Cuc Phuong National Park — Attraction in Ninh Bình Province

We stayed 2 nights pretty close to the entrance of the national park. After paying the entrance fee you are ready to go and are allowed to dříve deep into the national park. It's basically just following one road and we didn't see anything while driving on this road... no Wonder... I mean the road is right through the whole park... loud cars and vehicles use this road the whole day... massive busses dříve like crazy to bring hundreds of people to the parking lot ať the end of the long road (approx 20km). So how are you supposed to see anything on the way if all the animals get scared away... As soon as we arrived ať the big parking lot there was a huuuge company celebration of locals using the microphone on 1000dB to make sure no wild animals are close to that area...... what a shame. It was just ridiculous. I mean it's a national park... we came there to enjoy peace, silence and do some trekking. It was a Real shit show. So the first day we arrived there ať about 1pm and the lady ať the office told us to be back ať the front gate ať 4pm... so we started walking away from all the people and sounds. We went left from the parking lot and followed a longer way straight to a clearing. Went left around the clearing to a small damaged tower/gate building. Passed it. And then ať a crossing we Went right into the jungle. After a while we noticed that this is no trek for just having a quick trek through the jungle so unfortunately we needed to go back after 1,5h hours cause we "had to be ať the gate ať 4pm" - I mean that's what the Lady told us... So we Went back to the parking lot where the Music was still banging the shit out of nature... Ridiculous atmosphere... Back ať the gate with our motorbike short before 4pm we just noticed that nobody else was coming back and we were kinda the only ones... back ať the office I asked and an other person told me it's open till 7pm so we could spend 3 more hours in the Park... well cheers for nothing... It takes some time to go from the Main gate to the parking lot. Start trekking and going back so better start in the morning and be one of the first ones in the Park. So in the end of the first day it was just a bad experience cause Lack of time and wrong information. Sooo We Went on the next day. Early in the morning. Back to the office. New ticket. Got told it's open till 7pm... easy... drove to the parking lot. Saw many people camping (seemed like a whole school). Started our trekking on the right side of the parking lot. It was a chill 5 hours hike. We had a few Breaks. Just enjoyed the nature. Went into the small cave till the end (torch, phone needed). Saw the ancient trees. It's an easy hike with a lot of up and downs. No easy stairs or trails the whole time. Better do it with good weather. If you wanna see monkeys we have a hint for you... if you take the 5 ancient tree loop before the cave and after the peak I guess look around and always take a few steps stand still. Listen. The monkeys sit really up high and seem pretty chill up there. They don't really jump around or run on the ground. They are in the crown of the tree. So our best bet was close to the cave area where the cliffs were. It's amazing nature out there. Just get away from the noisy people... On our way back to our motorbike we met sooo many local family's who started the trekking... and I mean they had an age range between 1 and 100... we had to take so many breaks cause we didn't want to stick with them (they were loud as fuck and we wanted to see some animals...) and in our opinion the trek is not elderly people or small kids... they couldn't really manage to walk forward and needed help so many times... it just slows down all the other people... no offend but the locals seemed like having no respect at all for the nature around them. They also just threw the rubbish on the ground and couldnt care less.

Don't go to the endangered primate rescue center. Just don't do it. It seemed more like a breeding station. Getting money and donations to keep monkeys in small cages. Real shit...

DON'T GO THERE (by yourself) !!!!!! We tried the experience "go to Cuc Phuong Park by yourself" and it was HORRIBLE-TERRIBLE-DREADFUL !!! We slept in the Park, the room was disgusting and stinking. We wanted to shower before sleeping : no water !!! The problem is, there is no manager on the site or even people working for the "hotel", only the waitress's !!! And as it was late, everybody was gone. Fortunately I found someone who could fix the problem. But on the morning, IT HAPPENED AGAIN !!! Besides the restaurant is not good at all, the breakfast a joke.

We asked at the park reception if they had binoculars to rent for the day, they hadn't. But after looking threw thing the lady found a pair and tried to make us pay 10$ for the day ! ARE YOU KIDDING ME ??!! So we negotiated. The park is a disaster concerning indications and signs. You start a walk that is supposed to last 30 minutes, 3 hours later you are still walking !!! And everywhere you stop they try to make you pay for the parking !

When we left the park, we complained about the dirtiness and the smell of the room and about the water problems, saying that we didn't want to pay the 20$ (that were already way to much for that disgusting while we were supposed to have a bungalow). The guy said that there was nothing he could do as he was not the hotels manager. We asked him to call them but he never did. Then he got angry and he wouldn't give our passport back if we didn't pay...so we paid.

We hated he park ! SO NEVER SPEND THE NIGHT IN THE PARK AND NEVER GO BY YOURSELF ! As often in Vietnam you have to...

Absolutely beautiful canopy forest with over 300 bird species.

We did a day visit, I won't stay here more than a day, except if you want to camp for one night in the forest with a guide. Other than that there is only so much you can do in the park as there is only one road with limited trekking routes. Bathrooms are filthy and restaurants in the area are limited and over priced. I do hope they upgrade the facilities in the future.

Some activities, which include visiting the primate and carnivore conservation centres, which include additional costs. It is definitely worth it and the information is very insightful into how these animals were rescued and to see how they rehabilitate them to be released back into nature.

Beautiful trekking routes, but please note they are +-20 kilometers from the entrance of the park which you have to travel either by car, scooter or bicycle - it is a dangerous narrow road, as the cars speed around the corners. The road is wet which makes it easy for the scooters to slide. Also, unfortunately the "Thousand Year Old Tree" is said to be rotten but there are other beautiful trees in the forest.

Bicycles - I have read previous posts, they have since upgraded their bicycles with new ones.

The botanical garden has a bird hide which you can climb up to (a bit technical, please see...