track our trek

we joined a group tour for a day to visit tom coc, considered to be vietnam's ha long bay on land. more beautiful rock formations with villages and rice fields between. we spent a couple of hours being rowed along a river and enjoying the scenery. the next day we were on our own in ninh binh and took a day trip to cuc phuong national park. we went on an 8k hike to see a 1000 year old tree, and visited an endangered primate rescue center. the center rescues monkeys from illegal poachers and breeds them in captivity. there are over 20 species there, 5 of which are unique to vietnam! it is their hope that one day they'll be able to release the monkeys to the wild again. back in hanoi, we spent our last couple of days relaxing and visiting the women's museum and our favorite, the museum of ethnology. it's a great exhibit about the over 50 ethnic minorities that exist in vietnam. really interesting stuff!