Local hospitality

We pass a lot of the same village homes every day - and many of the people are curious. This day we stopped and said hello - and were greeted warmly. This lady is farming chayote (Sechium edule) - the most popular crop in this area because of the price it brings. Notice how the home is built on bamboo stilts in the back. Much of her crop is along some of the villa ruins I spoke of earlier. All the planting is done by hand - and with the use of simple bamboo shovels. Water is carried on bamboo rods and poured with a dipper.

We were served tea and then asked if we could take a photo of our hostess. At first she whined and said no, then agreed when we said we would be in it with her. This woman is 50 years old. The hard work she does and exposure to the sun makes her look a bit older.

Road Construction

One of the main things that harms the forest and the butterfly population is the road construction in the area. Tam Dao is a bit remote - like most National Parks tend to be. People in Vietnam are always trying to find ways to make money and tourism is more popular now that it was in the past. Above Tam Dao Hill Station there are bamboo forests and evergreen deciduous forests - the sort of trees that don't lose their leaves in winter. The hills are what attract local tourists (mostly not international ones), so in order to increase popularity to tourists and give them better access to the mountains, new roads are being constructed. Notice the 'three peaks' of Tam Dao in the photo. You can see why tourists would want to come here - it is a lovely, peaceful place.

It takes a very long time to construct roads - so long that workers commit to a job for 2 years and live on site - in this type of housing. This is a residence for road workers - they have hose that siphons water from a mountain stream and runs to a large concrete barrel (in the front of the photo) where they get water to wash themselves and their clothing. It wasn't clear if they also drink this water but I wouldn't be surprised. Workers like these jobs because they are able to work for 31 days a month and make $100 a month - a good wage in Vietnam. They also gain skills like driving a front loader and back hoe, steam roller and other heavy machinery - which is not good for the forest or butterflies.

Butterfly defense

Some butterflies and moths have a defense system where they are able to excrete a poisonous gel when a predator attacks. Natural predators of butterflies are wasps, spiders, lizards, birds - and of course man.

The gel is sort of a yellow goo. It is not too harmful to humans, it only burns a little, but to another insect or even a bird or lizard, it might be enough to ward them off without too much bodily damage. This is a moth. To see a movie of this, click the butterfly photo (the one with the goo).

Another form of defense is to protrude the genitals toward a predator - it has no harmful effect but instead serves as something that might frighten a predator because it would be unexpected. This is a male Euploea Mulciber trying to ward off the human hand by exploding its hind quarters.

One other method of warding off predators is mimicry. Both caterpillars and butterflies use mimicry - and they usually try to imitate mammals - such as snakes. This butterfly is called 'snake eyes' as a common name.

This caterpillar also uses mimicry to look like a snake. Notice that the large section that looks like a head is actually the lower portion of the body beneath the head. Its color also serves as a camouflage, like many insects and animals.

Photos by Alan Wright - fellow volunteer 2006

Monarchs

One of the students in the VC 2nd grade asked me if there were Monarch butterflies. When I arrived I asked that question and was told that the Monarch was a butterfly rarely found. There are relatives of the Monarch seen more commonly, but not the one like in the U.S.

Today we saw several Monarchs on the transect we walked. These are very like the ones we find in the U.S.

There are over 300 species of butterflies in Vietnam - we have seen about 170. The ones used as indicators of forest health are only those that are found in the forests - not the common ones found throughout Vietnam.

Taking inventory

Part of the daily routine of butterfly watching for this project is logging each sighting on a data sheet. This sheet lists all the species that have been seen on a particular transect in the past - and there are also blanks for ones that we need to add, which we do from time to time. We have had to write in several new species for a transect.

Today we walked transect 4. It had nine sections. For the entire transect we saw a total of 39 species and 189 individual butterflies.

Sometimes we need to look in our butterfly guide to determine the species - we are not using common names of butterflies - but Latin. Viet and Lien both know most of them but sometimes even they have to look.

When we begin a transect (a trail, defined by our research scientist) we first must log our name, the time, the temperature and humidity - both of which are read using a digital meter.

Straw hats and Chayote

The cone hats that are associated with Vietnam are a multipurpose implement - they serve as hats, mainly for farmers (and mostly women, but some men do use them). The farmers use them for shelter from the sun, for a basket to carry things from the field, for a sieve (to scoop rice out of the water), to keep the head cool (the cone shape lets air in to the top of the head) and for sitting on when they are wearing nicer clothing - they lay them down, cone first then sit on the inside of the brim. They are made by hand and have pretty ribbons attached to the inside of the hat - the ribbons don't tie but are fitted according to the wearer so that it sits snuggly on the chin.

Chayote is grown only in the mountains, so this is a cash crop that can be sold all over Viet Nam - and it is in great demand. Chayote is grown on simple supports - a sort of raised fence that reminds me of grape vineyards - the vines live about 5 or 6 years and produce vegetables for about 8 months. Local people go to the bamboo forests nearby and cut bamboo to use as supports for the chayote. This is a multipurpose vegetable - the young, green shoots are sauteed with garlic (like green beans), the fruit is grated and sauteed - the meat is white, it is sort of like squash. It is high in protein and other nutrients, a nice addition to a diet that consists mainly of white rice.

The farmers work hard. Men and women both do the farming. The hills of Tam Dao are rocky and steep but they plant their chayote everyplace there is a small patch of ground. It is amazing that they can even get it to grow - it is so rocky that it looked like it was more rock than dirt. Then tend the fields daily, cutting young shoots and picking ripe fruit.

Lunch

Lunchtime is amazing, actually every meal is. Our host hotel is run by a family that work together to prepare the meals. This is what a typical meal looks like - this was spring rolls, pork, white rice (the main staple food), chayote - a vegetable grown only in the mountain regions and today it is fixed 2 different ways; the stalks and leaves are sauted with garlic, and the fruit is grated and steamed with garlic and dill. This was lunch yesterday.

Today we had a soup made of green bananas and snails with tofu (tofu is used a lot), sauteed beef, white rice, cucumbers and tomato salad, white carp (fish), sticky rice with shredded pork (a special dish) and sauteed bean sprouts. There were even small birds (local stock) that are supposed to be eaten bones and all. Of course it tasted like chicken - what else. This is Viet, one of our guides, sampling the bird dish.
It might sound funny but it was really very good, and I ate a little of everything.
Lovely meals, and they always end a meal with small cups of green tea.

Internet café - Internet shack

This is where we use the Internet in Tam Dao Hill Station. It is about a half mile from our hotel. Last year they only had 5 old computers, but now there are 15 computers, most of them very old (like 10 years) and some more recent, maybe 3 or so years old. The one I am using has USB - that is how I am getting my photos uploaded. It costs 20,000 dong - (pronounced dohm - about $1.50) for 2 hours of use. It is a dialup connection shared by all 15 computers - but it is Internet - and I am grateful to have it. When students get out of school late in the day it is a popular hang out - it is the only place in Tam Dao where there are computers - and these kids seem to really love Empire!

Telling them Apart

Telling two butterfies apart can be difficult while in flight – so it was necessary to catch a few in our nets. Notice the similarities and differences in these two specimens.

One is a Ideopsis similis. The other is a Parantica melaleus. Same family, different species. There is no way we would have seen the single difference between the two if they had not been caught.

Can you see the difference?

Oh Pooh!

Jen is my room mate and a High School teacher in Boston, the only other participant that was awarded a fellowship for this project. Jen is really funny – and sometimes a bit…well, ditzy. On our first day we were all walking along watching for butterflies while Jennifer was taking pictures. As she aimed her camera at a lovely lepidoptera, she said, “Oh, something smells really bad, I hope it isn’t me.” She stepped back, looked around, and yelled, “It is me! I stepped in a pile of dog pooh!”
I guess you just had to be there.

Catching Butterflies

There is a special technique to catching a butterfly so that you do not injure it. You wait for the butterfly to land, and if he does, you swish toward it sideways, the flick the net over the hoop. It is not very easy – and if the butterfly doesn’t land, then it is even harder. Handling a butterfly also takes special skill. The safest way to do it is to not touch the wings, because it removes their scales, weaking them. Holding a butterfly gently on the thorax (head/upper body) is the only way to do it without causing damage, and the best way to get a good photograph, too.
The reason to catch a butterly is for identification. Because so many species are similar it is often necessary to catch one to see it up close. Since this was our first day out none of us felt very confident about the identification accuracy – so we let our PI confirm our judgements and he often corrected us, showing us the difference.

Going to Class

The first day of our training session we sat as students, learning from our Project Investigator (PI) about the Tam Dao National Park region, its size, condition and issues, and the studying the butterflies can give them a quick indication of the imbalance in natural forest habitat. There is a lot to learn - and our PI knows quite a bit. The hardest part is learning about all the different species and how to identify them. I am recording the lecture on my laptop - that is why it is open on the table next to me.

Since there is no projector at the site, we all gathered around and looked at the screen on Lien's laptop - he had some great photos of butterflies we would meet - which we hope will help us identify them.

Facilities

Facilities and conditions are very different in Vietnam. Western toilets are commonplace, not only for tourists but also for citizens. This is different from other Asian countries where the only toilets used are Asian style. Other things are a bit different - for instance – in Vietnam (and many other nations in Asia) it is not customary to use toilet paper when using the toilet. Can you guess what they do use instead? Of course, our hosts supplied what is customary for Americans, which makes things nice. There are just some things an American does not want to do without.

Third Floor View

The Tam Dao Hotel is where we sleep and eat. The building is old and very quaint. I have a room on the 3rd floor (no elevator) which I share with another teacher. There are two beds that have hanging mosquito netting around them (which we do not use), decorated with Merry Christmas blankets and pillows – but no sheets (not sure what happened there) and an old wardrobe with double doors. Our room is charming, but the best part was the window – there is no glass or screen and only has wooden shutters (to keep out the bats-they only work if you close them I found out). The fresh air is magnificent – and I love the window because when I am finished with my tea I can just dump the leftover water and tea leaves out the window! Even good for spitting when brushing your teeth!! Nothing like living in Los Angeles!

Looking out our window I noticed a farmer collecting chayote - he also noticed me. One thing I do love about the people here is their warmth - in seeing me he didn't pretend he hadn't noticed, but waved and yelled "Chao" which is a generic "hello."

MiMi Hotel and the Tower

This is the hotel where I am staying. It is on the edge of Tam Dao Hill Station, the town above Tam Dao Village. If you look closely at the photo you can see a television tower on a hill in the background - that is the tower where we climbed the 1200 steps. Somehow it looks much higher when you see it this way. This photo was taken from a trail above the village where we walk daily.

Tam Dao Hill Station Village

Tam Dao was discovered by the French in the late 1800's. Because Viet Nam was under French rule, wealthy French officials looked for a place to escape the heat of the lower elevation areas - like Hanoi, which is the closest city.

The French built extravagant villas - over 100 of them. They ruled Viet Nam until 1945. The Vietnamese people were angry at the French because they had been very cruel, so began destroying the villas. When officials in Hanoi heard of it they sent word for the people to stop the destruction, but there were no telephones, no scooters and no way of getting the information to the mountains. As a result there are many ruins of French villas in Tam Dao.

Today the local people reuse the old ruins, they plant chayote on the terraces and build fences with much of the stone. This picture shows a small sample of the ruins - the walls were 12 inches thick, stone steps led up every hillside. Stone arches decorated each entry. It must have been an amazing place. Other ruins still exist farther north in Viet Nam, only in Tam Dao were the villas completely destroyed.


Today life in Tam Dao is nothing like it is in the U.S. anywhere, and is also very different from life in Hanoi. The people here have even less than city dwellers – small shanties that are constructed out of whatever material can be found. Yet they also have some of the modern conveniences – like TV (local free stations), motorbikes (instead of cars) and cellphonaces. Life here is simple but cell phones motor bikes are a must. Oh yes, and karaoke.



The city is located in the mountains - Tam Dao acutally means three peaks. This is a view of the village of Tam Dao from above - me and Viet, our guide. We have just finished a transect and logging butterfly sightings for the day, and were taking a short rest.

City Life - Hanoi

Driving to Tam Dao took about 2 1/2 hours. We left the city of Hanoi and drove north. Tam Dao is only about 50 miles from Hanoi but because of the poor road conditions (not just potholes but motorbikes and bicycles on the highway) everyone drives less than 30 miles per hour; there really is no other choice. This is a typical city street, full of motorbikes and other assorted moving things. Although it is not visible in this photo, there are also many cars, SUVs and delivery trucks sharing this same space. Very hectic. But the most striking thing about this situation is the level of tolerance to this sort of thing – they simply don’t mind. They know there are a lot of people and everyone has to get somewhere. No one drives fast, and many many people cross the street right in the middle of it all – no traffic lights or crossing lanes. People just go around. Horns blow constantly– but only to tell other traffic that you are coming from behind or crossing an intersection. No one calls one another names, makes faces or uses obscene hand signals. They are very patient. This is just the way of life.