RTG Hanoi Daily Dispatch - for website 2 - Flipbook - Page 21
27 January to
23 February 2024
Day 11 Mae Sot to Chiang Mai (450km)
7 February 2024
it was going to be a long day so, at 7.30am, the cars
began to creep through the narrow streets of mae sot
into the early morning haze we’ve become accustomed to
towards the first regularity at mae Kasa. this gravel and
dirt section was one of the finest of the rally so far and,
thanks to being well clear of the sugarcane harvest and
with the cassava harvest not yet started, it ran exactly
as planned. it was very rough though, and the myriad of
tracks leading into the fields and forests made navigation
tricky at times, keeping to an average speed was harder
still. at the finish Control loren Price and Fred gallagher
were kept busy with cars coming at them from at least
three different directions.
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
We pushed hard into the hilly north today on
some challenging and interesting roads that ran
along the heavily policed thai / myanmar border.
Four very different regularities were tackled along
the way and we ticked over halfway through the
marathon mileage.
... and Keith and Norah Ashworth’s 1927 4½ Le Mans
We regrouped at the tha song yang time Control, with
views across the moei river into neighbouring myanmar,
before we began climbing in earnest towards the 745m
mon Khuy Pass and the second regularity from Ban mae.
this was tame in comparison to the first regularity, but the
roads rose and fell relentlessly and the constant turns took
their toll on the crews desperate to stick to the schedule
and not get distracted by the impressive scenery. almost
immediately after the third regularity, from mae suat, led
the rally through the beautiful woodland of the mae ngao
national Park on the same superb tarmac we’d enjoyed for
most of the morning.
the lunch halt and time Control in the Coriander in
redwood restaurant in mae sariang gave us steamed
vegetables, some fiery ground pork, chilli and a good long
break before the afternoon’s session. again we were thrown
into enough bends and changes of direction to ensure a
reasonable upper body workout on the way to the suitably
named Passage Control in hot, where the temperature was
nudging 33°C.
Vintage Bentley: Melvin Andrews and Barry Douglass’s 1936 DHC...
www.rallytheglobe.com
