Thursday, 18th October 2007
Vinh, Vietnam
Buy now, Enbloc potentials
Horrible sight, even for non-dog lovers.
'Rain cloud - gathering' devices
Foreign worker levy exempted.This has been a day of ups and downs for us. We got off to bad start when our departure from Vientiane was delayed till 7.30AM after a 5.30 wake-up call. We did not allow this to spoil a great morning drive east to the Vietnamese border.
The general impression of Lao is very favorable. When compared with Cambodia, she has a better sense of order within towns and villages. The border with Vietnam is about 380 kilometers away and the last 100 kms or so was scenically the best we have seen so far. The terrain was mountainous and the landscape a series of valleys surrounded by mountains, sheer granite cliffs and lush vegetation. We climbed the mountain range that marks this eastern region of Laos to the Lao/Viet border at an elevation that gave us cool temperatures, rain and heavy mist. Quite a contrast to the hot conditions that have prevailed so far.
Our worst fears were confirmed when we tried to enter Vietnam. Despite the fact that all relevant approvals for the 4 units of right hand drive vehicles (including 2 from Malaysia) had been obtained from the Vietnamese Government, their Customs head was not prepared to allow them into Vietnam. We can only speculate at the reason(s) for this attitude. There was frantic effort put in by the Chinese organizers and the Vietnamese participants in the Rally to resolve this matter with the duty Custom officer. Even our own Poh Heng contacted the Singapore Embassy in Vietnam in an effort to prevail. None of this seemed to help however.
By 5.30PM, we eventually got the green light on condition that we be escorted by the police to our hotel in Vinh. We left the border at 6PM (a delay of 4 ½ hours) and reached the hotel at about 8PM. Leslie believes that the final approval came as a result of what he calls the ‘5:30 rule’. The Customs officer was finishing work at 5.30 and Leslie always felt that we would get our approval then. He was right!! The police escort was fun, siren and all. Road conditions to the port city of Vinh were fine. The darkness prevented us from taking in any of the scenery. otel,
Our distance traveled today was 470 kms and our total to date is now 4,250 kms.
Tonight we stay at the Phuong Dong Hotel, a 3 star hotel in central Vinh. Dinner was provided immediately on arrival and we are all looking forward to an early night.
Tomorrow we head north to Hanoi, our last overnight stay before we reach China.
“The crews of Team Singapore, Motorsports (TSM) had their first taste of take-away lunch which was handed to us when we left Vientiane. The sandwiches were a better-than-nothing option for us. But, interestingly, our ‘ang mo’ teammates were over the moon. The lunch amid a lazy roadside atmosphere in a small town near the Lao/Vietnam border must have really made their day. I could only speculate that they have eaten too much Chinese food for the past week. On the same token, our cars were pumped with lower grade fuel as high octane petrol was not conveniently available. We added some additives to the cars to compensate for the given fuel. And, I must add that the ang mo’s had politely declined my offerings of booster to them – in any forms.”
Leslie Chang, Chief d’ Mission, TSM.
