frogs

The train pulled into Nimh Bin station exactly on time. We had packed the back packs when we awoke around 7am. We had slept the sleep of the blessed. I think it must be the rhythm and motion of train on rail. PerfectLy refreshed we stepped out into the sunshine. I had messaged our host to inform him of our arrival time and place and sure enough a guy with a car was waiting for us outside. He drove us to our digs. I have chosen a rural location for the next couple of nights to get us away from the buzz of the cities. Our home is a long way from town down country lanes in the middle of mountain and paddy fields. The scenery is spectacular. The house has a nice garden backing onto the flooded fields so the girls showered and jumped in the hammocks for a couple of hours. I sat and wrote last nights blob. I had seen on the interweb that there was a bile bear rescue sanctuary about 30 km from here so thought it would be nice to go see it. Today there are no wild bears left in Vietnam. They have been hunted and trapped to virtual wild extinction. These Asian bears are kept by farmers and “milked” for their bile. The bile is used in herbal medicine.  It causes untold damage and distress to the animal. (Google it if you can stand it). Thankfully this sanctuary has been started to try and help these poor creatures. At present they have rescued and care for 29 moon and bile bears. It’s a lovely place where the bears run free in large compounds and are under 24 hour care by volunteer vets and support staff. The bears are too unwell and damaged ever to be able to return to the wild. We were really lucky as the bears made a tentative appearance just for us. They were preparing the bears dinner as we were there and each bear has a set menu to secure recovery and ideal weight. The dedication of the staff was incredible.
If you want to know more, or indeed help with a few quid, go to four paws, Vietnam..

After we said our goodbyes to the bears we set off back to the house. It is very remote so the host cooks dinner. It was amazing and all the guests rave over his cooking. A veritable feast. Our favourite was the stir fried frog...Crispy and LynNZ loved it..... riiiibbbbiiittt...

It’s no surprise they eat the jumpy little buggers here as the place is full of them. I’m writing this listening to a deafening chorus of frogs arising from the paddy fields. It’s like nothing we have heard before... no other sounds other than the singing and splashing of frogs. Everywhere...

Tomorrow we are going boating up river to a couple of temples to see the scenery from the water...

Crispy loves boats..

Bare, Crispy and LynnNZ signing off Nimh Bin , 🇻🇳