Andrew's Binoculars

We stopped for a coffee break in a small town on our way back to Hanoi, and the local kids (dozens of them) had great fun passing around Andrew's Nikon binoculars.  [NOTE: Andrew was remarkably relaxed about the whole thing].

Global Positioning System

Here's one from the archive.  I am standing in front of a Dayak longhouse in the Kapuas Hulu regency of West Kalimantan in the early 1990's trying to spatially locate myself with a clunky GPS receiver. These were the days of "Selective Availability (SA)", and even though I might get a reading, it could be off by as much as 100 m.  I'm glad they eventually did away with this foolishness. [NOTE:  The GPS receivers in those days were big and heavy - and white, apparently. Don't know for sure, but it looks like I'm wearing a Batman t-shirt].

Karst

We passed through some beautiful karst landscapes in Quang Binh province during our drive back to Hanoi.  The border with Laos is just on the other side of the peaks. [NOTE: In total, we drove over a thousand kilometers on the Ho Chi Minh highway to visit protected areas in the Central Truong Son Mountains (thx, Mr. Quang); guitar by Michael Hedges].

Phong Nha-Ke Bang

Misty morning in the town of Phong Nha-Ke Bang in Quang Binh province of Vietnam.  The nearby Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is a World Heritage site known for its magical karst landforms and extensive network of underground caves.  Undoubtedly a lot or new palms to be found on these limestone substrates.

Leeches

Leeches are one of my least favorite aspects of doing fieldwork in tropical forests. After snakes.  A new record for leech encounters was recently set while looking for a place to run an inventory transect in the Ngoc Linh Nature Reserve in Vietnam. The ground was boiling with them. [NOTE: I pulled off about 30-40 leeches, and two especially tenacious ones made it back to the guest house in my boot].   

Pressing Plectocomiopsis

Andrew and Biu Van Thanh made over 120 collections of 40 different palm species during the fieldwork in Vietnam.  Some of the collections look a lot like new species, e.g. the species of Plectocomiopsis being pressed in this video. [NOTE: The specimen was collected in the Son Thanh Nature Reserve]. 

Forest Collectors

Yesterday we ran some rattan inventory transects in the Son Thanh Nature Reserve in Quang Nam Province of Vietnam. About thirty minutes down the trail from Tabhing commune we passed several local collectors coming out of the forest. [NOTE: I tried to pick up a bundle of rattan like the man was carrying - and failed. Don't even want to think about carrying that huge plank]. 

Kon Tum

Truong Son range in the Kon Tum province of Central Vietnam near the borders of Lao PDR and Cambodia. Andrew Henderson and I have been visiting some of the protected areas in the region to collect and inventory rattans. Steep slopes, a few leeches, and lots and lots of rattan.  Some of them, apparently, new species to science.

Mr. Biu Van Thanh, our local counterpart, has been a great help and wonderful company. He is shown below pressing a plant collection. [NOTE: The specimens are first pressed in newspaper in the field, and then bundled in a large plastic bag and doused with alcohol to preserve them once we get back to town].

  

Streets of Hanoi

Trip to the airport for flight to Da Nang. Cars, and bicycles, and motorcycles, and rickshas, and pedestrians and seriously dangerous wiring. [NOTE: Check out the loose bundles of cables strung along the left side of the street in the last part of the clip; music is by Phronesis].

Lake Hoan Kiem

Spent a quiet, drizzly morning at Lake Hoan Kiem in the Old Quarter of Hanoi. Legend has it that the Vietnamese Emperor, Le Loi, defeated the Chinese in 1418 with a magic sword. After the victory, the sword was returned to the lake by a golden tortoise. Hence, the name "Lake of the Returned Sword" and the beautiful Turtle Pagoda in the middle of the lake (shown below). Lot of locals doing Tai Chi in the morning mist.

Am off to Da Nang this afternoon. Will spend a week or so in the region doing rattan inventories in several protected areas.