RTG Hanoi Daily Dispatch - for website 2 - Flipbook - Page 7
day 2: Dalat to Quy Nhon, 29 January 2024
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Tony Rowe and Mark Delling, 1939 Ford Coupe V8
Martin and Gary Brauns, 1972 Mercedes-Benz 450 SLC
another two regularities followed this mid-morning break,
firstly at thác savin, which rose almost from the door of
the cafe and ran alongside the song Cai Phan rang, into the
Phước Bình national Park. We were well and truly off-piste
here. as we drove through village after village we took in the
very best of rural vietnam on the way into the stephanie’s
garden regularity, the last competitive section of the day.
this took the crews to lunch at thanh thão and, despite the
chilly start, the downhill nature of the route meant that by the
time the rally sat down to eat it was once again broiling nicely
at a sultry 30°C amidst lily ponds and watery walkways.
after this interlude a couple of time Controls and a
Passage Control were all that lay between the crews and
their night halt on the beach. as we pushed northwards
tantalising signs for hanoi began to appear for anyone who
fancied a shortcut. however, we still had a lot of rallying
to do and, after joining the coastal highway, we passed
through fishing villages and enjoyed impressive sea views
not least of which was that from the balconies of the avani
hotel rooms in which we found ourselves billeted.
sadly enrico Paggi and Federica mascetti missed the
Rally the Globe dolce vita this evening. their faithful Fiat
blew a head gasket just before the time Control at the
aptly named sea view cafe and they have been forced
to trailer the car straight to da nang to get the repairs
started. if all goes well they’ll be rejoining us after the rest
day, along with manuel and irene dubs who are optimistic
that they and their rockne will be back with us.
the rest of us enjoyed another amazing evening with
a fine dinner comprising fish, various shellfish, rice and
traditional vegetables. there was a rumour of karaoke
once the plates had been cleared.
Out for now: Enrico Paggi and Federica Mascetti, 1971 Fiat 124 Spider
www.rallytheglobe.com
