We made it!

After 1,164 miles the journey is complete. We had a lot of good times and some tough ones as well but it’s a trip we will never forget.

We still have a week here in Saigon to relax a bit before we head home. Thanks to everyone who kept track of us over the past month.

Things started off nice out of Cat Tien but it did not last long. More traffic and potholes than we’d like and a few downpours towards the end.

All in all a pretty uneventful day, but we did run into a group of local cyclist out for a 3-day ride. Although it was difficult to communicate they were really nice guys. After tossing us some bananas and a Saigon Cycling T-shirt, they picked up our tab.

Also, one more ride to go!

We started off with an early morning trek in search of wild gibbons. Met up with our guide a mile down the road at 4:45AM and started off into the jungle. After about a 30 minute hike we setup hammocks and waited for sunrise.

After more hiking and no sign of any, our chances of spotting them looked slim. Then, much higher than we expected our guide pointed out two adult gibbons in the canopy. They were so fast and so agile swinging from tree to tree. An amazing experience.

Afterwards we went and visited gibbons at the rescue center. This is another place in Vietnam where they try to rehabilitate monkeys that have been rescued from the pet trade or some other awful abuse.

They also have a bear sanctuary.

Most of these bears were rescued from farms were they are kept for their bile, which is periodically collected from their abdomen with a needle. The bile is used in traditional Chinese “medicine.” Pretty cruel stuff.

In the park we are staying in a tent-cabin. It is quite nice but at certain times they turn of power to conserve and it can get a bit hot without a fan.

Our deck overlooks a river that was dry when we left Hanoi, but with the start of the rainy season, is now rapids.

A long descent and a couple patches of rough road. The plan today was to end at Cat Tien National Park, something we have been looking forward to the entire trip.

We needed to take a small boat across a river to enter the park.

After that it was just a short ride through the park to where we are staying. Going to take a couple days off here for sure.

We had a later than usual start today as we were unable to pass up our hotels breakfast spread.

The morning went fast as it was mostly downhill. We finally stopped at a roadside coconut stand. Quite refreshing. They chop off the top, pour the water in a pitcher and mix in a little salt and sugar. Then you get to pour it over a mug of ice with some coconut meat in the bottom. Very nice. Not sure why we waited this long to try it.

Also, we passed 1,000 miles for the trip today. Not to bad. Staying in a nice little town still in the mountains tonight. Took a quick walk while searching for some food.

Today was one of those rides that really forces you to think about what you’re doing out here. As if our climb to Dalat at 4900ft was not bad enough, the road was less than ideal.

For the first 19 miles the road changed between broken pavement, gravel, mud and sand. It was pretty slow going as we had only covered the first half of the ride by noon when we left at 6am.

It got only slightly better as our second climb was only broken pavement.

Then, just as we finished the second big climb, the rain started. We couldn’t even enjoy the downhills when they came because the road was so broken up we had to ride the brakes to avoid major holes.

As terrible as all this sounds the views were excellent and it is quite a nice change up here, much cooler.

Our hotel is really nice and we found a vegan place right down the block. The food was great. We are going to really enjoy a day off here tomorrow. It feels great to have this day behind us. Definitely a sense of accomplishment.