Van long Nature reserves and the Delacour's Langur thieves

Van Long Nature Reserve is a small piece of untouched nature in Vietnam that has not been marred by over-commercialisation and over-tourism. It is situated near Ninh Binh and Cuc Phuong National Park. It shares similar scenery as Trang An, towering karsts overlooking rice fields, meandering rivers and lakes. However, what makes Van Long really special in Vietnam is the range of water birds residents here and the high concentration of the remaining near-extinct primates, the Delacour's Langurs.

Several critically endangered SEA animals look like they are overgrown babies in oversized diapers - the tapir and the delacour's langur. The Delcaour's langur is said to have a global population of less than 300, and they are found only in Vietnam. I learnt on my trip that there are 7 troops in the Limestone karsts in Van Long.

The adventure

Hospitality and comfort would describe our stay at Van Long Homestay, a family-run business. The garden pond residents included tadpoles of various kinds and some tiny crabs that appeared after dusk. Small flighty birds flit about the climbing melon vines and fruit trees. Tiny hidden surprises in the form of froggos could be found at nooks and crannies about the house.

Van Long Nature Reserve could be reached by foot quickly due to the proximity of the homestay. The town itself was very undeveloped but thankfully, there is none of that typical vietnamese vehicle chaos in the cities. The air was thick with smoke and smog due to the prevalent burning of thrash and crops along the streets.

With free bicycles from the homestay, we rode along the main street water banks to the nature reserve. Along the banks, we passed many fishing birds, fishing locals, and ducks.

The cloudless sky and intense sun, despite the coolness of the winter months, did not make it a comfortable bicycle ride and not too long after we headed out, we headed back for some respite in the shelter.

Later in the afternoon around 4pm, the recommended timing to sight the monkeys from the boats, we would go to the ticketing counter near the pier to buy a ticket for a chance to spot one of the rarest primates in South East Asia who looks like a monkey wearing diapers. Going for a boat ride in Van Long is a common way to enjoy the scenery and also stand a chance to sight the rare and quirky-looking primate.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxBOA9YNBiI&t=521s

The Boatride

At 4pm, the blueness of the sky faded into a faded into a soft yellow. The sunlight was far less intense and the soothing yellow backdrop was more pleasant for the eyes. In the backdrop, flocks of storks weaved through the maze of karsts. The boatman helped us onto the boat. We told the boat captain, "monkey", which is an English word everyone in Van Long knew despite most not knowing basic English. It was often the reason Caucasian tourists visit this place, and also the source of the loud reverberating howls coming from various karsts in the nature reserves. Then using leg oars, he started paddling in strong and consistent strokes and the boat navigated through a passage surrounded the reeds.

Several kingfishers with brightly colored feather patterns perched on tall reeds flanking the cleared path. Little grebes ahead dart into the waters upon realising they were spotted. Occasionally, the boatman, stopped paddling briefly, to allow us to quickly snap some shots of these avian residents.

The boat had reached a small low hanging and shallow cave. The moment. the boat entered the cave, the air suddenly became noticeably chiller. The boatman stopped paddling and allowed us a quick stop to take in the sights of this small cave. Slightly amplified by the hollowness of the cavern, the water dripping from the cave surroundings became very loud in the sudden absence of the bird sounds and paddling. We left the cave and we moved along the sides of the limestone karst. Loud howls, recognisably from the monkeys, started coming from another karst in the distance. It gave us some hope that we could see the rare and near extinct monkeys despite the vastness of the place. We started the boat ride at the recommended time, we should have some chance, even if its only in the distance. The boatman helped look out at the karsts for signs of monkeys.

Unfortunately, our efforts were turned out to be futile and we eventually hit the end of the route. When we returned to the pier, I handed him a tip for his efforts and thanked him. We headed back to find dinner. Over dinner, we hatched a plan to sight the monkeys. At the crack of dawn, we were going to cycle to the monkey's territories and catch them having breakfast.

The Delacour's Langurs of Van Long

With a rickety bike from the homestay, we cycled to the foot of one of the karsts at the nature reserve.

Further into the trail, an Assam monkey was sitting there on the rock, watching us, like he was guarding the place. Several birds flitted about in the bushes and flew away as we trodded deeper into the field while pushing our bikes through the tall grasses and soft muddy ground. We passed fields of various vegetables and fruiting plants on sticks.

Crossing over to what looked like a farm with some vegetable crops. There was a metal hut. Very soon, a friendly farmer came over, which we later know was because of our large bulky cameras. He mumbled a few words, likely in Vietnamese, that we couldn't understand. Google Translate failed at some point and we conversed in photos. He proudly showed us photos of him with photographers with bazooka-like lens. Then I said, "Monkey", and then he smiled and looked really excited. We agreed on an impromptu tour arrangement and off we went. We arrived at another vegetable field fenced off and the fence had been locked. Crawling under a hole in a fence at the end of the fence, we crept into the field and walked along the soil divider between rows of crops.

In less than 10 minutes, we reached a different large crop field, probably belonging to his neighbour since we had to get through holes in fences instead of using the proper gates. A large group of monkeys could be seen bent over at the edge of the crop field and the bushes, stuffing their face. Some of them seem to be snacking on the vegetables.

Not sure if snail or not. hMmMmMMm

The crop thieves quickly realised our presence and that they were caught red-handed, and fled. Only one fearless girl stayed on to risk danger to continue stuffing her face. Or perhaps she was too pre-occupied to notice us.

The farmer enthusiastically tried to teach us to photograph by miming shooting the camera and pointing in various angles towards where the monkeys were scampering to.

Using Google Translate, he shared that there are 7 troops of the Delacour's Langurs in the area.

After the langurs disappeared, we continued walking on and we saw another troop, but this time only in a distance. We took some shots as the monkeys chilled on the branches of some trees.

Finding the Delacour's Langurs:

• The common way is to take the boat ride. It is 100k VND per person and you buy it from the Booking office near the boat pier. If you are a solo passenger you would have to buy 2 tickets or join another solo person.  
  You tell the boatman "monkey" and he would likely try to help you find them with possible intel amongst the boat captains and also take the extra mile to go a different route. A tip is expected for this extra effort (~100k VND). There isn't a standard route for the boat trip but there are spots where the monkeys have been commonly seen along the boat routes.
• The best time to take the Van Long boat tour is 7.30am or 4pm-4.30pm. The birds are flying back home to their nests then and the sun is less intense. When it is hot in the late mornings and early afternoon, the monkeys tend to hid in the shades and are harder to spot.
• The Van Long boat tour is around an hour.
• The best and easiest way to see the Delacour's Langurs is by guided tour. I highly recommend contacting Cuc Phuong National Park for their Van Long Wildlife tours as they have guides who are familiar with the Langur residents as they help to conduct research and patrols in the area.
  You can find out more on how to book a Delacour's Langur tour by them or visit Cuc Phuong in this guide

Where to stay in Van Long

• Van Long Family Homestay (Mai Trung, Gia Vân, Gia Viễn, Ninh Bình, Ninh Bình, Nanh Binh Province 430000, Vietnam) - One of the cheapest options near the nature reserves but it was an absolutely delightful place. The host can speak English. They offer an excellent Vietnamese breakfast and also free bicycles for guests. There are also several polite resident frogs.

Tips for visiting van long:

• Stay near the nature reserve, since it is the main attraction of the town. You can easily walk to the boat pier or the ticketing office
• There is Grab in Van Long, but it is very pricey compared to rest of Ninh Binh. You probably can get a driver or a ride from your accommodation which is cheaper.
• To get back to Hanoi, you can take the train from Ninh Binh Railway station or just have the group van (around 200k VND) pick you up from your accommodation in Van Long