RTG Hanoi Daily Dispatch - for website 2 - Flipbook - Page 42
27 January to
23 February 2024
Day 23 Sa Pa to Hà Giang (294km)
19 February 2024
We left our lofty hotel in sa Pa under full sun with a deep
blue sky and the clouds somewhere beneath us but, as we
dropped towards the valley, these clouds closed in. For the
first time in three weeks some of us were looking for the
heating controls. as per the last few days the roads here are
spectacular, centuries of terracing give the hills a distinct,
jagged profile that stretches right across our windscreens
and changes with every turn of the road.
after 100km of epic driving we arrived at the time
Control in Bac ha where we were delighted to receive a
rapturous welcome from the mayor and townspeople,
who’d set aside the town square for us to park in. to cap
it all they presented louise morton with a bouquet of
flowers! Coffee and other refreshments were on offer and
the schedule allowed plenty of time for the crews to enjoy
them and soak up the excited atmosphere.
an impressive road section followed on the way to the nàn
ma regularity which, for seven sinuous kilometres, dropped
us from the hills through bamboo and bananas almost right
to the door of the lunch time Control in Xin man where we
were served a typical north vietnamese buffet.
the thác tiên regularity was the day’s star attraction
and followed almost as soon as we’d cleared the tables.
it ran through a dense jungle with massive tree ferns and
ancient hardwood crowding an already narrow track which
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
today we enjoyed another marathon day of highaltitude trekking through some staggering landscapes,
so close to the Chinese border that a wrong turn
would send us deep into the middle Kingdom.
Melvin Andrews and Barry Douglass, 1936 Bentley DHC
clawed its way onwards and upwards for almost 6km
before the final timing point when the fun and games really
began. the descent towards the night halt was a rough
one, roadworks and landslides had wreaked havoc on this
corner of vietnam. Just like the locals we had to pick our
way through baked mud and rutted tarmac, whilst andy
inskip and Charlie neale took the time to bleed the brakes
of tony rowe and mark delling’s Ford Coupe.
eventually, we reached the lô river valley and began the
more civilised run into the night halt in the Phoenix hotel in
hà giang where we were joined for dinner by the head of the
town’s tourist department. sadly enrico Paggi and Federica
mascetti aren’t with us after their engine blew a hole in a
piston. they reached the end of the road just before the time
Control in Bac ha and had their car shipped straight to hanoi.
www.rallytheglobe.com
