Perhaps no place in Vietnam has as many centuries old trees as Cuc Phuong National Park which boasts ‘can’t miss’ nature tours, engaging cultural and wildlife heritages and enchanting scenery. Magnificent limestone mountains rise majestically behind green rice-terraces and traditional stilt houses of the Muong hill-tribe. Some of Asia’s rarest animals are enticing researchers, naturalists and conservationists to this corner of the world.
Nestled between Ninh Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces, about 100 kilometers from Hanoi, the 22,000 hectare forest is the country’s first protected forest. It is famous for its biodiversity, and its trees, some of them with diameters over 10 meters, amaze people.
Cuc Phuong is home to the Muong whose villages dot the park’s perimeter, striking against the dense groves.
Tourists will see waterwheels, bamboo rafts, brocade looms and insights into the unique Muong culture.
Another attraction of the forest is a prehistoric grotto at a height of 40 meters on a limestone mountainside. To reach the cave you must conquer a flight of 200 stone steps. Archeologists believe the cave is 200-230 million years old. Three graves and a human fossil skeleton date back 7,500 years.
At night, visitors like to make a camp fire, listen to the sounds of the forest and discuss prehistoric man.
