Ho Chi Minh City is within sight. We've arrived in Bien Hoa, one of the suburbs, after a long day on the bikes. We covered more mileage today than on any other single day of this trip, nearly doubling our average, and it took most of the day to achieve it.
We were lucky to again have clear skies, and the road out of Da Lat reminded us of our favourite days on this trip, riding through the hills of the Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park. There was a great deal more traffic today however and that kept us on our toes. As we descended from the central highlands toward Ho Chi Minh City, the heat overwhelmed us. We'll be happy to be free of the motorcycles soon as this will mean freedom too from our heavy armoured riding gear.
We passed a floating village today, the first of that kind of settlement we've seen. And once we'd descended from the highlands with their endless coffee plantations, we began to pass through more rubber plantations again.
Lunch today was a brief pit stop in the shady forecourt of a Roman Catholic Church, munching on oranges and semi-stale baguettes. Lunch on the road is a thing we haven't mastered but we did have copious water on hand today so we're learning something! Dinner was an unusual take on steak and eggs, served on a sizzling cast iron pan, tex-mex fajita styles. We are noticing more international fare available in these parts so I settled on Japanese bubble tea for dessert while Adam opted for tiramisu. Then we were fortunate to catch the beginnings of the eclipse of the super blue blood moon on our way back to the hotel.