After a comically bad tour of Halong Bay we regrouped and headed down to Cuc Phuong National park. From the bus station and after about an hour of intense haggling that filled up 2 pieces of paper with maps, global oil prices and conversion rates, we hired 2 moto drivers to take us to the park entrance (point B on the map) or the top of some mountain 25 km away (point A on the map) or somewhere completely passed all that (point C on the map), we weren't entirely sure. As we hopped on the back of our bikes, my driver, seeing me put on my sunglasses, asked if he could wear Tina's which he saw in the bag. And me, being the brilliant person that I am, handed them right over. Let's just say I remembered that I had given him these right about when Tina and I were looking through pictures of the motobike ride in our room later that afternoon. Brilliant.
Cuc Phuong though did not lose any of its brilliance however, even if viewed through squinting eyes. Tina fell in love with the swinging fellas at the primate rescue center and I helped build a hanging ladder toy for the gibbons. The next day we trudged up on bikes through the jungle out to some pretty expansive and completely empty caves and a thousand year old tree. Ours were the only pedal powered bikes in the lineup of motos at the top of the hill, and everybody we passed on the road (or rather, who passed us) either looked at us like we were crazy or just laughed.
If you're ever in Vietnam and see a moto driver with a new pair of Electric sunglasses, ask him about the kind American traveler who gave them to him.
M
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