Dodging Leeches

I have another first on this trip. I got a leech during my jungle trek in Cat Tien National Park. These were not the leeches that were in "Stand by Me," they were much smaller, and they moved very fast on the ground. We got some video, so I can show you at some point.

We drove approx 3 hours to Cat Tien National Park with Long, our guide for the next four days. We crossed the large river in a boat that barely was above the water line, and then headed out on a 3.5 hour trek through the jungle. But, not before putting on out leech socks, and gobs of insect repellent. It turns out that leeches can feel your body warmth from very far away, and they make a bee line right for you. They'll actually climb up your clothing until they can find a way to get to your skin. That is what happened to me. It somehow made it all the way onto my stomach, and who knows how long it had been there before I took it off. It continued to bleed for a couple of hours because, like mosquitoes, they inject an anti-coagulant into you so that you provide a steady stream of blood.

The actual jungle trek was very interesting, and I've never seen so much life anywhere. We saw an amazing number of trees, flowers, insects, birds, and butterflies. The fauna was probably the most interesting. (Never thought I'd say that either.) The next morning we left Cat Tien early and headed up to Da Lat. On the way we stopped at Dambri and Elephant water falls. We also stopped at a silk manufacturing plant to see how silk is actually made. It is pretty incredible because entire towns are dedicated to making silk. One family will grow the mulberry plants to feel the worms. Once the worms form their cocoon, they are sold to someone else who soaks them in hot water and actually takes the silk and puts them onto spools. Another family creates the bamboo holders for all of the cocoons and finished silk. Yet another family then buys the dead worms and sells them on the open market as food. Pretty incredible.