RTG Hanoi Daily Dispatch - for website 2 - Flipbook - Page 8
27 January to
23 February 2024
Day 3
Quy Nhon to Đà Nẵng (359km)
30 January 2024
Photos: gerardbrown.co.uk
Richard Everingham and Judy Becker, 1953 Bentley R Type
Waking to the sound of crashing waves set the
tone for the entire route today as we hugged the
soft sandy coast and pressed on towards Đà nẵng
and our first rest day.
there were two regularities and two time Controls
scheduled to put some scores on the doors. to give the rally
some well-earned rest and recovery, after rolling through
the river of scooters in downtown Quy nhon, we emerged
into a flat sandy landscape with dozens of fish farms to the
right of us and some massive solar farms to the left.
after around 80km, and against a backdrop of some truly
impressive Bonsai trees, the time Control in the cafe at
Chành giào served up some extra forte vietnamese coffee
that we’ve been getting used to. this woke the crews up
ready to take on the challenge of the regularity from Phú
thũ which rose and fell through a deep airless cutting a
few hundred metres from the beach.
the second regularity followed soon afterwards from
Ðinh Khai and, via a network of rural roads and countless
bridges spanning shallow rivers, it brought the crews back
to civilisation and their lunch at the time Control in tãn
lôc. With all timing finished for the day, from here the
mission was simply to get to the night halt via the mtC in
the ancient trading port of hôi an, a World heritage site
on the mouth of the thu Bon river perhaps more used to
backpackers and coach-borne tourists.
da nang was another 40km away but, with plenty of time to
get there, the crews were free to enjoy the sights and sounds
of the coastal strip with its multitude of high-rise beachfront
hotels and restaurants before pulling up the driveway
of the ‘monkey mountain’ and into the incomparable Đà
nẵng intercontinental hotel where we dined alfresco at the
confluence of the gulf of tonkin and the south China sea.
thankfully there were but a few minor mechanical issues
today with two cars needing their exhausts repaired.
melvin andrews and Barry douglass’s Bentley needed
its tailpipe securing again, as did ean and alison lewin’s
escort. meanwhile, david and Jo robert’s Chrysler had
developed some play in the pivots between the brake and
clutch pedals. andy inskip and Charlie neale sorted this
quickly at the mtC and the crew were only a few minutes
behind the rest of the rally.
after the disappointment of ending yesterday on a tow
truck, enrico Paggi and Federica mascetti set to work this
morning and swapped their Fiat’s head gasket and were
waiting for us at the hotel as we arrived. tomorrow we
should hear news of manuel and irene dubs and their
rockne who left us on day one with a broken gearbox.
www.rallytheglobe.com
