Ninh Binh to Cuc Phuong: Jungle Hike, Caves & Wildlife Tour

4.33

(9 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

We piled into the minivan just after breakfast in Ninh Binh — still half-awake, honestly — and our guide Minh greeted us with this big grin that made it hard not to feel excited. The drive out toward Cuc Phuong National Park was quiet at first, mist hanging over the rice fields. Minh started telling us about the park’s history (Vietnam’s oldest, apparently), but I kept getting distracted by water buffalo ambling along the road. It took about an hour and a half before we pulled up at the Endangered Primate Rescue Center. I didn’t expect to get so close to gibbons; their calls echoing through the trees sounded almost like laughter. One of the caretakers explained how they’re trying to reintroduce langurs back into the wild — she spoke softly but you could tell she really cared.

Lunch was simple — tofu, greens, rice — but somehow everything tasted fresher out there. Maybe it was just being surrounded by all that green. After eating, Minh led us into the forest for our jungle hike. The air felt heavier under those huge trees; you could smell damp earth and something sweet I couldn’t quite place. We stopped at this massive thousand-year-old tree (Cay Cho Xanh), its roots twisting everywhere like something out of a storybook. Minh told us a legend about it but I only caught half because I was busy watching a butterfly land on my sleeve. There were moments when all you could hear was birds or your own footsteps crunching leaves — kind of peaceful, actually.

Later we had the option to check out this prehistoric cave — some folks skipped it but I went in, mostly out of curiosity (and maybe stubbornness). It was cool inside and smelled faintly of minerals; you could see marks where people lived thousands of years ago. On the way back to Ninh Binh, everyone got quiet again except for Minh humming some old Vietnamese song up front. That part sticks with me for some reason.