Day 1
17 April 2009
Participants should arrive in Hanoi by mid morning, if not before.
We will leave Hanoi International Airport prior to lunch and drive to Tam Dao, an excellent birding destination, for a three night stay.
Overnight: Mela Hotel, Tam Dao
Day 2 & 3
18 & 19 April 2009
Tam Dao hill station was established by French colonists in the early 20th century. Special birds that occur on this mountain include greater rufous-headed parrotbill, short-tailed parrotbill, grey laughingthrush, Fujian niltava, black-chinned yuhina, red-billed scimitar babbler, coral-billed scimitar babbler and streak-breasted scimitar babbler, collared (white-hooded) babbler and fork-tailed sunbird. We will also look for the rare blue-naped pitta.
Overnight: Mela Hotel, Tam Dao
Day 4
20 April 2009
After a final morning on Tam Dao, we will drive to Hanoi for lunch and then go on to Cuc Phuong National Park for a three night stay.
Overnight: Cuc Phuong National Park
Day 5 & 6
21 & 22 April 2009
Two full days birding in Cuc Phuong. This national park is a lowland to mid elevation forest about 120 km south of Hanoi and the first national park in Vietnam. The special birds in this park include pied falconet, bar-bellied, eared and blue-rumped pittas, rachet-tailed treepie, white-winged magpie, red-vented barbet, large scimitar babbler, white-tailed flycatcher, rufous-throathed fulvetta and black-browed fulvetta, limestone wren babbler and if we are lucky we may find the rare red-collared woodpecker.
Overnight: Cuc Phuong National Park
Day 7
23 April 2009
Morning birding in the park, then a late morning drive to Hanoi airport to take a flight to Da Lat . If we have time we will start birding in the late afternoon.
Overnight: Da Lat
Day 8 & 9
24 & 25 April 2009
The Da Lat plateau is home to Indochinese endemic species and some subspecies with Himalayan affinities. We will spend most of our time on Mt. Lang Biang. We will drive to about 1800 metres, then walk to the Hill evergreen forest for the endemic collared laughingthrush, plus Vietnamese cutia, black-crowned fulvetta and other good birds such as white-spectacled warbler, grey-cheeked warbler, grey-bellied tesia, lesser shortwing, mountain fulvetta, maroon orliole, slender- billed oriole, yellow-billed nuthatch, little pied flycatcher, green-backed tit and the local endemic Vietnamese greenfinch.
Overnight: Da Lat
Day 10
26 April 2009
This morning we will drive to the Tanung Valley for the rare endemic grey-crowned crocias, orange-breasted laughingthrush, the near endemic black-hooded laughingthrush, white-cheeked laughingthrush and many more birds that we cannot find on Mt. Lang Biang. After lunch in town there is the option of shopping and sight seeing or returning to bird in the Tanung Valley.
Overnight: Da Lat.
Day 11
27 April 2009
This morning we will drive for about two hours to Di Linh and bird on the Phan Thiet road. From this good surfaced road, we have a chance for the endemic orange-breasted laughingthrush plus yellow-vented green pigeon, Vietnamese cutia, long-tailed broadbill, grey-eyed bulbul, bronzed and lesser racket-tailed drongos. Also black-browed barbet, black-throated tit (sometimes referred to as grey-crowned tit), spotted fork-tail, Indochinese green magpie, Vietnamese greenfinch and the black-crowned parrotbill, and local subspecies of black-throated sunbird and streaked spiderhunter.
Overnight: Di Linh
Day 12
28 April 2009
This morning we will drive to Phan Thiet road again for any species that we might have missed on the previous day and after lunch in Di Linh we drive to Nam Cat Tien National Park.
Overnight: Park accommodation for four nights
Day 13,14 & 15
29 April — 1 May 2009
We will spend three full days in this famous park. Among the many species here are Germain’s peacock pheasant, blue-winged, blue-rumped and bar-bellied pittas; banded, black and red and dusky broadbills, grey-faced tit-babbler, Asian golden weaver and many woodpeckers such as white-bellied, great slaty and laced woodpecker and if we are lucky we may see pale-headed woodpecker. There are also good places to see lowland species such as wooly-necked stork, green peafowl and some night birds such as Javan frogmouth, brown hawk owl, collared scops owl and Asian barred owlet.
Overnight: Park accommodation
Day 16
2 May 2009
After a final morning’s birding in Cat Tien, we will drive to Saigon to take an afternoon flight to Bangkok or connecting flight to Australia.
Cost: $6,845.00 AUD
Single supplement: $488 AUD (maximum)
Cost includes accommodation from 17 April to 1 May 2009. Meals from lunch 17 April to breakfast 2 May; guiding, park entrance fees, transportation within Vietnam as per the itinerary. It does not include international fares to or from Vietnam*.
Participants on these combined tours are free travel to Hanoi and return home from Bangkok in any mode they choose; however, they should buy a Thai Airways ticket, flight TG695 from Ho Chi Minh City to Bangkok on 2 May, departing Ho Chi Minh City at 1815. Thai Airways website will not allow the purchase of that inter-country e-ticket.
Please do one of these things in relation to that flight:
Contact your local travel agent. Flight Centre in South Yarra has quoted $350 including tax for this leg with Thai Airways. If you wish to buy from Flight Centre in South Yarra, please contact Iris Varga Hodgson on 03 9827 8861 or email: iris.vargahodgson@flightcentre.com.au
Alternatively, transfer or send AOS $350 and e-mail or post AOS your name as it appears in your passport, passport number, and your passport’s expiry date and AOS will organise that 2 May Thai Airways flight for you with Flight Centre.
Visa application for Vietnam is found on this site:
www.vietnamembassy.org.au/Consular.htm
Or, have your travel agent organise the visa for you.
The tour cost does not include alcohol, laundry, phone calls and personal items.
Tour leaders: Uthai treesucon and Philip & Patricia Maher
Extension: Thailand Pitta Tour
3—9 May 2009
As the title of this tour suggests, this excursion focuses on Thailand’s pittas although other key species will be sought as time allows. Traditionally, May is the optimum time for pittas to call prior to the onset of the wet season .
Day 1 (+ 2 & 3)
3 May (+ 4 & 5 May) 2009
Morning drive to Kaeng Krachan National Park for blue pitta, eared pitta, blue-winged pitta and hooded pitta as well as the two rare pitta species in this park, giant pitta and rusty-naped pitta.
Overnight: Kaeng Krachan Country Club for three nights
Day 4
6 May 2009
Morning in Kaeng Krachan, then an afternoon drive to Bangkok for a flight to Krabi in the south of Thailand; and then a drive to Khao Pra Bangkharm Park
Overnight: Morakot Resort
Day 5 & 6
7 & 8 May 2009
Targets for the next two days: Gurney’s pitta, banded pitta. There is another chance for hooded pitta and blue-winged pitta in this reserve. Overnight: Morakot Resort
Day 7
9 May 2009
Morning drive to Krabi mangrove for mangrove pitta and other birds such as brown-winged kingfisher, oriental hobby, mangrove blue flycatcher. Afternoon flight back to Bangkok International Airport.
Cost $3,185 AUD
Single supplement $236 AUD (maximum)
Cost includes accommodation from 3 May to 8 May 2009. Food from lunch 3 May to breakfast 9 May; guiding, park entrance fees, transportation within Thailand as per the itinerary. It does not include international fares to or from Thailand. The cost does not include alcohol, laundry, phone calls and personal items.
Tour leaders: Uthai treesucon and Philip & Patricia Maher