By the tropical river
N 11°25'15.9'' E 107°25'49.3''
Date:
11.03.2017
Day: 620
Country:
Vietnam
Province:
Đồng Nai
Location:
Kat Tien National Park
Latitude N:
11°25’15.9”
Longitude E:
107°25’49.3”
Total kilometers:
22,669 km
Soil condition:
Asphalt / gravel
Maximum height:
55 m
Total altitude meters:
68.623 m
Sunrise:
06:00 a.m.
Sunset:
6:00 pm
Temperature day max:
33°C
(Photos of the diary entry can be found at the end of the text).
LINK TO THE ITINERARY
Muggy air envelops our bodies. I open my eyes and gaze into the dawn. UuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH! UuuuuuuuuUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHH!, the bird-like songs of the gibbons sound on the other side of the river. A glowing breeze carries the beautiful sounds over to us. This is accompanied by the chirping of some feathered inhabitants of the primeval whale. I listen spellbound to the strange melodies. I turn on my side, rest my head on my right elbow and look across the river to the other, densely overgrown bank. A few monkeys screech and jump from branch to branch. “Just like in paradise,” says Tanja quietly. “Oh, I didn’t know you were awake.” “Quite a while ago. The wonderful singing brought me gently out of my sleep.” “Yes, it really is like paradise here. We’re lying on our mattress, looking out over the Dong Nai River and watching the jungle wake up. We’ve never really experienced anything like this before.” “We should stay a few days longer,” Tanja suggests. “I agree with you. If we don’t visit anything else on the way to the Cambodian border, we can afford it. There are hardly any hills in this area to stop us and the bikes are in top technical condition.” “Does that mean we’ll stay a few days longer?” “Absolutely. Let’s explore the jungle.” “Too bad they won’t let us take our bikes into the national park,” Tanja muses. “Yes, they want to rent out their own junk bikes to tourists over there at an inflated price. Xuan, the co-owner of the Bamboo Lodge, talked about a way we could still manage to get over there on our own bikes.” “Yes? And how is that supposed to work? They won’t let us on the little ferry that we have to take from here to the other side of the river to get to the national park.” “That’s right, but there’s supposed to be another small car ferry 20 kilometers south of here. There is a normal village there and all the inhabitants use the ferry boat to get to their settlement. If we cross over at this ferry station, we can reach the other side of the river. There we simply cycle along the bank until we reach the national park.” “And there’s no checkpoint there?” “Yes, there is, but Xuan said that he doesn’t take it too seriously and that we have a good chance of getting around this unconventional rule this way. I think we should just give it a try tomorrow. If it doesn’t work, in the worst case we’ll have to turn back. That wouldn’t be a disaster.” “Okay, we’ll do that. I’ll use today to lie in the hammock and relax a bit,” laughs Tanja. “Fine, but let’s have some breakfast first,” I reply in a good mood…
If you would like to find out more about our adventures, you can find our books under this link.
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