The Queen of Primates
If you've been climbing around Thakhek, you've been surprisingly close to one of the world's largest populations of the Red-shanked Douc. Hin Nam No National Park, together with the adjacent Nakai-Nam Theun protected area in Laos, is home to one of the largest and most viable populations of this endangered primate. Yet most visitors never see a single one. Even experienced researchers can spend days or weeks waiting patiently in the forest without a sighting.
That is what makes Sơn Trà Peninsula, near Da Nang, so extraordinary. It is one of the very few places on Earth where you have a realistic chance of seeing the Red-shanked Douc - often called the Queen of Primates - living freely in its natural habitat. Instead of trekking through remote rainforest or seeing one behind glass in a zoo, you can often observe these beautiful monkeys during an early morning drive through the peninsula's protected forest.
Most climbers continue straight from Laos to Hanoi to reach Vietnam's two climbing destinations, Cát Bà and Hữu Lũng. It's the quickest way to get back on the rock, but it also means passing one of Vietnam's most remarkable wildlife experiences. If you have a little extra time or simply need a rest day, a detour through Phong Nha and Da Nang is well worth it.
Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red-shanked_douc
https://www.worldheritageexplorer.org/sites/phong_nha-ke_bang_national_park_and_hin_nam_no_national_park.html
Copyright Information
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pygathrix_nemaeus_99593716.jpg
(c) Yui Hong Chiu
https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/312929919
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
