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Vietnam when it could be


sgvcns

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After a night in the out of control city that is Saigon it was off to Nha Trang.

What a setting for craft beer

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Of course the trip was about palms so next day it began

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Reasonable scenery

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The catch is sorted

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But palms await

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Keep walking and there is Licuala bracteataP1010899.thumb.JPG.a6a84e6d2d97b443c140abea4894b738.JPG

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Walk past the pretty rocks

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Why that looks like Licuala parvula

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Edited by sgvcns
beer
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More Licuala parvula

Quite a pretty small Licuala

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What I believe is Licuala honbaensis

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Stunning scenery when you can tear your eyes of the palms

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So time for lunch on the way back which was a $2 bowl of Pho.

If in Nha Trang would surely recommend Hon Ba Nature Reserve

Came back through the more rural inland

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Staged photo. I prefer not to ride in the madness of Vietnam roads

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The next day it was off again early to the hills to the west on the new road to Dalat

Hau was my means of getting around.

I went on the back of his motorbike as the day before

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But the palms were the reason to be here

Pinanga spiralis

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Pinanga annamensis

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Licuala glaberrima

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Of course in my mind one of the prettiest especially when small is Lanonia hexasepala

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General shots of the forest

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Then back to Nha Trang

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So finally a day to relax before heading off to Kon Tum in the Central Highlands

a leisurely walk along the waterfront. Nha Trang is very developed for foreign tourists especially Chinese and Russian on package tours.

Must be a ghost town at the moment.

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When norovirus was all you worried about on cruise ships

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Headed to the markets to change money at a gold shop

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The view from my hotel. Bargain at $20(all costs are in AUD)

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The next day was the main trip for me. Back to the magical forest East of Kon Tum

 

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Excellent post Steve...thanks for getting me all inspired!

Gold Coast, Queensland Latitude 28S. Mild, Humid Subtropical climate. Rainfall - not consistent enough!

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Thanks Steve for posting pics. Ive not been to this section of Nam. There are many parts I'd love to explore next time we go. It's a beautiful country.

Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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Daryl and Tyrone

I'll be back and space probably available

Time gives me experience in the good palm areas. At least for what I'm interested in.

Lots of coconuts to photograph but meh.

Next day headed north via a palm hill to Bon Ma Thuot 

Stopped for nibbles

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The chariot was ready

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Note to self Do not head here on a Sunday.

The entry is locked to cars so had a long hot walk and not the 10 mins in car

Time for photos but gee it was as hot and dry as it looked

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On the plus a motorcycle stopped to take me to where I was going at the behest of Hau

More Licuala parvula

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Grows in a tough area

 

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And Lanonia verrucosa I believe

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All in together

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The loggers and hunters obviously came here often

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Then the hotter walk back

As per normal I had the steripen to treat water from streams to stay hydrated ish.

Then a worker stopped and signalled me to get on the back.

His motorbike was held together with willpower and wire. No english obviously but so generous. Needless to say no suspension either with me on the back

It is the generosity of the people away from the tourist areas that warms my heart.

Long drive to BMT due to the delay though.

Didn't get there till dark

 

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Great report about the country and those Licualas!

Since Vietnam is definitely a place I am going to visit one day I enjoyed every single image of your documentation!

Thank you very much!

best regards from Okinawa -

Lars

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Arrived in BMT and off for a delicious beef hot pot full of all the good bits.

Passed the downtown bridal street

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Next day was a full day travel via Pleiku to Kon Tum so some scenery

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Luckily it was durian season which is a weekness of mine. Yum

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Even time to stretch the legs in Pleiku

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Settled in to Kon Tum to finish the last of the durian and the next day to the forest to the east

 

 

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The following photos are from the area east of Kon Tum.

The larger Pinanga is declinata and the smaller is kontumensis.

Also here is Lanonia gialaensis a real beauty.

This is a beautiful area but hard to get photos slogging through jungle using a GPS to find your way out at the end

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It was interesting to see gialaensis shooting from a snapped stem

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Anyway more photos from the same area. I was here for only 4 days and had planned much more time there this year

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Every morning I grabbed a couple of Banh Mi and fruit for the road as there was nothing except jungle. Not even much traffic.

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Licuala sp

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Never get tired of kontumensis

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Aspidistra?

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Alpinia sp fairly common also

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Stopped for beers at Mang Den and tourists!

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Next off to Danang over 2 days stopping at Kham Duc. 

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The caption of the staged photo on the bike made me laugh! My wife and I met in and lived in Vietnam for a year and those roads are ridiculous! And the sidewalks (which are basically roads there lol). Such a beautiful country, though! And HCMC is a lot of fun to live in if you have money.

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Never really spent much time in Saigon just nights on the way somewhere else.

I do like Hanoi a lot and always try to spend a few nights in the old quarter. Definately north vs south still going on.

Seen some pretty wild driving on highway 1 but putting a divider between lanes helps    sort of.

As far as cycads go I don't really pursue them like I do palms(think GPS points from collection data to track them down) but certainly see quite a few.

Cycas don't do much for me much prefer Zamia.

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I was looking at stopping at a small remnant patch up a steep hill and through a farmers cassava field.

The year before I collected seed of a zingiber species and was hoping to get a flower shot for id.

No luck on the ginger unfortunately but Pinanga annamensis still going strong

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The view back across the cassava

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Further along the road still beautiful

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To market to market

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You know you are off the beaten track when...

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Another species I was keen to see was Nenga banaensis.

A poorly grown one at a roadside eatery

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The last stop before Danang was to get to the west of Bach Ma where it is known

Went on a back road but fate took over

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The car wasn't going across that.

I decided to come from the north when I was in Hue and hope for better luck

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I stayed in Danang for a few days before the next stage of the palm hunt.

Most tourists fly in and head straight to Hoi An but Hoi An is not to my taste. Seems like a Vietnamese disneyland with stores to cater to kitch clothes and jewellery.

It is of course pretty and it is good that all the new building is trying to be sympathetic to the old architecture.

Anyway Danang is a fast growing port city.

The best memory was watching the Brisbane Broncos getting smashed by the Parramatta Eels with some Brisbane supporters. Made my day.

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Beautiful at night

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Typical of what I was eating about $3

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So had the next day to relax before heading onward

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P1020173.thumb.JPG.58313f5cfc20a9da2e640821ff359d7a.JPGI'd arranged a driver for the next day to transfer to Hue. With palm stops of course

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The next day was off to Hue.

First palm stop was at Son Tra Penninsula "monkey mountain" .

Very close to Danang 

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Found a fairly nice form of Lanonia centralis

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It was a vigorous clumper. More so than other forms I've seen

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Also there was a large Cycas with juveniles

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Lovely spot but hot and sweaty forest. Needed the GPS to find my way out again. Very thick in places.

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Next stop was before the Hai Van Pass over the coast to Lang Co

Lovely Chuniophoenix suoitienensis

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Doing their thing

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Time for a late lunch in Lang Co

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Back in Hue for the next stage

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I have been following your posts about Vietnam. Fascinating picture of a country much more impressive than I would have known. And good photography. Thanks for posting.

One question - What is the source of your species IDs, especially the Licualas, most being species that I have never heard of.

Mike Merritt

Big Island of Hawaii, windward, rainy side, 740 feet (225 meters) elevation

165 inches (4,200 mm) of rain per year, 66 to 83 deg F (20 to 28 deg C) in summer, 62 to 80 deg F (16.7 to 26.7 Deg C) in winter.

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Mike

Andrew Henderson released his book "The Palms of Vietnam" last year.

This is a wonderful publication that has been in the making for many years.

Recommend everyone with a palm interest have a look.

NYBG info

I went for my first palming trip there in 2014 and have been back every year bar 1 since. Still amazed every time.

Steve

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The easy and wonderful place near Hue to see palms is Bach Ma National Park.

TNT travel do daily trips here for around $35 including a packed lunch. Bargain.

I have been here multiple times and would return any time I'm in the area. One of the most beautiful walks to go on.

Palms of interest to me are Lanonia magalonii and Pinanga declinata. Both are locally prolific.

The top of the mountain was a helicopter spot in the war and so was poisoned and is growing back slowly.

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Razor wire is still around at the top

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Beautiful none the less

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Now on to the walk down the river negotiating waterfalls

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Lunch time with the rest of the group

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Didn't take many magalonii photos as I have enough but it was seeding well

Pinanga declinata

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Lovely forest

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Even a seeding rattan. Did not collect

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Giant worm

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Everyone made it out.

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The most gratifying thing was money was actually being spent here. Bins provided etc

I'll be back

That night I arranged a driver to get around the west of the park to chase Nenga banaensis

 

 

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Next morning I headed to where I hoped to find Nenga b

It was so wet that I struggled on all fours up the steep section where they had just harvested eucs.

They use them as a quick growing crop for cooking etc

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You can see the track I was following and it looked promising ahead.

First was Caryota sympetala

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Further along and there was my goal.

It was growing beside what I believe is Licuala dakrongensis

Man it was wet

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Side by side with Lic dak

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So happy to have spotted and collected Nenga ban

 

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The forest it was in was beautiful.

Did I mention how wet it was?

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The last photo my camera ever took. The wet killed it. Luckily the sun was coming out as I wasn't sure how going down the muddy hill would end up(on my arse it turned out)

It was treacherous enough without the rain.

 

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Getting out of the forest caused a bit of commotion.

Apparently foreigners are not allowed here and so local police "citizens" were very keen to have a wee chat. This is hill tribe country near the Laos border and so foreigners are treated with suspicion. They would have had to deal with lots of American bombing etc as it is near the Ho Chi Minh trail.

Also some mention of land mines and I did see a strange fenced area that made me cautious.

The driver just told them I liked looking at the countryside and back to Hue with full pockets.

The rest of the trip was relaxing in Hanoi and a few days is Singapore on the way home.

And DURIAN

Cheers

Steve

 

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Thank you for the photos! Really helps to brighten the quarantine :) Very beautiful place.

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-Krishna

Kailua, Oahu HI. Near the beach but dry!

Still have a garden in Zone 9a Inland North Central Florida (Ocala)

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Glad you enjoyed the photos.

I had changed my trip to end of September but I don't think that will happen.

Let alone Sarawak in July.

Australia has done very well to the moment as has Vietnam. Other countries not so well. 

Stay well

Steve

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On 4/22/2020 at 1:54 PM, sgvcns said:

 

Didn't take many magalonii photos as I have enough but it was seeding well

Pinanga declinata

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Lovely forest

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Even a seeding rattan. Did not collect

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Giant worm

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Everyone made it out.

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The most gratifying thing was money was actually being spent here. Bins provided etc

I'll be back

That night I arranged a driver to get around the west of the park to chase Nenga banaensis

 

 

I took a photo of the exact Lanonia you took a picture of surrounded by razor wire on Bach Ma. Did you go down into the tunnel near that palm? The north Vietnamese built it when they took over the area. I went down in without a light then turned my phone light on to see these weird centipedes on the walls near my face. A bit eerie. After getting back to our stay in Hoian that night I did some research and found out they are highly venomous!!!!!!!

Also did you walk down the path to the bottom of that waterfall. Its about a 300m drop to the bottom and you can feel the temp rise as you descend into the lower altitude. Going down was hard because every step was different and the hand rails had totally rotted away in places. Also there were no flat landing areas every now and again. It was just straight down and if you tripped you were going down at high speed with multiple broken bones I reckon. Going back up, I actually thought I was going to have a heart attack. The grade was so steep and I was crawling on hands and knees to get back up. I reckon the angle was 30-45 degrees in places. No wonder they have signs at the top saying you have to be mega fit and not have a heart complaint to descend. I consider myself reasonably fit, but I was actually thinking that I was going to die in the the Vietnamese rainforest, which wouldn't be a bad way to go, but my wife was worried and my mate who came along said I was as white as a sheet of paper. Our French guide said he'd only been down once in the middle of the cool season. He did better than me being a bit younger but he was straining. We did it at the end of March. The view of the waterfall from the bottom is amazing. The land still drops away into a canyon at the bottom and I went for a scout through the forest onward from where the path ends and saw some undisturbed stands of Lanonia as well as some Caryota. Further along you would probably slip on the leaf litter down into the canyon. I was very careful cos the leaf litter with a bit of moisture on that angle can be tricky.

However I enjoyed every minute of Bach Ma and we now reminisce about our crazy climb down and back up for that waterfall that nearly killed us. The climb up Mt Gower on Lord Howe Island although taller and much longer was not that hard.

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Millbrook, "Kinjarling" Noongar word meaning "Place of Rain", Rainbow Coast, Western Australia 35S. Warm temperate. Csb Koeppen Climate classification. Cool nights all year round.

 

 

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