Sorry for the lack of posts.

Hi, we are very sorry for the lack of posts from Molly Porsche, but the internet connection in a lot of the hotels has been terrible. Also the days have been very long and hot.
We have been posting each day on our Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/Mollyporsc
Here there are plenty of pictures and updates, it's much easier to post to Facebook :)
We are having an amazing time and we are over halfway though the rally.
Please follow and like our Facebook page at
https://www.facebook.com/Mollyporsc

Vietnam to Myanmar and back. The start of a great adventure

Hi and welcome molly Porsche's blog.This is day 3 of driving on the Vietnam to Myanmar and back. but actually only the second day of the rally proper.

The first day we used as a very useful shakedown. Learning how use the road book and also trying to get used to the driving habits off friendly Vietnamese hosts. Which I must say very good if a little confusing sometimes.

So far we have covered about 500 km of all estimated 8000 kilometers.

The roads have been very mixed in quality but lots of fun, and we've come up with a new term which is a 'murmuration of motorbikes'.

There are so many mopeds and scooters on the road it's quite difficult to actually see the asphalt, as the bikes wizz in and out of each other. Just like the starlings to at the end of Brighton pier.

They're all meant to be 15 classic cars on this rally but unfortunately one of the cars was unable to be dropped at its designated port due to bad weather.

We are hoping that that will join us in two or three days time.

The other missing car is due to the participants being unwell and unable to join us.

Hopefully they will be with us be with us in 6 or 7 Days time. We will then have a full rally.

The scenery  in Vietnam is amazing but there is quite a lot of Forestry work going on hopefully they will be  replanting  the trees that taking down.

The countryside is very clean and the people  seem to be very industrious, and busy earning, a living a bit like the roadsides of India.

Two out of three of the hotels we have stayed at so far have been very good. One of them I think we will best described as interesting and the food that we were served up at the local restaurants could also be described as interesting. It was certainly a very good way of starting a diet.

Molly Porsche is going really well and all the classic cars are running well, so far and without any problems, which is pretty unheard of. Mind you the roads so far have been pretty kind to us.

It's just the volume of nice bikes scooters that gives us any problems, It is really exciting weaving in and out of them and trying to predict whether they're going to turn right left straight on or just turn around and drive straight back at you.

Crash helmets seem to be compulsory which is quite amazing when you see five to six people on 150cc moped they have amazing balancing abilities.

This is going to be a fantastic adventure. We will try to keep the blog updated but the internet is already proving tricky.

Our Facebook page at

https://www.facebook.com/Mollyporsche356/

The Vietnam to Myanmar and back road books

This is a good article taken from the official Global rally website. It gives a small insight into our road books and the route Molly Porsche is going to follow on the Vietnam to Myanmar and back 2018.

As everybody knows there is a lot of planning that goes on behind the scenes before we all arrive at the start point.  From booking the hotels to cancelling the milk, we have all been planning this trip for months, if not years.   And in 48 hours many of us will be setting off, some have already done so.

Tucked away safely in everybody’s hand luggage is our road book.   Loving collated by Robin and Charlotte, with contributions from other members of the team, it is the trip bible and no car is ever without one.   We have done one for every rally so far and so the Vietnam trip is no different.

If you haven’t seen one yet it here is a little bit about them and why we do them

Safety is paramount on our trips, and they are not races.   Whilst we all spend the night in the same hotel, and often have lunch or dinner together, much of the time is unstructured to enable everybody to stop and see sights they might know about, or happen to stumble upon without thinking they have to miss something to keep up with the main party.

Unless necessary we don’t travel in procession but at our own pace.   It is always fun to find out at the end of the day what friends have been up to each day, or pass a familiar car parked outside a coffee shop and offer a jaunty wave.

We like to ensure, therefore, that everybody has as much information as possible about the route for each day so we can all plan where we might stop for lunch and also not have to rely on street signs that might be in a language we don’t recognise, or be non existent!  The road books are painstaking put together with distances and directions from on the ground route planners, and the help of Google Earth to ensure they are accurate as humanly possible.   It is also crucial that we know where the next fuel stop is so these are also listed.

With safety in mind the road books also list what to do in case of breakdown or emergency in each country and how we ensure that everybody is “checked in” each night with a system in place to keep everybody in constant touch if needed.

We also cram them full of useful phrases and information and at the end of the day there is no phrase more important that “another beer please!”:

Nearly time for Molly Porsche to start the Global Rally, Vietnam to Myanmar and back :)

Well, there is just under a week to go before the start of the Global Rally Organisation rally called Vietnam to Myanmar and back.
All of the cars, including Molly Porsche, have now arrived at Da Nang in Vietnam and all appear to be in good shape.

There are 15 Classic cars all built before 1972. The cars are numbered according to age. Molly Porsche was built in 1958 and is car number 3.

We have plotted the route onto our maps, we have got our Sat Navs all set up and we have even put all the hotels onto an app called Mapsme. What could possibly go wrong :)

All we have to do now is to get to Vietnam and load the car, start the engine and go on our 8,000 kilometer adventure.

Molly Porsche goes on her next rally, Vietnam to Myanmar and back.

Our rally prepared Porsche 356A, commonly known as Molly Porsche , is off on another amazing  endurance rally.

In February 2018 Molly will start an incredible  trip Vietnam to Myanmar and Back. This rally is with and organised by our great friends the Global Rally Organization.

The map of the route starting at Hoi An and finishing in Halong Bay

Five countries form the backdrop to a journey through spectacular scenery and a multitude of cultures in South East Asia.   The rally explores both coastal and mountainous scenery in southern Vietnam including the delta of the mighty Mekong river.   In Cambodia it stops at both the much visited Angkor Wat and the lesser known Preah Vihear ruins, taking in rivers, waterfalls, and the Cardamon mountains. 

The journey through Thailand encompases interesting towns and the ramparts, moats and chedis of Sukhothai as well as drives along scenic roads.   A mountainous route leads to Myanmar (Burma) with the temples of Bagan, Markets, the beauty of Inle Lake and fabulous driving through Shan state.   A brief return visit to Thailand includes the night markets of Chiang Rai and the wats of Nan in the “Golden Triangle”

A crossing of the Mekong river and the golden temples of Luang Prabang are features of the journey through Laos before we encournter the precision paddy fields, spectacular mountains and local people in North Vietnam.  Throughout the journey colonial influences sit alongside the surviving regional cultures.