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screech to a brief halt on the causeway traversing La Nga Lake, from where the houseboats cast adrift on its waters are only a zoom lens away. Locals use foot-powered rowing boats to access their homes, beneath which lie fish farms. East of La Nga, Highway 20 passes wooded slopes whose verdant greens are flecked occasionally by the red-tiled roofs of farmsteads and the roving figures of grazing cattle. Look out for unusual rock formations at the roadside in Dinh Quan, 112km from Ho Chi Minh City, where enormous smooth boulders are scattered beside the highway in the southern part of town, and volcanoes with symmetrical slopes and flat tops are visible from the road both south and north of town.

In time the hills yield to the tea, coffee and mulberry plantations of the Bao Loc Plateau. The town of Bao Loc is the best place for a pit stop between Ho Chi Minh City and Da Lat, and it’s also a jumping-off point for visits to nearby Cat Tien National Park and Dambri Waterfalls. Another 100km further northeast, Highway 20 switchbacks up the considerable climb to Da Lat at an altitude of just under 1500 metres.

The central highlands | Into the highlands |

Bao Loc and around

The undulating hills around BAO LOC provide fertile soil for the cultivation of tea and coffee, while locals also cultivate the mulberry bushes whose leaves silkworms eat. There are no sights of interest in the town itself, but it offers a convenient place to break the long journey between Ho Chi Minh City and Da Lat, and the surrounding countryside is very attractive.

Accommodation in Bao Loc is rather unexciting, with the Seri Bank Hotel (063/386 4150; US$31–50), set back from the main highway behind a small lake, being the most comfortable place in town. Of several smaller hotels on the main road (Highway 20), the Bao Loc (063/386 4107; US$10 and under–20), south of the town centre at 795 Tran Phu, has reasonable rooms; those at the back have nice views over the countryside. For a decent meal, try the Nam Hue, at 821 Tran Phu, a few steps away from the Bao Loc Hotel.

The central highlands | Into the highlands | Bao Loc and around |

Cat Tien National Park

The area’s outstanding attraction is Cat Tien National Park (061/366 9228, www.cattienpark.com.vn; 50,000đ), a protected area situated 150km north of Ho Chi Minh City and about 50km west of Bao Loc, covering the largest lowland tropical rainforest in south Vietnam. The park hosts nearly 350 species of birds, over 450 species of butterflies and over 100 mammals, including wild cats, elephants, monkeys and the rare Javan rhinoceros. Don’t bank on seeing a rhino, though, as the few residing here are in a secluded reserve closed to visitors. If you’re coming by public transport, take a bus for Da Lat from Mien Dong station in Ho Chi Minh City; tell the driver you want “Vuon Quoc Gia Cat Tien” (Cat Tien National Park), and he will drop you at the km125 junction at Tan Phu town. From here, xe om (about 60,000đ) cover the final 24km to the park along a narrow surfaced road. If you’re arriving from the north, a signposted road (also surfaced) to the park branches right just before the small town of Madagui. You need to pay the entrance fee at a park office on stilts about 100m before the ferry across the Dong Nai River to park headquarters.

As the park can only accommodate about a hundred visitors at a time, it’s important to book ahead. Accommodation here (US$11–30) consists of simple rooms with air-conditioning, and a campsite with two-person tents for $8 a day. You can also hire vehicles and boats for travel to the park’s more remote areas, but there are few English-speaking guides. Though a dozen walking trails exist, the catch is that you need to hire a jeep or pick-up to get to the start of most of them($10–25), plus a guide to go with you ($15–25), so a day out can easily cost $40–50. There’s also a night safari ($10), though few people spot more than a flash of deer eyes before the panicked creatures flee. Some tour operators in Ho Chi Minh City (such as Sinhbalo tours; see "Tour agents")