Vietnam trip 2014

[sgvcns]

A month ago I journeyed back to Vietnam to explore some areas for palm.

As ever my interest is with palms of the understorey variety.

My wife and myself were in asia on a kid free holiday(been 16 years).

After the HSI conference post tour Linda headed home and I carried on to Vietnam.

My first stop was Hue and I arranged to do a tour next day to Bach Ma National Park.

The visitors gate was impressive but I didn't take photos of the golden canes or royals,

The lower forest was regrowth from defoliation in the American war but at the top the forest was very good.

An interesting vine

The main species were naturally rattans but the standouts for me was a Lanonia species ( probably magalonii ) and a very pretty Pinanga which I think is declinata.

The rattans I leave to yourselves.

[sgvcns]

At the top of the mountain was the pagoda and prayer bell.

This was used as a landing for helicopters in the war and so was again recovering from deforestation.

The cloud came in on the way down

[palmazon]

Thank you

& please share more

[sgvcns]

I should also say that these areas were targeted because the species were likely to grow well in Brisbane with 1000m + and a marked dry season.

The next stage was to descend down the 5 lakes trail.

Safety equipment even

Scenery and more palms

Lunch was at a nice swimming pool

Carrying on down

We arrived at Do Quyen waterfall

We then walked out back to the road

It was a tiring day for some

[realarch]

Welcome back Steve, looks like an interesting journey. Look forward to sharing more of your trip.

Tim

[sgvcns]

Tim

I had a ball in Vietnam.

Such an easy country to travel in and still very cheap.

Maybe I'll take the kids for a jungle adventure there after Colombia next year

Steve

[sgvcns]

Unbeknown to me I had landed in the middle of the moon festival which involves drums and lion dancing.

In Vietnam this is a major kiddie fun time.

Anyway next day I decided to have the day in Hue and head back to Bach Ma the day after.

I was a bit disappointed that the palm seed that I wanted all seemed unripe.

Since returning the seed from the Pinanga has started sprouting so that was exciting.

Anyway walking around Hue across the Perfume River.

[sgvcns]

I stopped to get running repairs on the waterproof pouch I use for my camera

Had a snack of fresh baguette with vietnamese filling. 50c and they were great everywhere I went and all different.

Time for lunch

That night I tried to get photos of the festival fun with varied success

All in all a fun day and back to Bach Ma the next day

[comic097]

You've painted a great picture of Vietnam Steve, Would love to get there one of these days, thanks for sharing.

Paul

[fan palm]

cool photos Steve and a cool looking pinanga. agree Vietnam is a great place to visit. we spent a while in the north a couple of years back and will definitely return. it was actually the 1000 year anniversary in Hanoi which was pretty crazy... look forward to your next travel pics!

cheers

Harry

[Mike in Nelson]

Nice pics. I was in Vietnam back in '04 but wasn't a palm nut back then. Was blind to everything related to palms unfortunately . Is the mist photo of some Caryota in habitat?

[Daryl]

Keep those photos coming Steve! Looks like a great place to hunt for palms.

Daryl

[PalmnutVN]

Must get up to Bach Ma myself some time soon..... It's just a shame that it is too dangerous to go walking about in the jungles by yourself here.

That said, next years plans include Cat Ba Island to see if I can find Livistona halongensis

[Jeff Searle]

Steve,

I enjoy pictures like this ALL the time. If more, please post them. A friend of mine wants us to go next summer sometime. We've heard nothing but positive and good things about this country.

[paulgila]

wonderful shots, steve! how was the language barrier where you were?

[sgvcns]

Some replies before I post the next round.

Mike that is indeed a Caryota and my guess would be obtusa.

As far as walking around I was assured that Bach Ma was safe and had been cleared.

The areas I went to were considered safe as I was above the DMZ area mainly or in the forest around Dalat on a new road that was totally isolated in the war.

Cambodia would be another great palm spot but I understand it is still riddled with landmines. The south of Vietnam would be more of a problem.

As far as English speaking anything involving tourists is usually no problem.

Food may involve pointing etc as locals in their normal life have no real English.

If or when I go back to Bach Ma I would stay at least one night in a Villa on the Mountain. The hotel is only open seasonally. The Villas do not have a great reputation but looked OK from the outside. There is a retaurant up top as well.

Steve

[sgvcns]

The next morning I was back to Bach Ma doing the same walk. As ever there is always a different view.

A friend was in the forest to say hello

Different views

Still more rattans which are very prolific and diverse.

Better views of the Pinanga aff declinata

Hoping for the Lanonia seed to sprout

Nice Zing

[sgvcns]

The cloud moved in again.

Again it was more tiring for some.

This time I really covered some k's doing a big search for ripe seed. I think by late Sept the Lanonia would be riper definately.

I did see some with colour change so am hopeful but if they are like Licuala they may take nearly a year to sprout.

The good thing was back to party town Hue

The next day I was on a plane to Dalat for a trip on the new road to Nha Trang.

Of course I had to organise that when I got there.

Too easy in Vietnam!

[akamu]

Thanks for taking us all on your trip looks like a great place to see someday

[sgvcns]

So I arrived in Dalat midafternoon and hastily arranged a car and driver for the next day.

The last night of the festival was much smaller in Dalat

[sgvcns]

The next day we headed off down the new road to the resort town of Nha Trang.

The plan was to look around at about 1000m if I could find somewhere to get into the forest.

The first stop was at about 1400m and although the forest was lovely there were not many palms.

Nice flowering tree

Even non natives were present

[sgvcns]

At 1000m there was access up a creek that locals had been in to do some illegal logging.

Palm heaven.

I am still trying to sort some names to palms so welcome any suggestions.

Again the Pinanga's were very pretty but outnumbered by rattans

Lots of different Licuala and Lanonia

Slow flies even

Riper seed was welcome

Pretty plants everywhere

And the palms got me excited

Never noticed black new growth before

Anyone got any ideas

Still more palms

Even liked the fungi

[sgvcns]

Pretty spectacular area in all.

Wonder what Nha Trang is like?

Dalat is the big vegie growing area for European types especially.

Very intensive use of poly structures.

I wonder at the chemical use.

The town of Dalat is very pleasant and I was looking forward to a well earned beer.

Finally

The next day I visited the market before my flight to Hanoi

Great sign this

So back to Hanoi which is my favourite asian city.

Only an overnight then to Cuc Phuong National Park for more palm luvin

[PalmnutVN]

Fifth pic down + pic 22-23 look like L. bidoupensis, and pic 14-15 look like L. dasyantha.

[PalmnutVN]

The biggest problem with palm identification in Vietnam is that to most people, a palm is a palm and this reflects somewhat in the nomenclature that is in use. For example, most Licuala are known simply as 'la non' (leaf hat) being as they are all used to make the ubiquitous non la, Vietnamese conical hats that prevail here. Sometimes, another adjective will be used to further help with the description such as with Licuala magalonii which is rendered as 'la non nham' and thus translated directly into English, it would be rendered as 'leaf hat rough', but these extended descriptions are few and far between.

Being as Vietnam is a culture that has historically relied on things being useful, only those palms that have a specific use seem to have their own individual names. Palms such as Borassus (used for palm sugar) are the only palm named 'thot not' and Nypa is 'dua nuoc' or water coconut, the inside of the nuts being considered something of a delicacy here.

Other palms that have no specific use are generally referred to as 'cau rung' or 'forest palm'.

Currently, there is little information on the web about the lesser known Licualas and Lanonias although hopefully this will change soon. Pictures such as those above are especially useful in helping to widen our knowledge of these palms

[Jeff Searle]

Nick....thanks for the interesting information.

[bgl]

Steve,

What a great trip! Really enjoyed the photos, all of them! Some great scenery there and it's always fascinating to see how the people live as well.

Bo-Göran

[Pedro 65]

Steve,

wow, Lanonia's, Licuala's, Pinanga's, cloud forest, waterfalls, "Black" new leaves great food , fun times, glad the weather was kind to you this time , what a great trip , look fwd to your next lot of pics.

Pete

[sgvcns]

Palmnut I agree entirely with what you say but I can;t think of a country I have been to where the locals are aware of proper Latin names for plants as a general rule let alone palms only. That knowledge is for real enthusiasts.

The looks I got when I tried to explain that I was interested in palms.

Explaining that I was a bit crazy certainly helped!

For myself I use Hendersons field guide to the palms of southern asia as a starting point. It's already fallen apart after one trip but that's the joy of jungle.

I'll post the rest of the photos soon but you all should get to these areas when you can. It's truly an easy travel and the food rivals the palms.

Maybe next time I'd take longer but I was gone from home just under 4 weeks with the HSI party. Lots of travel days this time with Vietnam air.

Steve

[paulgila]

steve this is a fascinating thread, thanks so much for taking the time to post your pix, etc.

[jdapalms]

Very nice photos and coverage, certainly a country I plan on visiting someday. Thanks for posting

[PalmnutVN]

I couldn't agree with you more Steve. But I think the main issue or problem that exists in Vietnam is that they have the same common name for a multitude of palms within one genus, while in the West, we generally use one or two common names for each, individual plant.

'Cau rung' is a typical example that encapsulates all Areca palms as is 'la non' that with a few exceptions encapsulates all Licuala. In contrast, we can find an entire range of locally used, common names in the West for many Arecas such as 'betal nut palm' which is Areca catechu, Areca triandra is known as the 'wild' or 'triandra palm' and Areca vestaria is known as the 'sunset' or 'orange crownshaft palm', yet in Vietnam, where all of the above plants are widely sold, they all retain the same name, which can at times make things quite confusing to say the least.

Anyway, if you ever find yourself back in Vietnam let me know and we can do Cat Tien park together after which, we can sink a beer or six

[sgvcns]

I flew into Hanoi and after an overnight I was on my way to Cuc Phuong National Park

Made it after 3 hour drive

Feeling at home

I arranged to see the Bot Garden that afternoon then the jungle the next day

[sgvcns]

After a bit of discussion I was given the keys to the Bot Gardens which were currently closed.

Really quite disappointing as Golden Canes and Royals were mainly it except for an Areca Triandra fruiting

The local palms at this elevation were mainly Arenga westerhoutii and Caryota

The area itself was quite pretty however

[sgvcns]

As ever the palms I am interested in were hopefully at a higher elevation.

Through clumping arenga

At about 500m palm luvin recommenced among the trees

With friendly critters

Pinanga even

Then more Lanonia

[sgvcns]

Great to see the stick insect

Only saw the one plant of this even though I had a good rummage

Fungi doing there thing

Amorphophallus

Meanwhile it was dinner time at the accom

From here I headed back to Hanoi for some relaxation and food exploration.

Not to mention seed processing.

Next Hanoi

[sgvcns]

The last few days in Hanoi were great fun.

I stayed in the old quarter again and would recommend that for any visitors.

I splashed out $17/night but that included breakfast. The room was great with room computer and safe though the computer was an antique.

I ate on the street mainly and had great food for little cost not to mention the beer.

Arrived when the Vietnam junior soccer team was playing so the place was going off

Marriage outside my favourite streetside bar.

Didn't look happy with the funeral 10m away. Think gongs etc

Sunsets on sparky heaven

Around the lake

Arborist at work

The bar across the road from my fav with local eats

Another day gone

Back home to Brissie from here.

I would certainly recommend Vietnam as a palm destination.

I organised this myself very easily and travelled alone.

The areas I went to were to target the palms I am interested in an area that meant they should grow quite well in Brisbane.

Next year back to Colombia!

Hope this motivates some people to go look for palms themselves

Steve

[NApalm]

Great thread steve. Thoroughly enjoyed the read

[JT in Japan]

Thanks for the detail, Steve. I'm making a trip to Da Nang next month, and will investigate the park you mentioned at the start. Not much time for me to venture further out, alas, but your coverage has been very inspiring.

JT