GENERAL INFORMATION

This is an account of a 23 days non-birding trip to Vietnam from 23 July – 14 August, where I managed to see a few birds.

I was accompanied on this trip by my sister Marlies Vermeulen, her sister-in-law Marleen Dufraing and of course my girlfriend Willemien van Ginneken

FLIGHT

We flew to Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) from Brussels via Amsterdam and Kuala Lumpur with Malaysian  Airlines – service quite good and flight on time at a cost of € 1050. This flight took approximately 15 hours. The time difference with the Netherlands was 5 hours.

VISA

You do need a visa for Vietnam, currently € 60.

MONEY

The official currency of Vietnam is the Dong. Take travelling cheques with you or cash. The exchange rate at the bank in Saigon was 16.400 Dong to US$1.

FOOD AND DRINK

Many birdwatchers rule out third world destinations as options for holidays fearing strange food, language barriers, sickness, bugs, and galore and intense heat. They needn’t have any such reservations about Vietnam.

Bottled mineral water is widely available, stick to this and bottled soft drinks or Tiger beer.

HEALTH AND SAFETY

Theft is really not a problem in Vietnam. The people are very friendly, easy going and helpful. They smile and greet you and almost without exception respond to a greeting or smile.

For vaccinations consult your own doctor for up to date advice. Generally you should be immunised or “topped up” against hepatitis A and B, Tetanus, Typhoid and Polio. In addition to this you are recommended to take Malaria tablets.

We had virtually no health problems and saw surprisingly few mosquitoes, the only real nuisance being a few of leeches in Cuc Phuong National Park. Leeches are a real pest and you can pick them up not just in the forest but also in damp grass, often when you least expect it. Although there is no complete answer to the problem, as precaution wear long trousers tucked securely into your socks and spray insect repellent liberally on your clothing and shoes! If they do get on to you, you can simply flick or pull them off. They don't leave their head in you or cause infections.

LANGUAGE

Most young people speak English, but the older people speak French. Nearly everywhere English will get you through.

WEATHER

The main rainy season usually lasts from May to October and most birders visit Vietnam between November and April, which is the “dry “ season. However during our visit the weather was quite good throughout, with a few showers, but prolonged rain mostly at night.

TRANSPORT AND ROADS

Vietnam is a very easy place to travel around. The driving is entertaining unless you are the nervous type. Drivers use the horn the entire time even when the road is empty. The custom seems to be hoot and let the world know you are there.

NOMENCLATURE & TAXONOMY

I have decided to follow the English names of James F. Clements (Birds of the World, A CheckList, Fifth Edition, 2000).

COMMON BIRD SPECIES

There are no common bird species in Vietnam and outside the forested areas we visited we hardly saw any birds and the future prospects for any unprotected area look grim. For a detailed report of species and numbers please refer to the systematic list at the end of this report.

REFERENCES

BOOKS

REPORTS

I relied heavily on the excellent report and incredibly detailed list of Brian Gee.

SOFTWARE

BIRDBASE & BIRDAREA

I use this software to keep track of the birds I have seen and to make lists of any country, labelling endemics and birds previously seen in that country, outside it, or both. BirdArea can produce checklists of the birds of any country of Clements’ world birds.

ITINERARY