Leg 4 finally underway!
We had driven the 4/500 metres from the Vietnam border to the Laos side!
I decided to give up the charade of sleep at 5.30am as I was in need of a toilet break. I got my shoes on, rummaged for toilet roll, fresh clothes (the ones I had been wearing were sweat soaked now, as well as my silk liner). In an optimistic mood, I also took shampoo and conditioner and toothpaste and toothbush.
I wondered off in the vague direction that I was pointed in by Steve. I got to the building to find the ladies locked, but the mens open.
Alex joined me, and used the facilities, although there was no water apparently.
Getting Alex to guard the door slightly ajar so I could see what I was doing, I managed to sort myself out. Bushing teeth by the car with a bottle of water afterwards.
The border was starting to buzz. A queue at the visa/immigration desk had formed although noone was moving between the borders yet.
The border guards had started to arrive, and were starting to look at our documents. Ian went to sort it out.
'Do you want the good news or the bad news?'
Vietnam had apparently stamped the cars in to the country for import, but had failed to stamp them out for export apparently, so to all intents and purposes, it looked like the cars should still be in Vietnam. Unable to raise our Vietnamese fixer on the phone, Ian set off back to the Vietnam border with the paperwork to try and get them to stamp the cars out.
Mopeds and goods on trolleys being pulled by people had started to come across the border, so we moved the cars out of their way, and the rest of the team went across to the cafe/restuarant to get some breakfast. Unfortunatley they didn't take Dollars. Only Vietnamese Dong, or Lao Kip. We hadn't got Kip yet, and Dong was very low in supply.
It afforded us all a can of fizzy each (the water bottles tamper rings were all broken so we assumed they had been refilled so avoided). Ahhh... 7up for breakfast.
Some border guards were having their breakfast on other tables, and they were conversing with the restaurant owners and waitresses in a jovial manner. I've no idea what they were saying!
Ian got back with the correctly stamped paperwork, and set about getting the cars in again. Despite Laos not taking Carnets, they happily enough filled them in for all the cars, and then signalled for us to get going on the road.
'Wait, I need insurance!' The border guards were perplexed why we had stopped again and were ushering us towards the barrier.
'I've got to go upstairs to sort it out. Back in a mo'
We parked up. The guards on the gate came to look at the cars. One of them even had an iphone - Alex started to chat to him in a geeky iphone way. 'Where come from?' Alex got the laminated map of the route out of the car and went over the route. 'Where you work?', 'Made in England?' he said pointing at the car 'yes' 'how much?' 'for this one?' (pointing at a disco) 'about £35000, £40000... pounds, sterling' 'I cannot afford' he said in a disapointed tone, Alex laughed, 'I cannot afford either!'.
Ian made it back to the cars, and the guards raised the barriers ready for us to depart.
Ian and Rachel in disco 5 were first out, followed by Alex and I in car 4 (I had sneekily blocked car 3 in :P ), Disco 3, and the Defender 1 in sweeper position.
I followed Ian down the road giggling as he figured out what side of the road he was supposed to be on.
Radios were switched on, and we were underway! properly!
As we started to get underway, we used all the tricks that we had observed in Vietnam - a toot of the horn when you are about to over take to warn the other drivers and scooters that you are there. A flash of the headlights if you are on the wrong side of the road and are going to complete the maneouvre (headlight flashing in South East Asia means 'i'm coming through' rather than the 'you go first' as it means in the UK - several times I curteousy flashed people to let them out only for them to slow down further - whoops! A real case of 'lost in translation').
As we made our way through numerous villages, it became apparent that Laos is much less densely populated than Hanoi - with much more forest, and noticeable far more trees - i guess the defoliants spread liberally over vietnam in the war were still affecting the number of old tall trees, and the difference was noticeable.
There was also less order to the crops. Rice paddies set out in a higgle-de-piggledy way, and many low land areas not culivated at all. In Vietnam every possible low land inch had been cramed full of paddy fields.
Houses on stilts were the vogue, as with Vietnam, but very few had glass in the windows, instead having netting to cover the openings. Some houses looked decidedly cobbled together, with the odd house here and there that had obviously had a fair amount spent on it.
The locals were mostly under the houses between the stilts cooking things or just lazing around - similar to vietnam having a midday siesta, although I don't think I saw many attending the fields later in the day.
In places the road had disintegrated in short stretches, which the Land Rovers gobbled up with absolutely no problems. Animals were everwhere, and not fenced in.
Several times dogs, waterbuffulo, geese, goats, even children would be sat on the road either moving, or at times sat there stubbornly without even moving.
We were on the road towards Savannakhet and stopped for fuel before heading north on the road towards Vientienne. We pulled up and had just started getting the first two cars filled when a mechanic appeared from round the back waving at us. 'Come' 'come'. Alex disappeared down the side which was their workshop, and came back pretty quickly 'Guys - they've got a Land Rover down here'
A 'gaggle' of the group disappeared to take a look. It was a 1950's Series 2 (i think!) which was the forerunner to defender. It had obviously been there a while, and wasn't running, but it's amazing to see - the rear boot handle being exactly the same as the 2008 defender sat out the front being refuelled.
It would be amazing to get even the smallest glimpse in to the history of a car like that to find out how it had ended up in the workshop of a Laos garage.
We got back on the road after a pit stop, and headed north on the road to Vientienne.
Villages got fewer and further between, although it might have been due to the obvious signs of flood either side of the road and the road on its own causeway effectively through the vegetation.
'no horseplay on the radio' Ian reminded us.
'What time does the Thai/Laos border shut at?' my guidebook told me 10pm. 'one of the fixers says it's 5pm, the other said it was 10pm' Mark replied. hmmm. 5pm would be a push. We were making progress at about 70km per hour, and still had half the distance to go (about 300km) to go with 3 hours til 5pm.
I was hoping the guidebook was right. But it turned out not to be. The border (the 'friendship bridge' did shut at 10pm for pedestrians, but 5pm for vehicles.
'Well, we'll get as far as we can'.
News came back from Car 3 who had been in contact with the fixer on the Thai side that he was keeping the border open for us.
We continued towards the border which was beyond Vientienne.
We hit Vientienne just before 6pm. We took a turn for the friendship bridge, but endedup on backroads, and had to stop frequently to check we had gone the right way. the locals all us onwards.
We found a major road that was marked on the map, and felt comfy following it's directions, but somehow missed the turning for the bridge (with it's large marble clad gates... whoops).
The road went from tarmac to mud with pot holes filled with water. The local traffic was slowly picking it's way through, but the Land Rovers could take the road at a faster pace. Picking our way through the traffic, I made a serious error in judgement passing a pickup truck filled with locals on the back, and managed to create a tidal wave that covered them. I felt really really bad - I thought i'd slowed down enough to prevent such a splash, but obviously I was wrong. I coasted along... I wanted to stop to say sorry, but Ian was already 400m down the road, and they probably wouldn't understand what I was trying to say and it could get nasty... I carried on with a sick feeling in my stomach.
To make matters worse, it turned out that despite asking 2 more times and been pointed further down the mud road, we had gone the wrong way. A three point turn, and we were heading back the way we came, back past the 'tidal wave' incident. I slowed down (the jerry cans were banging about on the roof). Ian and Malcolm bounded off in to the distance with Car 3 tucked up behind us.
To my relief, the angry locals had disappeared, but I sheepishly picked my route, and a slow one. On the road ahead, people on the road side had obviously got splashed, but one guy was just laughing.
It was around then that we realised car 4 had a rather restricted range on the radio (the antenna had been knocked off loading in Lao Cai), and we lost contact with Car 5 and Car 1. It was just aswell Car 3 was behind us to relay messages as we lost visual and had no idea where they had gone.
Car 5 and Car 1 were trying any which way to get on to the bridge, but couldn't find the entrance.
We waited to join back up with the others and Car 3 relayed the message that we'd lost radio contact. A local lady on a moped finally directed us to the entrance, and we sighed with relief after losing 30 minutes just driving round lost when the border was being held for us.
The paperwork on the Laos side was underway, and Malcolm took the chance to check his jerry cans, and ours (securing them as they had indeed come loose). Everyone else took to the windows and headlights with water and paper after our offroading. The cars look properly used now.
We got the ok to go, and drove up to a set of traffic lights. eventually they turned green and we drove up on to the bridge - it seems the traffic lights system is used to take you from the right hand side of the road (Laos = LHD), and puts you on the left hand side (Thailand = RHD) automatically.
We pulled up on the other side where we met our Thai fixer. There followed the smoothest border crossing, with the fixer taking the documents, disappearing for about 30 mins, before his return, and we were ready to go.
The fixer jumped in with Mark and Steve in Car 3, and after a stop at a petrol station for the cars, and pies for us (as well as picking up some familiar sweets), we were on our way to Bangkok.
We kept going, with the gaps between driver changes shortening and shortening. The Thai police had random check points where we would sometimes get through, sometimes not. At about 2am Alex and I got pulled, but the rest of the team got through ok. Realising that all the paperwork was in car 5 we had a little panic, but all the bemused police wanted to know was where we had come from, and where we were going to. They laughed at the replies, and let us on our way.
At the next stop, I got out of the car and just couldn't walk in a straight line. Time to give up before I crash I thought.
Alex managed the remaining 3 hours, and we arrived at our hotel in Bangkok at 5am.
After a clothes washing session, I fell in to bed as the sun came up.
Tuesday 29 July 2008
Monday 28 July 2008
Hanoi, Hue and the Lao Bao border
We arrived back in Hanoi on minibus and stayed at the same hotel as we had previously - Air con that actually worked, toilets that flushed properly... ahhh heaven.
I didn't go in to much detail about the hotel we stayed at in Lao Cai... probably because I have been trying to delete it from my memory... but it seemed to have the odd patron with the need for only an hour or so's use... (four shop fronts just up the road had tints in such that they glowed red at night)... and the last time our rooms had been used for a full night (let alone 5 nights in a row) was probably a very very long time ago seeing as the standard 'soap in a wrapper' had mould growing on it.
Situated between the main road to the border (only 300m up the road) and the main trainline it was pretty noisy too - coupled with the fact that the horn is used in lieu of mirrors in Vietnam. I swear some of the trucks had fog horns from ships attached rather than 'normal' horns.
We spent so long there, that at other restuarants I found myself standing back from the sink before turning the tap on (our sink neatly drained straight on to the floor). Our toilet had to be flushed by dipping in to the cistern as the 'string' mechanism to the handle was woefully inadequate, and the ball had to be replaced to stop it from refilling forever as the guide to allow it to drop back in to place was absolutely rubbish.
No hot water meant freezing cold showers (although that was a nice relief from the heat after you had got just about used to it).
Cockroaches had rummaged through our possesions, and geko's sprinted for the the doors and windows each time you turned the light on.
Anyway - I digress.. I think I will need therapy for Lao Cai...
Back in Hanoi, and after lack of dinner the previous night, and breakfast, we set off to KFC - Alex and Mel were the main protagonists, but none of the rest of us really argued... some food that is recognisable was a great comfort.
The whole team chatted about the likelyhood of getting through... Alex and I were very close to staying in Hanoi until a flight back to Singapore and on towards the UK as diverting to the Lao Bao border with the cars on trucks when we had been used to the painfully slow progress in minibuses (13 hours to go 300km for instance), and the slow arrival of the crashed car to the china border meant we were thinking it would take another 2 or 3 days for the cars to get to Lao Bao (over 1000km away).
The suggestion from the fixer for leg 4 to go that distance in a minibus as soon as we arrived in Hanoi got completely quashed. After the trip out of Dien Bien, there was absolutely no way I was getting in a minibus for an overnighter in Vietnam ever again. 'It's just not an option' 'we'll fly back to the UK from Hanoi'.
It was also a distinct possibility that progress through Laos would be slow, and Alex was concerned that the next major city, Bangkok, might not be made in time for him to fly back and get to work on monday.. and he really couldn't take more holiday (I had run out too, but had monday off).
...
'One last throw of the dice' Alex said.
After lunch, Ian, Malcolm, Mel (and possibly others) went to book flights to Hue with Vietnam airlines for the following morning.
The evening dinner was provided by our fixer, at a seafood restaurant (just as well we went to KFC - seafood isn't my strong point!) with the live fish and lobsters swimming about in tanks in the foyer. It felt a bit rude picking over the food - the lobster meat on bread was nice, but I didn't eat huge quantities of anything for fear of dodgy belly.
Our fixer sent us on our way for an early night in preparation for and early start to get the flights to Hue, although Alex updated the go60sharing site so we didn't get to sleep until 11pm.
The plan was to meet in the foyer at 4am ready to get in the minibus for 4.30am to get to the airport for our 6am flight to Hue. We set off at about 4.40am, and got to the airport at 5.10am... I think it was the closest I have ever been to missing a flight. There were huge queues at the check in desk, and by the time we got to the front it was 30 minutes to go. The check in clerk was on the radio... it wasn't helped by the fact we had somehow managed to end up with a winch kit to somehow sneak on with our luggage... Malcolm did his best to try and make it look light... but when the clerk went to attach tags it was all very clear that it was well over even the 20kg bag limit.
Perhaps because we were so close we got away with it... between myself and alex we had 15kg spare, but i'm sure our 14 checked in bags for 8 people was just ever so slightly taking the piss, and well over weight!
Malcolm's bag ended up being the last in, and was so late a guy came with a trolley to take it to the aircraft. 'You'll never see that again' we all said - although our own bags were probably far too late too.
5 minutes to go we were all checked in and had boarding cards - still security to go.
I had to relinquish a bottle of water... but was through fine. Mel got stopped and the guy took her bag. She was rather worried due to all the drugs in there and could have got stopped for hours.
With relief, it was just her water container they were after.
We boarded the plane with no time left on the clock....
To Vietnam Airways credit, we got to Hue, and every single piece of luggage had made it through. I doubt you'd get service or baggage handling like that from any airport in the UK...
We waited outside for our minibus that our fixer had arranged - whilst fending off all the other taxi drivers vying for business.
The trucks were still on route to the border, so we went to Hue for breakfast, and then walked across the bridge - infamous for an attack on the Americans in the Vietnam war - they got to halfway across before being sprayed with bullets from posts on top of the city wall.
It's a lovely place, and we had amazing weather - clear blue skys.
At 10.30 we got on the road to get to the boarder. The trucks would be there at about 1pm.
We arrive at about 2pm and find the trucks just up the road from the boarder.
'Check they are ok' says the fixer, so Malcolm and Ian scale the trucks like some monkies and peer in. 'They look fine to me'. Right - now pay the truck drivers $8000... er.. we don't have $8000.... We try to find a bank, but nowhere does dollars. 'Can you pay him and we'll pay you back?' It was agreed. Ian got on the email and phone to the UK - 'you need to pay the fixer the balance now'.
We found a place to eat - although a trip to the toilet which took you through the kitchens was either a bad thing as it put you off, or a good thing as you knew not to eat too much of it. Malcolm took great delight in taking photos of snakes in jars.
Beef noodle soup came out nice and hot, so there was a chance bateria would have been killed.
We returned to the road to find one of the trucks missing. It was just a short way away and was being backed up to an earth bank for unloading. However, the comedians had still got a 2 foot drop and had sent for some wooden planks that would be used to reverse the cars off with.
Much shaking of heads later... 'That's 3.5 tonnes... it will just snap' and 'even if it would hold the weight, which it won't, the cars are likely to just slide off the plank as it's only the width of the tyres'.
They were finally convinced to move the truck further down the road where the mud was higher.
Then a waiting game ensued. We couldn't unload the cars as there were some security tags on the tie downs to prove to customs that the cars had not been removed from the trucks. We sat in the minibus waiting...
and waiting.....
and waiting....
Finally at about 6pm the trucks disappeared down to the boarder (so much for prepping it ready to unload). We were told to wait at the minibus.
the driver got bored and disappeared - probably for dinner.
A guy on a scooter turned up, and wanted one person to go to the boarder. Malcolm jumped on... it was quite a comedy scene.
Malcolm phoned about 30mins later
'they want us down at the boarder'
the minibus driver was nowhere to be seen. We started the engine, beeped the horn, turned the ac on (finally!)... no sign.
Mel went to check out the food stalls, but the border shut at 6pm for trucks, so they had packed up and gone.
Finally about 15 mins later the driver appeared from the direction of the boarder. And we travelled down.
Passports out.. immigration stamped us out.
On the other side.. my heart dropped.
The trucks where there, but the rear door was down, and they had just parked up at the kurb.
I think I lost my sense of humour.
'NO... NO'
The magical planks reappeared. Somehow these comedians thought that if we weren't happy with the first mud bank, that we'd be happy just taking the 4 foot drop straight to the floor instead - but it's ok, there are some planks for you to reverse down... 2 inch by 20 inch planks.
'No way. Stop. NO.' they were bracing the plank ramps with supports half way down. 'No'.
Malcolm was in the undergrowth. 'We need to find somewhere to unload the cars', 'Why can't they go up to the mud we were just at', 'the cars have cleared vietnam - they're not allowed back in', 'What?' pause 'who the hell authorised that? there is no way we'll get them off here. I can see the blog entry now 'leg 4 writes off the other four cars by reversing them straight off a 4 foot drop off the back of a truck''
'Look, we don't have an option, we need to find a solution'.
I clambered on to the roof of one of the cars, but just couldn't see any raised ground in no mans land. Malcolm was still forraging.
I decided there was no way i'd be a part of what was about to happen and retired to the bags which had been uploaded by the minibus driver and he had gone.
I was fuming. How was it we kept being put in absolutely ridiculous situations like this?
I read my book in the dark.
30 minutes later or so, eventually the guards decided they would allow the trucks back to the mud 200m up the road for unloading. Mel, Malcolm, Ian and Steve went with them so they could drive them back.
We waited for about an hour before they came back. They had unloaded the 4 cars without incident, and were ready to cross to Laos.
AT LAST!
By now it was between 9 and 10pm. We travelled the short distance to the Laos border, and started on the paperwork.
Visas were fine and we passed immigration fine (despite it being past closing time). Mel even managed to buy a visa on the boarder (having missed out on the advanced purchases in Singapore and Hanoi) for just $2 more than it would have cost normally.
However, the cars couldn't go through.
So close and yet so far.
We would be able to cross the border and come back in the morning... but there was simply no way we would be able to leave the cars there.
Sleeping in the cars it was then.
After a frenzy of packing and unpacking - what would we need? what wouldn't we need? everyone settled down to try get some shut eye.
I have to say it was the most uncomfortable attempt at sleep ever. Windows up to start it got unbearably hot. it was plus 30 deg outside and super humid. The windows got opened, but then the mozzies could get in. Alex faffed with a mozzy net over the door at about midnight.
It got even warmer, I woke from a brief nap and could just feel myself sweating. It was too much.
Even though the noise would be bad, I had to turn the car on to get the AC on.
I think I caught about 2 hours sleep in total. But i felt really sorry for Malcolm and Mel in the defender, Malcolm just hunched over the steering wheel. Apparently Ian had vetod the use of Ac in the night for fear of the guards getting frisky, but I wasn't to know, and was desperate for some relief from the heat and some shuteye.
I didn't go in to much detail about the hotel we stayed at in Lao Cai... probably because I have been trying to delete it from my memory... but it seemed to have the odd patron with the need for only an hour or so's use... (four shop fronts just up the road had tints in such that they glowed red at night)... and the last time our rooms had been used for a full night (let alone 5 nights in a row) was probably a very very long time ago seeing as the standard 'soap in a wrapper' had mould growing on it.
Situated between the main road to the border (only 300m up the road) and the main trainline it was pretty noisy too - coupled with the fact that the horn is used in lieu of mirrors in Vietnam. I swear some of the trucks had fog horns from ships attached rather than 'normal' horns.
We spent so long there, that at other restuarants I found myself standing back from the sink before turning the tap on (our sink neatly drained straight on to the floor). Our toilet had to be flushed by dipping in to the cistern as the 'string' mechanism to the handle was woefully inadequate, and the ball had to be replaced to stop it from refilling forever as the guide to allow it to drop back in to place was absolutely rubbish.
No hot water meant freezing cold showers (although that was a nice relief from the heat after you had got just about used to it).
Cockroaches had rummaged through our possesions, and geko's sprinted for the the doors and windows each time you turned the light on.
Anyway - I digress.. I think I will need therapy for Lao Cai...
Back in Hanoi, and after lack of dinner the previous night, and breakfast, we set off to KFC - Alex and Mel were the main protagonists, but none of the rest of us really argued... some food that is recognisable was a great comfort.
The whole team chatted about the likelyhood of getting through... Alex and I were very close to staying in Hanoi until a flight back to Singapore and on towards the UK as diverting to the Lao Bao border with the cars on trucks when we had been used to the painfully slow progress in minibuses (13 hours to go 300km for instance), and the slow arrival of the crashed car to the china border meant we were thinking it would take another 2 or 3 days for the cars to get to Lao Bao (over 1000km away).
The suggestion from the fixer for leg 4 to go that distance in a minibus as soon as we arrived in Hanoi got completely quashed. After the trip out of Dien Bien, there was absolutely no way I was getting in a minibus for an overnighter in Vietnam ever again. 'It's just not an option' 'we'll fly back to the UK from Hanoi'.
It was also a distinct possibility that progress through Laos would be slow, and Alex was concerned that the next major city, Bangkok, might not be made in time for him to fly back and get to work on monday.. and he really couldn't take more holiday (I had run out too, but had monday off).
...
'One last throw of the dice' Alex said.
After lunch, Ian, Malcolm, Mel (and possibly others) went to book flights to Hue with Vietnam airlines for the following morning.
The evening dinner was provided by our fixer, at a seafood restaurant (just as well we went to KFC - seafood isn't my strong point!) with the live fish and lobsters swimming about in tanks in the foyer. It felt a bit rude picking over the food - the lobster meat on bread was nice, but I didn't eat huge quantities of anything for fear of dodgy belly.
Our fixer sent us on our way for an early night in preparation for and early start to get the flights to Hue, although Alex updated the go60sharing site so we didn't get to sleep until 11pm.
The plan was to meet in the foyer at 4am ready to get in the minibus for 4.30am to get to the airport for our 6am flight to Hue. We set off at about 4.40am, and got to the airport at 5.10am... I think it was the closest I have ever been to missing a flight. There were huge queues at the check in desk, and by the time we got to the front it was 30 minutes to go. The check in clerk was on the radio... it wasn't helped by the fact we had somehow managed to end up with a winch kit to somehow sneak on with our luggage... Malcolm did his best to try and make it look light... but when the clerk went to attach tags it was all very clear that it was well over even the 20kg bag limit.
Perhaps because we were so close we got away with it... between myself and alex we had 15kg spare, but i'm sure our 14 checked in bags for 8 people was just ever so slightly taking the piss, and well over weight!
Malcolm's bag ended up being the last in, and was so late a guy came with a trolley to take it to the aircraft. 'You'll never see that again' we all said - although our own bags were probably far too late too.
5 minutes to go we were all checked in and had boarding cards - still security to go.
I had to relinquish a bottle of water... but was through fine. Mel got stopped and the guy took her bag. She was rather worried due to all the drugs in there and could have got stopped for hours.
With relief, it was just her water container they were after.
We boarded the plane with no time left on the clock....
To Vietnam Airways credit, we got to Hue, and every single piece of luggage had made it through. I doubt you'd get service or baggage handling like that from any airport in the UK...
We waited outside for our minibus that our fixer had arranged - whilst fending off all the other taxi drivers vying for business.
The trucks were still on route to the border, so we went to Hue for breakfast, and then walked across the bridge - infamous for an attack on the Americans in the Vietnam war - they got to halfway across before being sprayed with bullets from posts on top of the city wall.
It's a lovely place, and we had amazing weather - clear blue skys.
At 10.30 we got on the road to get to the boarder. The trucks would be there at about 1pm.
We arrive at about 2pm and find the trucks just up the road from the boarder.
'Check they are ok' says the fixer, so Malcolm and Ian scale the trucks like some monkies and peer in. 'They look fine to me'. Right - now pay the truck drivers $8000... er.. we don't have $8000.... We try to find a bank, but nowhere does dollars. 'Can you pay him and we'll pay you back?' It was agreed. Ian got on the email and phone to the UK - 'you need to pay the fixer the balance now'.
We found a place to eat - although a trip to the toilet which took you through the kitchens was either a bad thing as it put you off, or a good thing as you knew not to eat too much of it. Malcolm took great delight in taking photos of snakes in jars.
Beef noodle soup came out nice and hot, so there was a chance bateria would have been killed.
We returned to the road to find one of the trucks missing. It was just a short way away and was being backed up to an earth bank for unloading. However, the comedians had still got a 2 foot drop and had sent for some wooden planks that would be used to reverse the cars off with.
Much shaking of heads later... 'That's 3.5 tonnes... it will just snap' and 'even if it would hold the weight, which it won't, the cars are likely to just slide off the plank as it's only the width of the tyres'.
They were finally convinced to move the truck further down the road where the mud was higher.
Then a waiting game ensued. We couldn't unload the cars as there were some security tags on the tie downs to prove to customs that the cars had not been removed from the trucks. We sat in the minibus waiting...
and waiting.....
and waiting....
Finally at about 6pm the trucks disappeared down to the boarder (so much for prepping it ready to unload). We were told to wait at the minibus.
the driver got bored and disappeared - probably for dinner.
A guy on a scooter turned up, and wanted one person to go to the boarder. Malcolm jumped on... it was quite a comedy scene.
Malcolm phoned about 30mins later
'they want us down at the boarder'
the minibus driver was nowhere to be seen. We started the engine, beeped the horn, turned the ac on (finally!)... no sign.
Mel went to check out the food stalls, but the border shut at 6pm for trucks, so they had packed up and gone.
Finally about 15 mins later the driver appeared from the direction of the boarder. And we travelled down.
Passports out.. immigration stamped us out.
On the other side.. my heart dropped.
The trucks where there, but the rear door was down, and they had just parked up at the kurb.
I think I lost my sense of humour.
'NO... NO'
The magical planks reappeared. Somehow these comedians thought that if we weren't happy with the first mud bank, that we'd be happy just taking the 4 foot drop straight to the floor instead - but it's ok, there are some planks for you to reverse down... 2 inch by 20 inch planks.
'No way. Stop. NO.' they were bracing the plank ramps with supports half way down. 'No'.
Malcolm was in the undergrowth. 'We need to find somewhere to unload the cars', 'Why can't they go up to the mud we were just at', 'the cars have cleared vietnam - they're not allowed back in', 'What?' pause 'who the hell authorised that? there is no way we'll get them off here. I can see the blog entry now 'leg 4 writes off the other four cars by reversing them straight off a 4 foot drop off the back of a truck''
'Look, we don't have an option, we need to find a solution'.
I clambered on to the roof of one of the cars, but just couldn't see any raised ground in no mans land. Malcolm was still forraging.
I decided there was no way i'd be a part of what was about to happen and retired to the bags which had been uploaded by the minibus driver and he had gone.
I was fuming. How was it we kept being put in absolutely ridiculous situations like this?
I read my book in the dark.
30 minutes later or so, eventually the guards decided they would allow the trucks back to the mud 200m up the road for unloading. Mel, Malcolm, Ian and Steve went with them so they could drive them back.
We waited for about an hour before they came back. They had unloaded the 4 cars without incident, and were ready to cross to Laos.
AT LAST!
By now it was between 9 and 10pm. We travelled the short distance to the Laos border, and started on the paperwork.
Visas were fine and we passed immigration fine (despite it being past closing time). Mel even managed to buy a visa on the boarder (having missed out on the advanced purchases in Singapore and Hanoi) for just $2 more than it would have cost normally.
However, the cars couldn't go through.
So close and yet so far.
We would be able to cross the border and come back in the morning... but there was simply no way we would be able to leave the cars there.
Sleeping in the cars it was then.
After a frenzy of packing and unpacking - what would we need? what wouldn't we need? everyone settled down to try get some shut eye.
I have to say it was the most uncomfortable attempt at sleep ever. Windows up to start it got unbearably hot. it was plus 30 deg outside and super humid. The windows got opened, but then the mozzies could get in. Alex faffed with a mozzy net over the door at about midnight.
It got even warmer, I woke from a brief nap and could just feel myself sweating. It was too much.
Even though the noise would be bad, I had to turn the car on to get the AC on.
I think I caught about 2 hours sleep in total. But i felt really sorry for Malcolm and Mel in the defender, Malcolm just hunched over the steering wheel. Apparently Ian had vetod the use of Ac in the night for fear of the guards getting frisky, but I wasn't to know, and was desperate for some relief from the heat and some shuteye.
Sleep blog
I am rather aware that the blog hasn't been updated for a week... I will set about posting for each day shortly, but to put things in perspective I thought I'd start with a sleep blog.
Friday 18th July: Cars finally make it across the Lao Cai border (vietnam/china).
Minibus trip to Dien Bien Phu starting at 11.30pm, and ending in Dien Bien at 9am the next morning.
2 hours of sleep in 30 ish minute stints
Saturday 19th July: Arrive at hotel in Dien Bien.
2 hours of sleep before midday
Minibus to Son La - NO SLEEP WHATSOEVER!
Hotel at Son La
4 hours of sleep before onward minibus to Hanoi
Sunday 20th July: Minibus from Son La to Hanoi - no sleep
After meal with our Vietnamese fixer, 6 hours sleep before an early start to get a plane from Hanoi to Hue
Monday 21st July: Explore Hue, then minibus over to the Vietnam/Lao border. Spend most of the afternoon cooking in the minibus in the sun waiting for stuff to happen.
Eventually clear the vietnamese side at about 10pm, but can't get through the Laos side as it's shut. Stuck in no mans land - but have the cars.
Sleep in cars. Dash says 36 deg. Try to sleep, but just too hot - sitting in sweat. eventually give up at 1 in the morning and turn the ignition on for AC and get about 2 hours sleep in short stints.
Tuesday 22nd July: The start of a 24 hour day. Clearing the Lao border, steaming across Lao avoiding hitting all the waterbuffalo/dogs/ducks/geese/children on the road, to clear the Lao/Thai border 'just in time', and then carrying on to Bangkok. Short naps in the car when not driving, but had to give up driving at about 2am as a combination of tiredness, and hang ups from crashing the race car meant I couldn't actually walk in a straight line without thinking really hard about it and concentration had gone. Alex managed to stay awake for the final 3 hours through Bangkok.
Get to Bangkok at 5am, and have to be up for 11am for a local dealer photo shoot. Had to do some washing and hope it would dry, and the hotel was next to a building site, so only got about 3 hours sleep.
Wednesday 23rd July: Arrive in first hotel we could find at 12.30am, grabbed 5 hours sleep before back on the road again to get to the Thai/Malaysian border in time to make a dealer event at 1pm the next day.
Thursday 24th July: Manage to rearrange dealer event for following day but still imperative to get through Thai/Malaysian border asap as the paperwork had to be forwarded to the Malaysian/Singapore border in order for us to cross in on Saturday.
Take the opportunity to find an hotel with a pool, and get 8 whole hours sleep!
Friday 25th July: Now trying to catch up on sleep that was missed for the prior week, But have to send photos to the Singapore dealer in preparation for the final event on Saturday. Get 6 hours sleep
Saturday 26th July: We made it!
8 hours sleep.
Sunday 27th July:
Flight home. Still utterly knackered.
Friday 18th July: Cars finally make it across the Lao Cai border (vietnam/china).
Minibus trip to Dien Bien Phu starting at 11.30pm, and ending in Dien Bien at 9am the next morning.
2 hours of sleep in 30 ish minute stints
Saturday 19th July: Arrive at hotel in Dien Bien.
2 hours of sleep before midday
Minibus to Son La - NO SLEEP WHATSOEVER!
Hotel at Son La
4 hours of sleep before onward minibus to Hanoi
Sunday 20th July: Minibus from Son La to Hanoi - no sleep
After meal with our Vietnamese fixer, 6 hours sleep before an early start to get a plane from Hanoi to Hue
Monday 21st July: Explore Hue, then minibus over to the Vietnam/Lao border. Spend most of the afternoon cooking in the minibus in the sun waiting for stuff to happen.
Eventually clear the vietnamese side at about 10pm, but can't get through the Laos side as it's shut. Stuck in no mans land - but have the cars.
Sleep in cars. Dash says 36 deg. Try to sleep, but just too hot - sitting in sweat. eventually give up at 1 in the morning and turn the ignition on for AC and get about 2 hours sleep in short stints.
Tuesday 22nd July: The start of a 24 hour day. Clearing the Lao border, steaming across Lao avoiding hitting all the waterbuffalo/dogs/ducks/geese/children on the road, to clear the Lao/Thai border 'just in time', and then carrying on to Bangkok. Short naps in the car when not driving, but had to give up driving at about 2am as a combination of tiredness, and hang ups from crashing the race car meant I couldn't actually walk in a straight line without thinking really hard about it and concentration had gone. Alex managed to stay awake for the final 3 hours through Bangkok.
Get to Bangkok at 5am, and have to be up for 11am for a local dealer photo shoot. Had to do some washing and hope it would dry, and the hotel was next to a building site, so only got about 3 hours sleep.
Wednesday 23rd July: Arrive in first hotel we could find at 12.30am, grabbed 5 hours sleep before back on the road again to get to the Thai/Malaysian border in time to make a dealer event at 1pm the next day.
Thursday 24th July: Manage to rearrange dealer event for following day but still imperative to get through Thai/Malaysian border asap as the paperwork had to be forwarded to the Malaysian/Singapore border in order for us to cross in on Saturday.
Take the opportunity to find an hotel with a pool, and get 8 whole hours sleep!
Friday 25th July: Now trying to catch up on sleep that was missed for the prior week, But have to send photos to the Singapore dealer in preparation for the final event on Saturday. Get 6 hours sleep
Saturday 26th July: We made it!
8 hours sleep.
Sunday 27th July:
Flight home. Still utterly knackered.
Sunday 20 July 2008
Leg 3 is officially over!
Well, a bit to update you with (if I can cope with this keyboard which seems to be in Vietnamese, and keeps putting random châracters in).
Shortly after my last blog entry on Friday night, we had a call from Mr Cheng to get to the border and check out of the hotel now (this was about 9pm).
5 people had been assigned to the vehicles earlier in the day, and we were called to the border building. The air con was off, and it looked decidedly 'after hours' (although I think the border shuts at 10pm, it is the same on the chinêse side, and they are 1 hour ahead, so I guess the vietnamêse usually pack up shop at 9). The 5 of us sat thêre looking serious and trying not to draw any attention... which failed when some vietnamêse touists decided they must have a photo with the white western freaks (they took photos of us for a good 10 mins before one of them was brave enough to motion that they wanted to sit next to us for a photo... not alot you can do in that situation than smile, and hope they'll get bored quickly... especially given the seriousness of our situation.
We had been discussing our hopes of getting through at the restuarant, and I had the feeling that if the cars weren't released that day (Friday), that they probably wouldn't get in to Vietnam at all.
Mr Cheng came across to us - he was negotiating hard. However, he was having a hard time.
One border guard who had worked thêre for 25 years had told Cheng that no foreign (I guess they meant Western) registered vehicles had been across that border..... ever.
Some french people had tried it last year, but gave up after 12 days waiting.... I can quite believe it.
Tension was definitely in the air.
I didn't hear til later, but Cheng hád the same thoughts as me, and had told Ian that it was imperative to get through the border that night, and disappear in to the night as quickly as possible.
The negotiations continued.
At 10pm almost exactly Cheng came òut of the office hurridly, and told us to get in the cars quick and drive them to the other side of the border gate - and get the dêfender towed too.
The 5 of us were on our feet hurrying out the side door. Ian dishing kéy out. 'Do we need to take the car we were assigned to?', 'doesn't matter, just take a key and move it'.
We crossed in to no mans land. The border guard had already dragged one side of the gate shut. I had the keys to Disco 5 in my hand. The furthest away. Blip. Engine on. Adjust seat. Ian and Malcolm had the 2 defenders and had got the tow cable out. Alex and Mark in the other disco's hadn't moved (the crashed dêfender was in front of them). Conscious of the time (10.03 the disco told me), I pulled forwards to see if anything was happening in front of the defender. The guard saw the movement and motioned for me to keep coming, through the gate and to pull up on the left hand side of the road on the other side of the road in the shadows (I don't know if it was purposful, but the street lámp right next to the gate had stopped working, or had been turned off).
So I guess if the border guard was right, I may have been the first Westerner to drive a western régistered car across the Lao Cai border.... ever...
Alex pulled up behind me. Mark behind him.
Malcolm and Ian had got the defenders hitched, and Malcolm dragged Ian through (Ian pẻering out of a square flap cut out of the tarp over the front of the dêfender).
We all got out and cut the engines and lights, and stood quietly by the cars, still keeping a low profile.
'We need your passports'... rubbish they are behind the hotel desk... 2 of the team start running down the road. Rachel, Ian and Mel have theirs and handed them over. 5 minutes later Steve is back with passports in hand. We all stand in between the cars...
10 minutes later the passports are back again, except Rachel, Ian and Mel's. The chinese visas the subject of intêrest. Mr Cheng is in negoitiation again - It looks like they are trying to pull us up on anything possible for the negotiatión. The 3 passports come back. 10 minutes later the guard comes across again and wants them back. They are handed over, but Mr Cheng is not happy when he finds out - he goes over and gets them back again.
More phone calls and Mr Cheng comes over. He has not been able to secure authority for us to drive the cars (take note anyone with an IDP - Vietnam is listed). He has arranged transport to pick them up. We will go by minibus to the Dien Bien Phu border ưith Lao tonight and the cars ưill be with us the next day. He will get them moved in the night to be thêre the following day.
Ian and Malcolm decide to stay back, to travel with Mr Cheng in his Chevy Santa Fe and the rest of us go to the hotel to pack, sêttle up, and get the minibus. Mr Tang is thêre organising the minibus - i'm pretty sure he had already been in bed.
What a night! But for Ian and Malcolm it had only just started.
The minibus ride was much less stressful than the one from Hanoi to Lao Cai - two drivers, and although the road was mud and gravel in some parts, it was mostly tarmac (although still twistly mountain roads), and the transit van stood up to them well.
We set off at about midnight and arrived at about 9am (i think!) after travelling the 300km.
Mr Cheng had arranged at hotel. We pulled up. At least we wêren't in Lao Cai anymore!
As we unloaded in to the foyer, some western backpackers approached me. 'Have you come from Laos?'. I was incohêrent, and it took me a good 10 seconds to register the words and found myself thinking where the hell did we set out from?... was that Laos?. 'No, sorry' I finally spat out.
I should have realised straight away that something was up.
We checked in. The receptionist had told Steve that the Buses weren't running across the border to laos. The road was blocked. Further questioning revealed that the road just the other side of border had washed away, taking bridges away too. Now land rovers can cope with off road, but mountainous roads minus bridges is not a good place to go.
Calls back to Ian and Malcolm - they had yet to get underway - they were just waiting for the transporter for the crashed defender.
'You might need another border route. This one is closed'.
Steve and Mel volunteered to get a taxi to the border (or at least try it) 35km out of town at the tôp of some mountains, and would call from thêre with news.
I went to sleep.
1pm and they ưere back. They had managed to get thêre, although the taxi grounded out and Steve distinctly heard something fall off the car, and spoke to the guards. Scooters were making it through, but nothing else. 'How long will it be shut?' 'Well, they are a bit slow fixing the roads in laos... 9 days maybe?'
The guard was really helpful and pointed out the best route to go down to Lao Bao (Almost in line with Húe). Mr Cheng had confirmed the same with Ian and Malcolm. So at 4 pm the transporters made their way on to the road to Hanoi - ưhich they ưould bypass to continue down to the Lao Bao border with Ian and Malcolm in Mr Chengs car. 'Lao Cai to Dakar rally' Mr Cheng joked as he drove.
At almost the same time, we set off to Hanoi from Dien Bien Phu. The downside was that we were now further away from Hanoi than we were in Lao Cai. 30 mínutes in and Mel was clinging on to the seat in front of her. As she had been on Leg 3, she hadn't endured the Hanoi to Lao Cai minibus trip, and this was worse. Mud slides had happened left right and centre and diggers had obviously been busy making nêw routes through the hills and mountains. This meant no side barriers for the 1000 foot drops, and a well churned road.
Thêre was obviously a traction problem, and meant our driver kept going fôr 'fresh mud' at the side of the road... next to the drops, whether that 'fresh mud' was on the right side of the road or not. A 'racing line' had developed, and twice he stopped nose to nose with a large truck and then hung out the window to shout vietnamese at the other driver before cónceeding that his miníbus was no where the size of the truck and he should get out of their way.
Steve phoned Malcolm. 'Yes, he thinks it will take 15 hours, but thêre ís just him and his wife. I don't know if his wife drives, but if the roads don't get better, we want to stop for the night somewhere and carry on in daylight'
Phone ping pong happened for the nẽxt hour or two, and Mr Cheng (who it turned out had been very worried for us) arranged for us to stop in Son La (at least I think that was the name) and for another minibus to pick us up at 6am the next day (Sunday).
We got to the hotel at midnight, and had to pay the driver a combination of Dong and Dollars as we had run out. It wasn't as much as to take us all the ưay to Hanoi, and the driver was a bit irrate (Mr Cheng hadn't discussed a reduced fee ưith the driver on route for fear of his driving becoming even more erractic and dangerous), but accepted it and went on his way. After 6 hours sleep we ưere underway again, arriving in Hanoi at 1pm (303km the milestone in Son La told us).
Malcolm and Ian looked happy to see us - especially as they had been in the same clothes fôr the now third day (we had their bags).
Tales of loading the cars, particularly the crane that hoisted the crashed defender on board its own truck, but had to be mođified by lopping a bit off the back so it would fit (the truck, not the defender that is). By the time that truck turned up it was midday on Sunday, and the border guards where not happy to have a great bit crane, with a crashed defender dangling from it right outside their gate.
The other cars had been packed in the night around the corner, but a slight incident loading one of the discos damaged the ròof a bit and now it's probably not bêst to open the rear doors or boot (jerry cans on the ròof fouled the truck and bent it all up a bit).
As Paul Morris always says 'worse things happen at sea'
So Leg 4 are reunited in Hanoi.
The Transporters drove through around midday, so Leg 3 can now stop the clock.
Leg 4 is on day 1.... it feels like so many more.
Shortly after my last blog entry on Friday night, we had a call from Mr Cheng to get to the border and check out of the hotel now (this was about 9pm).
5 people had been assigned to the vehicles earlier in the day, and we were called to the border building. The air con was off, and it looked decidedly 'after hours' (although I think the border shuts at 10pm, it is the same on the chinêse side, and they are 1 hour ahead, so I guess the vietnamêse usually pack up shop at 9). The 5 of us sat thêre looking serious and trying not to draw any attention... which failed when some vietnamêse touists decided they must have a photo with the white western freaks (they took photos of us for a good 10 mins before one of them was brave enough to motion that they wanted to sit next to us for a photo... not alot you can do in that situation than smile, and hope they'll get bored quickly... especially given the seriousness of our situation.
We had been discussing our hopes of getting through at the restuarant, and I had the feeling that if the cars weren't released that day (Friday), that they probably wouldn't get in to Vietnam at all.
Mr Cheng came across to us - he was negotiating hard. However, he was having a hard time.
One border guard who had worked thêre for 25 years had told Cheng that no foreign (I guess they meant Western) registered vehicles had been across that border..... ever.
Some french people had tried it last year, but gave up after 12 days waiting.... I can quite believe it.
Tension was definitely in the air.
I didn't hear til later, but Cheng hád the same thoughts as me, and had told Ian that it was imperative to get through the border that night, and disappear in to the night as quickly as possible.
The negotiations continued.
At 10pm almost exactly Cheng came òut of the office hurridly, and told us to get in the cars quick and drive them to the other side of the border gate - and get the dêfender towed too.
The 5 of us were on our feet hurrying out the side door. Ian dishing kéy out. 'Do we need to take the car we were assigned to?', 'doesn't matter, just take a key and move it'.
We crossed in to no mans land. The border guard had already dragged one side of the gate shut. I had the keys to Disco 5 in my hand. The furthest away. Blip. Engine on. Adjust seat. Ian and Malcolm had the 2 defenders and had got the tow cable out. Alex and Mark in the other disco's hadn't moved (the crashed dêfender was in front of them). Conscious of the time (10.03 the disco told me), I pulled forwards to see if anything was happening in front of the defender. The guard saw the movement and motioned for me to keep coming, through the gate and to pull up on the left hand side of the road on the other side of the road in the shadows (I don't know if it was purposful, but the street lámp right next to the gate had stopped working, or had been turned off).
So I guess if the border guard was right, I may have been the first Westerner to drive a western régistered car across the Lao Cai border.... ever...
Alex pulled up behind me. Mark behind him.
Malcolm and Ian had got the defenders hitched, and Malcolm dragged Ian through (Ian pẻering out of a square flap cut out of the tarp over the front of the dêfender).
We all got out and cut the engines and lights, and stood quietly by the cars, still keeping a low profile.
'We need your passports'... rubbish they are behind the hotel desk... 2 of the team start running down the road. Rachel, Ian and Mel have theirs and handed them over. 5 minutes later Steve is back with passports in hand. We all stand in between the cars...
10 minutes later the passports are back again, except Rachel, Ian and Mel's. The chinese visas the subject of intêrest. Mr Cheng is in negoitiation again - It looks like they are trying to pull us up on anything possible for the negotiatión. The 3 passports come back. 10 minutes later the guard comes across again and wants them back. They are handed over, but Mr Cheng is not happy when he finds out - he goes over and gets them back again.
More phone calls and Mr Cheng comes over. He has not been able to secure authority for us to drive the cars (take note anyone with an IDP - Vietnam is listed). He has arranged transport to pick them up. We will go by minibus to the Dien Bien Phu border ưith Lao tonight and the cars ưill be with us the next day. He will get them moved in the night to be thêre the following day.
Ian and Malcolm decide to stay back, to travel with Mr Cheng in his Chevy Santa Fe and the rest of us go to the hotel to pack, sêttle up, and get the minibus. Mr Tang is thêre organising the minibus - i'm pretty sure he had already been in bed.
What a night! But for Ian and Malcolm it had only just started.
The minibus ride was much less stressful than the one from Hanoi to Lao Cai - two drivers, and although the road was mud and gravel in some parts, it was mostly tarmac (although still twistly mountain roads), and the transit van stood up to them well.
We set off at about midnight and arrived at about 9am (i think!) after travelling the 300km.
Mr Cheng had arranged at hotel. We pulled up. At least we wêren't in Lao Cai anymore!
As we unloaded in to the foyer, some western backpackers approached me. 'Have you come from Laos?'. I was incohêrent, and it took me a good 10 seconds to register the words and found myself thinking where the hell did we set out from?... was that Laos?. 'No, sorry' I finally spat out.
I should have realised straight away that something was up.
We checked in. The receptionist had told Steve that the Buses weren't running across the border to laos. The road was blocked. Further questioning revealed that the road just the other side of border had washed away, taking bridges away too. Now land rovers can cope with off road, but mountainous roads minus bridges is not a good place to go.
Calls back to Ian and Malcolm - they had yet to get underway - they were just waiting for the transporter for the crashed defender.
'You might need another border route. This one is closed'.
Steve and Mel volunteered to get a taxi to the border (or at least try it) 35km out of town at the tôp of some mountains, and would call from thêre with news.
I went to sleep.
1pm and they ưere back. They had managed to get thêre, although the taxi grounded out and Steve distinctly heard something fall off the car, and spoke to the guards. Scooters were making it through, but nothing else. 'How long will it be shut?' 'Well, they are a bit slow fixing the roads in laos... 9 days maybe?'
The guard was really helpful and pointed out the best route to go down to Lao Bao (Almost in line with Húe). Mr Cheng had confirmed the same with Ian and Malcolm. So at 4 pm the transporters made their way on to the road to Hanoi - ưhich they ưould bypass to continue down to the Lao Bao border with Ian and Malcolm in Mr Chengs car. 'Lao Cai to Dakar rally' Mr Cheng joked as he drove.
At almost the same time, we set off to Hanoi from Dien Bien Phu. The downside was that we were now further away from Hanoi than we were in Lao Cai. 30 mínutes in and Mel was clinging on to the seat in front of her. As she had been on Leg 3, she hadn't endured the Hanoi to Lao Cai minibus trip, and this was worse. Mud slides had happened left right and centre and diggers had obviously been busy making nêw routes through the hills and mountains. This meant no side barriers for the 1000 foot drops, and a well churned road.
Thêre was obviously a traction problem, and meant our driver kept going fôr 'fresh mud' at the side of the road... next to the drops, whether that 'fresh mud' was on the right side of the road or not. A 'racing line' had developed, and twice he stopped nose to nose with a large truck and then hung out the window to shout vietnamese at the other driver before cónceeding that his miníbus was no where the size of the truck and he should get out of their way.
Steve phoned Malcolm. 'Yes, he thinks it will take 15 hours, but thêre ís just him and his wife. I don't know if his wife drives, but if the roads don't get better, we want to stop for the night somewhere and carry on in daylight'
Phone ping pong happened for the nẽxt hour or two, and Mr Cheng (who it turned out had been very worried for us) arranged for us to stop in Son La (at least I think that was the name) and for another minibus to pick us up at 6am the next day (Sunday).
We got to the hotel at midnight, and had to pay the driver a combination of Dong and Dollars as we had run out. It wasn't as much as to take us all the ưay to Hanoi, and the driver was a bit irrate (Mr Cheng hadn't discussed a reduced fee ưith the driver on route for fear of his driving becoming even more erractic and dangerous), but accepted it and went on his way. After 6 hours sleep we ưere underway again, arriving in Hanoi at 1pm (303km the milestone in Son La told us).
Malcolm and Ian looked happy to see us - especially as they had been in the same clothes fôr the now third day (we had their bags).
Tales of loading the cars, particularly the crane that hoisted the crashed defender on board its own truck, but had to be mođified by lopping a bit off the back so it would fit (the truck, not the defender that is). By the time that truck turned up it was midday on Sunday, and the border guards where not happy to have a great bit crane, with a crashed defender dangling from it right outside their gate.
The other cars had been packed in the night around the corner, but a slight incident loading one of the discos damaged the ròof a bit and now it's probably not bêst to open the rear doors or boot (jerry cans on the ròof fouled the truck and bent it all up a bit).
As Paul Morris always says 'worse things happen at sea'
So Leg 4 are reunited in Hanoi.
The Transporters drove through around midday, so Leg 3 can now stop the clock.
Leg 4 is on day 1.... it feels like so many more.
Friday 18 July 2008
That's right... we're still here.
Ahhh, Lao Cai, the bustling and lively border town in Vietnam bordering with China. A great place to spend a holiday. A weeks break can see you go totally insane.
Thursday morning came and went without the sought after crashed car arriving on it's flatbed. The journey that 'should' have taken 2.5/3 days with the 24 hour driving rota (when requested on Saturday) actually took just as long as leg 3 did - 6 days - to get from Langzhou to Hekou (and leg 3 stopped on the way). Perhaps it was unsurprising given a lady of the night was in the cab with the 3 drivers. Apparently they were 'driving slowly' because Land Rover tell them to so they don't damage the cars... (uh huh... damage to a crashed car would be terrible afterall).
By the time the car arrived in the afternoon, it was too late to get the 5 cars released from customs on the China side, and the officials took photos and emailed them off as it is an irregularity to have a crashed car, and had to wait for a response.
The downside was that Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday is some big Chinese holiday, so no customs officials were due to be in. This was resolved with the chief customs official, along with a 'new tax'.
Leg 4 played a lot of cards on Thursday... and possibly turned slightly insane.
Friday arrived, and the news came from the Chinese border that the 4 cars in customs compound were being driven back to the border by Ian and Rachel. Ofcourse this took two goes.
Then at around midday - euphoria from the rest of the leg4 team spectating from the other side of the bridge - a disco was moving in to position to tow the crashed defender across to the vietnamese side. A lot of border guards and chinese were watching, and it was underway. The nearside tyre completely deflated, as the ill fated defender came in to view for the first time, our suggestions of 'why don't we just bash it a bit and carry on driving it' was clear folly. It was definitely FUBAR.. a lot FUBAR.
A vietnamese official on the bridge briefly stopped them before other officials at the gate called him off (they had been in discussions with Mr Cheng our fixer already).
two more trips and the disco was joined by 2 more discos and the defender.
Ian and Rachel came back through the border, and we went for lunch while Mr Cheng set about his task of getting the cars in.
At about 3pm, Mr Cheng was looking stressed. 4 cars were fine. The crashed car - a big problem. You cannot import scrap apparently, and the fact that the crashed defender couldn't drive was a big problem.
The border guards allowed some of leg 4 out to the vehicles to do some repacking and checking over. Periodically locals would turn up on mopeds and take photos (I don't think they have many defenders or discos let alone crashed ones), and the occasional tourists (i haven't seen any other white people in this hole since we got here, so it makes you wonder if the cars have become a local circus feature).
Officials with big hats came with minions to have a look at the crashed car, before going back inside. Mr Cheng said they had to have a big internal meeting about it all... and that was pretty much our day. As negotiations continued, Mr Cheng asked us to leave the border gates as it was putting too much pressure on... so more cards at the hotel.
ho hum. Leg 3 is now possibly the longest leg of GO60... and technically they should still be here sorting out their mess. I hope they are grateful to leg 4 for relieving them of 5 days of hell (so far). I'm so frustrated it's unbelievable. Perhaps it's unfair to think leg 3 should still be here sorting this out (and it wouldn't make any difference having 16 people here to having 10), but i'm pretty sure the swap over point was Hanoi, not Lao Cai. Perhaps leg 4 should have been ruthless and stayed in Hanoi and make leg 3 get there - Hanoi is a lovely city, and one day wasn't enough to explore it - and 5 days in hanoi sounds much nicer than 5 days in Lao Cai.
...
perhaps I'll be in a better mood tomorrow, I think i'm a bit cranky.... but I can't believe I've wasted a week of my holiday allowance here :( .... If we don't get driving soon, I will go stir crazy.
Thursday morning came and went without the sought after crashed car arriving on it's flatbed. The journey that 'should' have taken 2.5/3 days with the 24 hour driving rota (when requested on Saturday) actually took just as long as leg 3 did - 6 days - to get from Langzhou to Hekou (and leg 3 stopped on the way). Perhaps it was unsurprising given a lady of the night was in the cab with the 3 drivers. Apparently they were 'driving slowly' because Land Rover tell them to so they don't damage the cars... (uh huh... damage to a crashed car would be terrible afterall).
By the time the car arrived in the afternoon, it was too late to get the 5 cars released from customs on the China side, and the officials took photos and emailed them off as it is an irregularity to have a crashed car, and had to wait for a response.
The downside was that Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday is some big Chinese holiday, so no customs officials were due to be in. This was resolved with the chief customs official, along with a 'new tax'.
Leg 4 played a lot of cards on Thursday... and possibly turned slightly insane.
Friday arrived, and the news came from the Chinese border that the 4 cars in customs compound were being driven back to the border by Ian and Rachel. Ofcourse this took two goes.
Then at around midday - euphoria from the rest of the leg4 team spectating from the other side of the bridge - a disco was moving in to position to tow the crashed defender across to the vietnamese side. A lot of border guards and chinese were watching, and it was underway. The nearside tyre completely deflated, as the ill fated defender came in to view for the first time, our suggestions of 'why don't we just bash it a bit and carry on driving it' was clear folly. It was definitely FUBAR.. a lot FUBAR.
A vietnamese official on the bridge briefly stopped them before other officials at the gate called him off (they had been in discussions with Mr Cheng our fixer already).
two more trips and the disco was joined by 2 more discos and the defender.
Ian and Rachel came back through the border, and we went for lunch while Mr Cheng set about his task of getting the cars in.
At about 3pm, Mr Cheng was looking stressed. 4 cars were fine. The crashed car - a big problem. You cannot import scrap apparently, and the fact that the crashed defender couldn't drive was a big problem.
The border guards allowed some of leg 4 out to the vehicles to do some repacking and checking over. Periodically locals would turn up on mopeds and take photos (I don't think they have many defenders or discos let alone crashed ones), and the occasional tourists (i haven't seen any other white people in this hole since we got here, so it makes you wonder if the cars have become a local circus feature).
Officials with big hats came with minions to have a look at the crashed car, before going back inside. Mr Cheng said they had to have a big internal meeting about it all... and that was pretty much our day. As negotiations continued, Mr Cheng asked us to leave the border gates as it was putting too much pressure on... so more cards at the hotel.
ho hum. Leg 3 is now possibly the longest leg of GO60... and technically they should still be here sorting out their mess. I hope they are grateful to leg 4 for relieving them of 5 days of hell (so far). I'm so frustrated it's unbelievable. Perhaps it's unfair to think leg 3 should still be here sorting this out (and it wouldn't make any difference having 16 people here to having 10), but i'm pretty sure the swap over point was Hanoi, not Lao Cai. Perhaps leg 4 should have been ruthless and stayed in Hanoi and make leg 3 get there - Hanoi is a lovely city, and one day wasn't enough to explore it - and 5 days in hanoi sounds much nicer than 5 days in Lao Cai.
...
perhaps I'll be in a better mood tomorrow, I think i'm a bit cranky.... but I can't believe I've wasted a week of my holiday allowance here :( .... If we don't get driving soon, I will go stir crazy.
Wednesday 16 July 2008
Last day in Lao Cai
We're still here!
Leg three crossed over on Monday afternoon, had a meal and travelled back to Hanoi. Hopefully they are now making their way back to the UK safely.
Yesterday 7 of leg 4 went to Sa Pa to explore a local tribes village. Amazing scenery, and lovely people followed by the best meal we've had all trip.
Today we have time to kill in Lao Cai (which is really a rather dull outcrop on the Vietnamese/China border)... the highlight was trying to communicate with the hotel owner to provide toilet rolls and fresh towels....
Please can we be underway tomorrow!!!!
Leg three crossed over on Monday afternoon, had a meal and travelled back to Hanoi. Hopefully they are now making their way back to the UK safely.
Yesterday 7 of leg 4 went to Sa Pa to explore a local tribes village. Amazing scenery, and lovely people followed by the best meal we've had all trip.
Today we have time to kill in Lao Cai (which is really a rather dull outcrop on the Vietnamese/China border)... the highlight was trying to communicate with the hotel owner to provide toilet rolls and fresh towels....
Please can we be underway tomorrow!!!!
Purgatory in Lao Cai (from Monday)
(delayed post from Monday)
Well, it was definitely optimistic to think leg 3 would be over the border last night.
They arrived about 2 hours before the border shut (we used cameras and binoculars to try and spot them on the other side of the bridge... something that could have been a defender roof was just about visible, but was a guess really).
The man they needed to speak to in customs wasn't there, and the juniors weren't interested.
It's now 3.30pm local time on Monday and we're no further.... and neither are leg 3 it seems.
Just waiting in the foyer of a hotel - the 35deg heat and 80% humidity isn't really affected by the dodgy fans, and locally it seems that no cafes have fridges (if you ask for ice, you can hear someone go out the back and hack it off), so probably best avoided unless a dicky tummy is required.
Faith in the human race is whanning somewhat.... but I think it's just the frustration. Vietnamese don't do favours. Full stop. Ian was telling us that in China if a family member helped you move house (for instance), they would expect to be paid.
The difference between Lao Cai and Hanoi is also stark - perhaps more normal for the Vietnamese (we saw lots of foreigners in Hanoi, but there are hardly any here, and you notice people staring at you a lot more here).
We stood on the border for a while last night before it was clear that leg 3 wouldn't get through, and many many people tried to approach us to get business. I don't mind it, other than when they are so persistent that you have to be purposefully short with people - our translator left another junior (and his mate) with us last night, and followed us back to our hotel where we got the driver to drive us to another hotel, using the translator to direct him where to go. The only problem was that despite 'take us to the international hotel the other side of the river', at the first roundabout the translator directed the driver the wrong way. 'I take you to my aunties restaurant in Sa Pa' was met with a short 'NO' 'you tell the driver to go to the international hotel over there (pointing)'
Anyway - apparently leg 3 are about to cross the border on foot, with the cars impounded, so we're off up the road to greet them. Ian will have to cross across tomorrow using his chinese residence permit to check on them, and release them once the 5th car arrives in a few days time...
Catch up with you all later.
Well, it was definitely optimistic to think leg 3 would be over the border last night.
They arrived about 2 hours before the border shut (we used cameras and binoculars to try and spot them on the other side of the bridge... something that could have been a defender roof was just about visible, but was a guess really).
The man they needed to speak to in customs wasn't there, and the juniors weren't interested.
It's now 3.30pm local time on Monday and we're no further.... and neither are leg 3 it seems.
Just waiting in the foyer of a hotel - the 35deg heat and 80% humidity isn't really affected by the dodgy fans, and locally it seems that no cafes have fridges (if you ask for ice, you can hear someone go out the back and hack it off), so probably best avoided unless a dicky tummy is required.
Faith in the human race is whanning somewhat.... but I think it's just the frustration. Vietnamese don't do favours. Full stop. Ian was telling us that in China if a family member helped you move house (for instance), they would expect to be paid.
The difference between Lao Cai and Hanoi is also stark - perhaps more normal for the Vietnamese (we saw lots of foreigners in Hanoi, but there are hardly any here, and you notice people staring at you a lot more here).
We stood on the border for a while last night before it was clear that leg 3 wouldn't get through, and many many people tried to approach us to get business. I don't mind it, other than when they are so persistent that you have to be purposefully short with people - our translator left another junior (and his mate) with us last night, and followed us back to our hotel where we got the driver to drive us to another hotel, using the translator to direct him where to go. The only problem was that despite 'take us to the international hotel the other side of the river', at the first roundabout the translator directed the driver the wrong way. 'I take you to my aunties restaurant in Sa Pa' was met with a short 'NO' 'you tell the driver to go to the international hotel over there (pointing)'
Anyway - apparently leg 3 are about to cross the border on foot, with the cars impounded, so we're off up the road to greet them. Ian will have to cross across tomorrow using his chinese residence permit to check on them, and release them once the 5th car arrives in a few days time...
Catch up with you all later.
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