Bar-bellied Pitta is one of the special birds in Cuc Phuong National Park. Photo: Suppalak Klabdee
Stretching a thousand miles down the east coast of Southeast Asia, Vietnam supports a vast array of habitats. Between the mighty deltas of the Red River in the north and the Mekong in the south are endless beaches, fertile plains, lush rainforests, and high plateaus with rhododendron-covered peaks rising to over 9,000 feet.
It’s no wonder that Vietnam is home to over 850 species of birds, among them more endemics than any other country in mainland Southeast Asia. By visiting both the north and the south we’ll see a great variety of Vietnam’s distinctive birdlife, which combines influences from the Himalayas, the Palearctic, and Malaysia, including a large number of Indochinese specialties that are difficult to find elsewhere in the region.
With the ravages of the past well and truly behind it, Vietnam has emerged as one of Asia’s most thriving economies and one of its most popular tourist destinations. It has an infrastructure to match this popularity, and we’re assured of a warm welcome everywhere we travel in this fascinating country.
Day 1: The tour begins this evening in Ho Chi Minh City. Night in Ho Chi Minh City.
Day 2: We’ll meet the group arriving from London and set out by road for Cat Tien National Park, a journey of around three hours. After checking into our accommodations, located at the park’s headquarters, we should have some time for local birding. Night at Cat Tien headquarters.
Days 3-5: We’ll awake to the many weird and wonderful noises echoing through the rainforest. Cat Tien National Park contains the largest remaining area of lowland tropical forest in southern Vietnam with over 330 bird species including the endangered Germain’s Peacock-Pheasant, Green Peafowl, and the very elusive Orange-necked Partridge. The list of mammals includes Eurasian Wild Pig, Sambar, Red Muntjac, and Gaur as well as two endangered primates, Black-shanked Douc Langur and Buff-cheeked Gibbon.
We’ll take jeeps to visit areas farther afield such as Bird and Crocodile Lakes, where Gray-headed Fish-Eagle and Lesser Adjutant may be seen. The three-mile walk through the forest to Crocodile Lake is an excellent place to look for Blue-rumped and Bar-bellied Pittas as well as Red-and-Black and Banded Broadbills and Orange-breasted Trogon among many others. Other Cat Tien specialties include Scaly-breasted Partridge, Siamese Fireback, Germain’s Peacock-Pheasant, White-bellied, Great Slaty, Pale-headed, and Black-and-Buff Woodpeckers, Red-vented Barbet, Woolly-necked Stork, and Gray-faced Tit-Babbler. Nights at Cat Tien headquarters.
Day 6: We’ll have a final morning of birding along the forest trails or the surfaced road through Cat Tien National Park, where Green-eared, Blue-eared, Lineated, and Red-vented Barbets can often be seen perched up high in the roadside trees. After an early lunch we’ll continue along Highway 20 to Dalat, a former colonial hill station in the central highlands.
After checking in at our family-run hotel, we should have time for the first of several visits to the Ta Nung Valley, an area of remnant evergreen forest about 6 miles from Dalat. This is the most accessible site for the rare and endemic Gray-crowned Crocias, as well as White-cheeked and Orange-breasted Laughingthrushes and the recently split Black-crowned Parrotbill. The distinct local subspecies of Blue-winged Minla, Rufous-backed and Black-headed Sibias, and Black-throated Sunbird can also be found here. Night in Dalat.
Days 7-9: In addition to the wonderful Ta Nung Valley two other main sites around Dalat are well worth visiting: Mount Lang Bian and Ho Tuyen Lam. Mount Lang Bian is a 6,700-foot peak about twenty minutes by road from Dalat, and we’ll spend a day exploring its pine and montane evergreen forests. Our target species here include Silver Pheasant, wintering Mugimaki Flycatcher, Gray-crowned Tit, Vietnamese Cutia, Black-crowned Fulvetta, and Vietnamese Greenfinch. The most sought-after species at Lang Bian, however, is the beautiful and skulking endemic Collared Laughingthrush. Ho Tuyen Lam is a man-made lake just two miles from the center of town. The pines here are home to Burmese Shrike, Slender-billed Oriole, Indochinese Cuckooshrike, and Crossbill, among many other species. Nights in Dalat.
Day 10: After an early breakfast we’ll depart Dalat for the scenic drive north to Mang Den in Kontum Province. There should be time for some late afternoon birding around Mang Den on arrival. Night at Mang Den.
Day 11: We’ll have a full day’s birding at Mang Den, where the seldom-seen endemic Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush will be our main quarry. Discovered in 1999, it has been seen by only a handful of birders. Mang Den is also the most reliable site in Vietnam for three other scarce birds: Pale-capped Pigeon, Yellow-billed Nuthatch, and Black-hooded Laughingthrush. Night at Mang Den.
Day 12: We’ll have time for some final early morning birding at Mang Den, where other birds rarely seen elsewhere in Vietnam include Rufous-faced Warbler, Pale Blue Flycatcher, and Gray-headed Parrotbill. Leaving Mang Den around mid-morning, we’ll drive northward up the Ho Chi Minh Highway to the Lo Xo Pass. We should reach the pass in the late afternoon, in time to look for the Indochinese endemic Black-crowned Barwing, discovered in 1996. Night at Kham Duc.
Day 13: We’ll return to the Lo Xo Pass in the morning, where in addition to Black-crowned Barwing we’ll be looking for White-winged Magpie, Red-tailed Minla, and Red-tailed Laughingthrush. We’ll return to Kham Duc in mid-morning and continue northward to Bach Ma National Park, arriving there in the late afternoon with time for some birding. Night at Bach Ma National Park.
Day 14: Bach Ma National Park, where the Annamite Mountains meet the sea, is home to several Vietnamese and regional endemics, including Annam Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Red-vented Barbet, Blyth’s Kingfisher, White-winged Magpie, and Indochinese Wren-Babbler. Other spectacular birds here include Hodgson’s Frogmouth, Ratchet-tailed Treepie, Indochinese Green Magpie, Black-throated and Lesser-necklaced Laughingthrushes, and a distinct subspecies of Sultan Tit with a glossy blue-black crown—a possible future split. A beautiful and endangered primate, Red-shanked Douc Langur, is sometimes seen in the treetops below the summit trails. Later in the afternoon we’ll leave Bach Ma and drive to Phong Nha National Park. Night in Phong Nha
Day 15: We’ll have a full day to explore the limestone forest of Phong Nha National Park in search of such specialties as Indochinese endemic Sooty Babbler, Siamese Fireback, and Red-collared Woodpecker. In addition to birds we’ll keep an eye out for the scarce Ha Tinh Langur, one of Vietnam’s many endangered primates. Night in Phong Nha.
Day 16: After a final morning of birdwatching around Phong Nha, we’ll drive back to Hue to connect with a flight to Hanoi, where after our last delicious Vietnamese meal. Night in Hanoi.
Day 17: Our tour concludes this morning in Hanoi
Northern extension:
Day 17: We’ll leave Hanoi after breakfast for the drive to Cuc Phuong National Park. Night at the Park Headquarters guest house.
Days 18-19: The first national park to be established in Vietnam, Cuc Phuong is an area of limestone hills covered in primary rainforest. During our time here we’ll hope to see some of the park’s special birds, including Bar-bellied, Blue-rumped, and Eared Pittas, Silver-breasted Broadbill, White-tailed Flycatcher, White-winged Magpie, Ratchet-tailed Treepie, Rufous-throated Fulvetta, Limestone Wren-Babbler, Fujian Niltava, and Pied Falconet. Nights at the Park Headquarters guest house.
Day 20: After breakfast we’ll leave Cuc Phuong for Ba Vi National Park. We’ll stop on the way at Van Long Nature Reserve to take a sampan to the dramatic limestone cliffs that are home to the largest population of the endangered Delacour Langur. Various waders, herons, bitterns, and a breeding pair of Bonelli’s Eagles are often seen here. Leaving Van Long, we’ll head north on Highway 21 to Ba Vi, where we should arrive in time to spend the afternoon birding in the park. Night at Ba Vi headquarters.
Day 21: Ba Vi National Park is a little-visited birding site around forty miles to the west of Hanoi. The weather is often rather cold and misty, but it is good place to look for wintering thrushes including Japanese, Black-breasted, Gray-backed, and Dusky. The forest around the 4,000-foot summit is home to the secretive Rufous-cheeked Laughingthrush, and Red-billed Blue Magpies are common in the gardens around the park headquarters. Later in the day we’ll head to Hanoi and continue to Tam Dao, a hill resort to the north of the capital. Night in Tam Dao.
Day 22: We’ll spend the day birdwatching around the montane evergreen and bamboo forest above the town. Specialties here include Chestnut Bulbul, Gray Laughingthrush, Coral-billed and Streak-breasted Scimitar-Babblers, Collared Babbler, and Greater Rufous-headed and Short-tailed Parrotbills. Winter visitors to Tam Dao include Fujian Niltava. Night in Tam Dao.
Day 23: After our last morning birding around Tam Dao, we’ll drive back to Hanoi. Night in Hanoi.
Day 24: The extension concludes this morning in Hanoi.
Updated: 22 June 2011
Prices
- 2012 Tour Price : $3,600*
- Single Occupancy Supplement : $610
- With Northern Extension : $5,850
- Single Occupancy Supplement : $850
Notes
Maximum group size eight with one leader.
* Tour invoices paid by check carry a modest discount. Details here.
* This tour is organized by our British company, Sunbird. Please review the explanation of our Sunbird pricing here.