We started later than usual today because the weather forecast suggested it would be cool and rainy, plus we wanted to have breakfast before we left, and besides, we only had to do 85 kilometers. When we started this trip we had never cycled further than 70 kays so it feels good to think of 85 as being unexceptional. We were on the road at about a quarter to seven and the rain started after about five minutes of cycling. It stopped after about ten minutes and the rest of the ride was in cool and cloudy conditions.

Over the next few days we plan to head to Kampong Cham in Cambodia and have worked out a route that is quite direct but avoids Saigon and Phnom Penh. It's about 350 kilometers and we expect to stop at three towns along the way.

We missed a junction about ten kilometers out while making our way from Cat Tien to the QL20 road which added about five kays to the planned distance. The road was rural and quiet for about 25 kilometers when we turned westwards onto a highway that skirts north of the sprawl of Saigon (which we wanted to avoid at all costs). This highway is full of hotels and is not a bad option for any cyclist trying to avoid Ho Chi Minh City.

After about 60 kilometers we found one of the restaurants that are used by the long distance busses and had a great lunch of rice, pork and vegetables with the standard mug of iced tea.

Our target was the a up area at the southern end of the lake on the Dong Nai River. I’m not sure what the name is because it seems to change every kilometer or so (which suggests it is a group of smaller villages) but I think the area is called Vinh Cuu.

We found a very basic Nha Nghi (motel) for 200K VND. Clean and functional and fair value. It has a string of local eateries going up the street so we can walk to find our supper.