Cuc Phuong Night Tour: Quiet and mysterious

Recently, Cuc Phuong Garden has suddenly dominated all internet platforms, not only because this time "the forest is in a festival" with butterflies blooming like flying flowers, but mainly because of the appearance of "Cuc Phuong National Park Tour by electric car at night". And of course, it is an interesting experience, taking us away from the bustling Capital to find the green forest.

Nestled on a majestic limestone mountain range, Cuc Phuong National Park is a nature reserve and national special-use forest located in the three provinces of Ninh Binh, Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa. The park covers an area of over 22,000 hectares, with its center located in Nho Quan district, Ninh Binh province.

This is the first national park in Vietnam and is also the place voted and honored by the World Travel Awards as Asia's leading national park for 5 consecutive years (from 2019 - 2023).

Over time, the forest has not only preserved its grandeur, but also become a common home for endangered flora and fauna.

Besides its conservation role, Cuc Phuong National Park has long been famous as an eco-tourism area for nature lovers.

Compared to historical sites, building a night tour in the old forest seems to be a difficult way to do tourism. Because few people are brave enough to step into the sacred forest when darkness has spread throughout the caves and alleys. But in Cuc Phuong, this night tour is really worth looking forward to.

At exactly 7:00 p.m., we arrived at the main gate and the electric car slowly took the group to the edge of the forest. Darkness was falling, the entrance to the forest began to weave through the canopy of towering ancient trees. Leading us in that dark night was not the light of the headlights but the warm introduction from the tour guide, who was also the rangers of Cuc Phuong National Park. They were like "living books" about this forest with more than 2,000 species of plants and hundreds of rare animals that needed strict conservation. The great trees that we passed by and the exotic flowers swaying in the wind were all explained by the "forest keeper" with passion and pride.

I have to admit that walking in the middle of the forest in such low light conditions gives us the feeling of walking in a mysterious, ghostly space.

Knowing that the guests were still somewhat confused, Mr. Pham Cuong - the tour guide of the group said: " Young people call this a night tour, but we use a more beautiful name: "Forest bathing". It can be understood that everyone lets their body and soul relax in the atmosphere of the forest with all their senses ".

The deeper the car went into the forest, the more the phone signal began to fade. From then on, all worries, troubles, urgent emails, deadlines… were left behind.

What is even more special is that the "flying stars" that many people have been waiting for have finally appeared. Flickering in the bushes are fireflies - a unique night specialty of Cuc Phuong National Park.

Every April and May, fireflies begin to bloom, sparkling in the middle of the forest, making anyone who comes to Cuc Phuong long to see them.

We thought we would see thousands of fireflies lighting up the forest, but perhaps our trip was not so lucky.

Fireflies are a species of insect that is very sensitive to the weather, so on humid days, accompanied by a bit of cold wind, the fireflies are also less numerous. Although not many, it is enough to create a magical space in the quiet forest.

Just like that, the car slowly moved and stopped at the section with the most fireflies. Looking at the "flying stars" hidden in the bushes and grass, Mr. Trung - the oldest guest in the group called this a trip back to childhood, back to the past: " The most fun thing in the past was to go catch fireflies and put them in the sedge to make lanterns. That was the party of light of our childhood during the evacuation years !". Now, the silhouettes of the fireflies in the night are like "The passion that no one expected, sleeping somewhere, now overflowing".

Indeed, for young people in big cities nowadays, there is no way to see fireflies anymore, so more or less, these are still rare experiences that are hard to find in everyday life. Besides, you will not be able to find any clip reviewing everything about this night tour, because it is pitch black all around. People can use specialized photography equipment, combined with all kinds of exposure techniques to maybe record a little bit, but to enjoy the most beautiful scenery, you can only do it through your own eyes.

At about 19:45, leaving the night stars behind, we started on the wildlife viewing route.

Sitting in the car, Mr. Cuong told us about many characteristics of the animals and also said that they are now much more daring. Here we can take pictures freely, but we are not allowed to use the flash and need to keep quiet so as not to affect the night hunting of wild animals.

In the dark and quiet space, the only light here is probably the flashlight that can be seen 100 meters away, which the guide points left and right to illuminate the animals.

People say that going to see animals at night like this is similar to the trend of cloud hunting among young people, meaning that if you are lucky, you can encounter many different species of animals, even extremely rare species.

While everyone was still looking around, suddenly there was a rustling sound that made everyone fall silent.

Following the guide's lights, we saw deer grazing. Even though cars were slowly passing by in the distance, they were still leisurely foraging and enjoying their home.

Although not as dramatic as Nat Geo (National Geographic), the famous American nature discovery TV channel, the Cuc Phuong night tour is indeed very creative. In the midst of this modern life, few people imagine that the experience of trekking through the forest at night can be so poetic. It makes us realize that the forest is the home of wild animals, and humans are just small tourists who come to take refuge here.

Following the main road, we were taken to the final leg of the program. This is the Rescue, Conservation and Development Center of Cuc Phuong National Park.

Arriving at the small tunnel, visitors continue their journey to visit the home of rare animals, seeing with their own eyes pangolins, wild cats, civets, otters...

Here we heard about the animals that came to this reserve, each with their own story and most of their names originated from that encounter, such as Dai Lai (wild cat), Hoi An (civet), Meo (mouse civet)... The "treasures" at Cuc Phuong really took us from one surprise to another.

After a 1 hour and 30 minute journey, our group headed back along the main road to the starting point.

For those who have not experienced it, it would be thought that it was just a groping trip in the dark. In fact, during that trip, there was also the rustling of the wind, sometimes an animal roared, causing the whole group to fall silent. Sometimes, because I could not see clearly, I was startled when I came across patrols walking along the forest path on duty.

We always have "forest rangers" by our side.

Forest guides have different characteristics compared to long-distance guides. In addition to having experience and being familiar with every small feature of the terrain, they also have the ability to forecast the weather, predict any unusual changes that may occur to deal with possible risks.

One more thing, if I hadn't experienced it myself, I wouldn't have known that the amazing nature is the connecting thread, allowing us to meet wonderful friends.

Although strangers, with an age gap of several decades, they are connected by a common soul.

In the middle of the old forest, there is a generation of elders sharing life stories with the younger generation about a difficult time, with the love and determination of the forest rangers for nature and the mountains and forests. And it seems that those 5km of forest road shortens the generation gap, so that now for us it is a magical journey. The more we explore, the more we feel responsible for preserving and protecting nature, and the more we appreciate the people who are silently protecting the forest, carrying the mission of connecting the forest with life.

Just like that, the journey through the forest of "amateurs" like us became more exciting. The deeper we went into the forest, the more mysterious this wild nature felt.

Even though this night tour does not have magical 3D mapping lights or modern speakers, there are sparkling "flying stars" and all the different sounds have combined to form a unique "music" that belongs only to the great forest.

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