While living in Vietnam, we used our weekends to make several short trips out to other parts of southern Vietnam. All of these trips were a short ferry or drive out of the city.
Vung Tau
This was a popular weekend get away and the ferry ride was a much better way to get there than by car because the traffic jams in HoChiMinh City (HCMC) are horrendous! We travelled with friends and family a few times to enjoy the smaller city on the ocean. The fishing boats brought fresh seafood to our dinner plates. We were still able to book via Expedia.ca and our favourite hotel was the Pullman. We even splurged on the breakfast buffett one morning- which was a reasonable price in comparison to North American prices.
We enjoyed the less polluted air, the night markets, fresh seafood and pizza and a chance to be near the ocean.
Cat Tien National Park
We hired a driver and made the 3.5 hour drive to Cat Tien National Park and stayed at the Cat Tien Jungle Lodge. They were very accommodating and helpful. The lodge arranged our tours and it’s a very short walk to catch the ferry across the river to the Park. The ferry takes 5 mins to cross.
We hiked in the hot jungle to admire the huge redwood trees. I had never realized how many different kinds of vines there were. Since it was the dry season the insects were quite manageable! We did not see much wildlife (heat and time of day) and so, luckily, no snakes. It was a nice change from that of traffic noise and pollution to one of clear blue skies and the sounds of insects and birds. The night time noises were amazingly loud but very cool to hear. We enjoyed the lodge’s pool overlooking the river and park. We really enjoyed the conversation with our travel companions too! We also visited the Dao Tien Primate Rescue Centre. It does its best to rehabilitate rescued primates. It’s been illegal to capture the Pygmy Loris and the Golden Cheeked Gibbon since 2007 but many locals are financially lured by the illegal pet trade. Attitudes are slowly changing. The centre tries to make people aware of the need to protect these endangered species. One little guy had only been there 3 days. He was rescued when a student had contacted them through http://go-east.org/ to report that his school had a gibbon for their mascot! Once the primates arrive they are caged until they are medically fit and then they are transferred to the 50 acres of semi-open area to learn how to feed themselves and to start learning how to socialize. If that all goes well then they are fully released into the park. They track them with their radio collars and have had many successes. It was very exciting to see the good work being done.
