprises mixed montane evergreen, coniferous and secondary forest, and there is much to explore! Mount Lang Bian, a 2,169 metre-high peak cloaked in pine and montane evergreen forests, located 20 minutes from Dalat, offers spectacular views of the city - alongside a leading cast of birds - and the shores of Ho Tuyen Lam, a man-made lake surrounded by remnant tropical evergreen forest just outside the town, are well worth a visit.

Designated by BirdLife International as an ‘Endemic Bird Area’, Dalat is home to several of Vietnam’s endemic bird species, including Orange-breasted Laughingthrush, the beautiful and skulking Collared Laughingthrush, Black-headed Parrotbill and Vietnamese Greenfinch, as well as many distinctive local endemic subspecies, including Rufous-backed and Black-headed Sibia and Red Crossbill.  Intriguing near-endemics in the area include Grey-crowned Tit, White-cheeked and Black-hooded Laughingthrushes and Vietnamese Cutia. The wonderful Ta Nung Valley, a small but very ‘birdy’ area of remnant evergreen forest 10 kilometres from Dalat, is the most accessible site for the rare and endemic Grey-crowned Crocias. Very distinct endemic subspecies of Blue-winged Minla, Black-throated and Mrs Gould’s Sunbirds can also be found here, as can the beautiful yellow-breasted form of Indochinese Green Magpie.

Dalat is also an excellent area to view many striking butterflies, including the Paris Peacock, Plain Hedge Blues, Red Helen and Restricted Demon, as well as the distinctive Striped Ringlet. A variety of orchid species can also be seen within the forests here.

Due to its altitude, Dalat is favoured by a pleasant climate; often referred to as the ‘City of Eternal Spring’, the average temperature is around 18°C, offering a welcome respite from the heat and comfortable wildlife viewing.

Hội An, once known as Faifo, was the principal port of the Cham Kingdom between the 7th and 10th centuries, from which spices were traded with surrounding regions such as Indonesia. Between the 15th and 19th centuries, Hội An then held the torch as the best trading port in Southeast Asia. Today, the wonderfully atmospheric and historic Old Town is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and for good reason. Wandering the network of winding streets lined with well-preserved architecture, which has taken its influences from the eclectic mix of nationalities that have visited or called the city home through its history, one is transported back to a time when nations stretching across the globe came together to trade a plethora of goods, including many beautiful ceramics.

The centre of the city is pedestrianised, so exploration is on foot or via bicycle, adding to the historic atmosphere, and there is much to explore, including the iconic covered ‘Japanese Bridge’, with its unique interconnected ancient Buddhist temple, alongside a plethora of historic merchants’ homes little changed over the centuries. One can sample the city’s delicious and unique cuisine at one of the many vibrant markets; a fusion of influences from the many nationalities that once traded here, and even partake in a cooking class, purchasing fresh local ingredients from the river-side markets. Hội An’s speciality dish is Cao lầu; a traditional noodle delicacy with leafy greens, plentiful fresh herbs and spices, bean sprouts and sliced pork served within a delicious broth.

The city also provides an excellent base from which to visit the nearby Son Tra Nature Reserve.

On the outskirts of Da Nang City – a sprawling metropolis and the fifth largest city in Vietnam – lies Son Tra; a scenic peninsula that juts out into the South China Sea. The natural geography of Son Tra is significant, as it acts as a natural barrier, sheltering the city from strong storms. The peninsula’s strategic position also made it an important US military base during the Vietnam War. Son Tra is covered in lush and relatively undisturbed forest, and has become an isolated island of biodiversity, cut off from mainland forests by the city. The wide variety of wildlife that lives here is now ‘packed’ into an area roughly 30 km². Son Tra is a particularly important stronghold for the critically endangered Red-shanked Douc, quite possibly the most attractive monkey in the world and an emblematic species for Vietnam. During the Vietnam war, there were so many of these beautiful primates here that US military personal stationed here colloquially named the peninsula ‘monkey island’. The Douc’s have since been hunted close to extinction throughout Vietnam and today the reserve remains the most reliable location in which they can still be seen, holding a significant proportion of their global population. The 30 square-kilometre reserve also harbours a diverse array of other mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and butterflies.

Located around 40 km south of Hue, Bach Mã Mountain was initially claimed as a French colonial ‘hill station’ and quickly turned into a holiday destination for the French aristocracy in the 1930s. Today, the mountain range is a designated national park made up of three core zones: a strictly protected core area, an administrative area and a buffer zone. The park constitutes a large section of remote Annamite Mountain habitat, one of Southeast Asia’s most biodiverse regions, and contains some of Vietnam’s most secretive wildlife. One such creature is the elusive Soala. Nicknamed the ‘Asian unicorn’, this forest-dwelling bovine is one of the world’s rarest large mammals, having only been discovered as recently as 1992. This mysterious forest holds populations of other rare and localised mammals too, such as the Annamite Rabbit, Northern Buff-cheeked Gibbon and Owston’s Civet. Bach Mã is also widely considered to be Vietnam’s top birding destination, with more than 300 species present, including Annam Partridge, Red-headed Trogon, Mountain Fulvetta, Rufous-throated Partridge, Golden-throated Barbet, Black-capped Kingfisher, Blue-tailed Bee-eater, Grey-headed Parakeet, Mountain Hawk Eagle, Crested Serpent Eagle, Blue-rumped Pitta, Long-tailed Broadbill, Orange-bellied Leafbird, Scarlet Minivet and Asian Paradise Flycatcher. Near-mythical birds have been recorded here too, including the critically endangered Vietnamese Crested Argus and the, until recently thought to be extinct, Edwards’s Pheasant. The region is also considered to be Vietnam’s wettest, and frogs, lizards and snakes abound here, including the sought-after Red River Krait (Bungarus slowinskii).

Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (or Phong Nha for short) is Vietnam’s only UNESCO World Heritage Site inscribed on the sole basis of its exceptional biodiversity and conservation value. Phong Nha is situated in the Central Annamite range, crossing from the Vietnamese province of Quang Binh over the border into the Lao PDR. The park covers a vast 1233 km² of stunning landscape, made up of protected primary and secondary tropical forest, cave systems, savannah and aquatic habitat. Phong Nha is famous for its incredibly complex karst limestone geology, which has given rise to an extensive system of caves and underground rivers, many of which remain totally unexplored today. One of which, the Son Doong Cave, discovered as recently as 2009, is thought to be the largest continuous cave system in the world. The theoretical wildlife encounters on offer here are nothing short of mouth-watering, with an estimated list that includes more than 300 species of bird, 117 reptiles, 58 amphibians and 154 mammals! Regrettably, much of the park remains off-limits to the public, but the secretive forest acts as potential wildlife habitat for some of the regions most endangered and elusive species, including the Saola, Mainland Clouded Leopard, Banteng, Dhole and Sun Bear. From the trails that can be explored, exciting possibilities include four sought-after primates (Red-shanked Douc, Southern White-cheeked Gibbon, Indochinese Black Langur and Hatinh Langur) and a host of birdlife, including Tonkin Partridge, Siamese Fireback, White-bellied Green-pigeon, Brown Fish-owl, Austen’s Brown Hornbill, Red-collared Woodpecker, Blue-rumped and Bar-bellied Pittas, Ratchet-tailed Treepie, White-winged Magpie and Indochinese Wren-babbler.

Van Long Nature Reserve is the large conserved inland wetland in northern Vietnam. It contains an expanse of freshwater that is partially covered by a network of lily pads and reeds, and towered over by imposing limestone cliffs. The cliffs are clad in an impenetrable forest that is home to the last remaining viable population of the critically endangered Delacour’s Langur. With severe fragmentation and less 250 individuals remaining, the primate has been inscribed on the ‘World's 25 Most Endangered Primates’ list in almost every year since its maiden publication in 2000. The reserve is only accessible by traditional rowing boat, which permits you an opportunity to drift quietly through the reeds in which a good number of waterbirds make their home. Highlights here include Little Grebe, Chinese Pond Heron, Openbill Stork, Northern Pintail, Northern Shoveler, White-browed Crake, Pheasant-tailed Jacana and White-throated Kingfisher. Higher up, look out for raptors, woodpeckers, hornbills and of course the Delacour’s Langur.