22-DAY HARDCODE BIRDING IN VIETNAM

Enter the Nam Cat Tien National Park through the Dong Nai River, and there we shall begin our wildlife exploration in the afternoon. Checkin and have lunch at Cat Tien Jungle Lodge with the river view.

Take a 8-km-walking into the beauty of tropical forest to find out more about the diversity ecosystem and unspoilt wildlife. You can freely ride a bike on small trails through the jungle or simply chill down in the glorious view.

Electric car will transfer you back to the center of the National Park for dinner. Then you will have a memorable night on the night jeep riding to Ta Lai buffer zone for animal spotting like Loris, Pangolins, Civets, …

Enjoy breakfast in the forest with the lively sounds of bird singing and gibbon calling.

Our jeep driver will transfer you to the Crocodile Swap, which is the home to not only Siamese crocodiles but also a lot of rare birds in the World Red Book.

We will bird using jeep tracks and forest trails to seek out the endemic Germain’s Peackock-Pheasanr, other spectacular birds such as Siamese Fireback, Green Peafowl and Scaly-breasted Partridge, endemic Pittas, the endemic Grey-faced Tit-Babbler and a host of other species also known from Malaysia and Thailand.

*Birding highlight: Orange-necked Partridge, Germain's Peacock Pheasant, Siamese Fireback, Green Peafowl, Wreathed Hornbill, Blue-rumped and Bar-bellied Pittas, Pale-headed and Black-and-buff Woodpeckers, Black-and-red, Banded, Dusky Broadbills, Blyth’s Frogmouth, Grey-faced Tit Babbler.

Short drive to Nui San Pass - Di Linh, where you can easily locate certain kind of birds such as Blue and Rusty-naped Pittas, Spotted Forktail, White-cheeked, Black-hooded and Orange-breasted Laughing-Thrushes, Vietnamese Cutia and “Black-headed” Parrotbill, a probable split from the more widespread Grey-headed Parrotbill.

Stay overnight at Bao Loc Homestay.

We will have a fortune to see in person the exclusive Green Cochoa on Nui San Pass in the early morning. Keep driving up to the Langbiang Highland and the vivid French hill-town resort of Da Lat. We will stop to bird on any interesting patches of habitat en route and also pass over several majestic waterfalls.

Leave Di Linh for Da Lat romance city. Dalat is a mid-sized city that looks like a cross between Vietnam and the French Alps. Dalat is very much a niche tourism town, open to those seeking a respite from the heat of the rest of Vietnam. Depending on where you stay, you can walk to most parts around town.

With a progressively-steeper footpath, we will easily access the Langbiang peak with 2169m in height – surrounded with evergreen forest and variety of species. Our goals today are Collared Laughing-Thrush, as well as Yellow-billed Nuthatch and the Vietnamese forms of Cutia, Rufous-winged (Black-crowned) Fulvetta and Black-throated (Grey-crowned) Tit which are sure-fire bets for splitting before too long. This is also the home to the exclusive and handsome Green Cochoa; a number of other Asian and wintering birds will also be encountered.

Nearby to Da Lat is Ta Nung Valley, famous for the relatively recently re-discovered Grey-crowned Crocias which is regularly encountered here. Other endemics such as Black-hooded and Orange-breasted Laughingthrushes and Vietnamese Greenfinch are also possible.

*Birding highlight: Bar-backed Partridge, Silver Pheasant, Red-vented Barbet, Black-browed Barbet (split as Annam Barbet), Red-headed Trogon, Long-tailed Broadbill, Wedge-tailed Green Pigeon, Mountain Imperial Pigeon, Rufous-bellied Eagle, Jerdon’s Baza, Rusty-naped Pitta, Blue Pitta, Burmese Shrike, Indochinese Green Magpie, Eurasian Jay, Slender-billed Oriole, Maroon Oriole, White-throated Rock Thrush, Green Cochoa, Rufous-browed Flycatcher, Blue-and-White Flycatcher, Mugimaki Flycatcher, Snowy-browed Flycatcher, Little Pied Flycatcher, Large Niltava, Lesser Shortwing, White-tailed Robin, Spotted Forktail, Yellow-billed Nuthatch, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Grey-crowned Tit, Grey-bellied Tesia, White-spectacled Warbler, Chestnut-crowned Warbler, Black-hooded Laughingthrush, White-cheeked Laughingthrush, Orange-breasted Laughingthrush, Collared Laughingthrush, White-browed Scimitar Babbler, Streaked Wren Babbler, Eyebrowed Wren Babbler, Pygmy Wren Babbler, Rufous-capped Babbler, Vietnamese Cutia, Chestnut-fronted Shrike-Babbler, Da Lat Shrike-Babbler (split from White-browed), Blue-winged Minla, Black-crowned Fulvetta, Grey-crowned Crocias, Rufous-backed Sibia, Black-headed Sibia, Black-headed Parrotbill, Mrs Gould’s Sunbird, Streaked Spiderhunter, Vietnamese Greenfinch, Red Crossbill, Brown Bullfinch.

Set off to Ban Me Thuoc early in the morning and stop at Lak Lake for some waterbirds and wintering warblers along the route.

Our target here is Mekong Wagtail, but other species such as Black-headed Woodpecker, Collared Falconet, White-rumped Falcon, Chestnut-bellied Nuthatch are among the specialties.

Overnight at Buon Me Thuot Coffee House.

Seek for Mekong Wagtail at Serepok River in the morning then we will head for the unspoiled Mang Canh Forest.

For a full day birding at Mang Canh, our main target is the Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush, but we will also be on the lookout for Black-hooded Laughingthrush, Pale-capped Pigeon, the endemic Ratchet-tailed Treepie and we have another chance for Yellow-billed Nuthatch, as well as our first chance to see the Brown Hornbill.

*Birding highlight: Pale-capped Pigeon, Northern Brown Hornbill, Stripe-breasted Woodpecker, White-winged Magpie, Ratchet-tailed Treepie, Pale Blue Flycatcher, Grey-crowned Tit, Rufous-faced Warbler, Grey-headed Parrotbill, Indochinese Wren-babbler, Chestnut-eared Laughingthrush, Black-hooded Laughingthrush, Grey-crowned Crocias (rare), Rufous-backed Sibia, Grey-faced Warbler, Blue-rumped, Blue and Rusty-naped Pittas.

We will bird a few more to complete our bird list in Mang Den area.

We will transfer to Dak To Town and spend one night here enjoying local vibe surrounding.

If time permits, we can drive further to the small town of Tu Mo Rong and stay in a guesthouse here.

Head up to Mang Ri Pass in the early morning to search for not only the indigenous Golden-winged Laughingthrush, but also several precious kind of birds such as Indochinese Fulvetta and Black-crowned Barwing.

We have a great opportunity of finding the recently-described species and others at the forest edge, and to look for the Brown Hornbill, Indochinese Wren-Babbler (formerly known as Short-tailed Scimitar-Babbler), White-winged Magpie, Red-tailed Laughingthrush, Himalayan Cutia, Green Shrike-babbler and a another chance for Yellow-billed Nuthatch.

Set off to Bach Ma National Park and seeking for Hodgson’s Frogmouth in the evening.

One night spent in the jungle at Phong Lan Villa.

Morning birding in Bach Ma. Here is the perfect location for searching Indochinese Wren-Babbler, Chestnut-collared (Indochinese) Yuhina, Black-throated Laughingthrush, Rufous-throated Partridge.

We will seek for the endemic but elusive Annam Partridge. Later we will do some foothill birding to look for the Mask Laughingthrush in the afternoon.

You will be transferred to Khe Sanh City of Quang Tri Province in the late afternoon.

We will leave for Shamu Pass early in the morning.

This is still a quite new spot near the Laos border – which is home to the near-endemics Rufous-cheeked Laughingthrush, Indochinese Wren Babbler and the rarely-seen Moustached Barbet.

We will drive to Phong Nha National Park right away in the morning.

Relax after your long day at Phong Nha Lake House resort.

Our two major birding targets species in Phong Nha are the near-endemic Sooty Babbler and Limestone Leaf-warbler. Here we also have much more chances for a range of birds including Siamese Fireback, Red-collared Woodpecker, Brown Hornbill as well as the isolated form of Sulphur-breasted Warbler now split as “Limestone Warbler”.

We will complete a predawn search for two endangered primates - Black and Ha Tinh Leaf Monkeys as well as the beautiful Red-shanked Duoc langur before transferring North to Cuc Phuong National Park.

We might stop over to stay overnight at Thanh Hoa City.

On the way heading to Cuc Phuong National Park, we will stop over at Van Long Nature Reserve. We will take a sampan ride to seek out birds and visit some dramatic limestone cliffs that are one of the last haunt of the critically endangered Delacour’s Leaf-Monkey and other interesting kinds of bird such as Pheasant-tailed Jacana, White-browed Crake, Asian Openbill, Yellow Bittern, Cinnamon Bittern, White-throated Kingfisher.

Relax after a long day at Cuc Phuong Resort.

Head up to Cuc Phuong National Park for bird watching all day.

Enjoy lunch with local cuisines at house-on-stilts in the center of the park.

Take a short trek through Cuc Phuong National Park and learn more about the diversity fauna and flora. Explore the beauty of nature by visiting the dense jungle, green grass valley, you can also witness the giant ancient trees and of course biodiversity ecosystem in Cuc Phuong National Park.

Here you will have chance to photograph some kinds of rare birds such as Pitta species, Red-collared Woodpecker and White-winged Magpie as well as a supporting cast which includes Malayan Night-Heron, Pied Falconet, Eared Pitta, Silver-breasted Broadbill, White-tailed Flycatcher, Fujian Niltava and the annamensis subspecies of Limestone Wren-Babbler.

We will spend the last morning in Cuc Phuong looking for any kinds of birds if we’ve missed them the previous 2 days.

Set off to Tam Dao Mountain in the afternoon.

Spend your night chilling out at Belvedere Tam Dao Resort.

Our targets in Tam Dao are the Blue-naped Pitta, Short-tailed Parrotbill, Grey Laughingthrush, and Streak-breasted Scimitar Babbler. Seeing several other sought-after species will be the best way to finalise our trip, and here we may see Ashy Bulbul, Black-throated Laughingthrus, Chestnut Bulbul, Fujian Niltava, White-gorgeted Flycatcher, Coral-billed Scimitar Babbler, Spot-necked Babbler, Chestnut-collared Yuhina (split from Striated), Greater Rufous-headed and Short-tailed Parrotbills, and Collared Treepie.

Another night at Belvedere Tam Dao Resort.

We will spend a full morning birding at Tam Dao Summit, and a little bit time in the mid-altitudes of the mountain.

We will return to Ha Noi after your lunch.