CUC PHUONG NATIONAL PARK
Cuc Phuong National Park is a karst-dominated mountain area about 60 miles SSW of Hanoi in northern Vietnam. It is mostly covered by subtropical rainforest, though the surrounding low lands are mostly agricultural. The elevations are generally between 500 and 2000 feet above sea level. Cuc Phuong is the oldest national park in Vietnam. There was also a monkey rescue center.
First, just outside the park...some views of the Karst formations that often rise from flat plains...
The mountains (looking toward the park)...
View from a hill towards the surrounding farmland...
In the park, there were a few buildings near the trail entrance to the "giant tree"...
In the forest, there was dense fog at times (and light rain some of the time)...
A 1000 year old tree in the forest--the East Indian almond (Terminalia myriocarpa)...
Looking up the tree--this is actually deciduous (with few leaves at this point, though this tree appears to be near the end of its life)...
A very short palm with large fronds, probably Arenga westerhoutii (the wet conditions resulted in some fog on the camera lens here)...
Arenga palms in a group...
Another small palm, possibly the dwarf fishtail palm (Wallichia siamensis)...
A much larger palm, the rattan palm (Calamus) which is a vine...
A different trail (to a prehistorically inhabited cave) with a bridge...
The cave entrance...
The inside of the cave...
Cliffs near the cave...
Jagged karst in the forest (near the cave)...
A native sweetgum (Liquidambar formosana)...this is deciduous (and native as far south as central Vietnam) but had its new leaves already (this is the tall leafy tree behind the fanned out leafless tree)...
There were a primate rehabilitation center at Cuc Phuong, with especially a lot of langurs, such as these grey shanked douc langurs...
Northern white cheeked crested gibbons...
All of the above pictures on this page were taken in February 2012 by Brandt Maxwell.
Return to the Vietnam/Cambodia Pics Page