Welcome to Myanmar, a fascinating country!

On the fourth day of the competition, it was time to cross the border between Thailand and Myanmar. The name of the town on the border is MAE SOT on the Thai side and MYAWADEE on the Myanmar side. In fact, it was in the summer of Year 2013 that Myanmar approved the land entry/exit and opened the border with Thailand. The potential of this land to grow into the main artery of the logistics between Myanmar and Thailand in the future increased dramatically, and everyone welcomed the progress of democratization in Myanmar. A rally group of 180 cars traces the memorable cross-border route. This was a long-standing wish of the participants and a long-cherished wish of the organizers.

Recalled that when we crossed the Cambodian border in Year 2002, it was full of exotic atmosphere. Once crossed the border, the air changed, the smell changed, and the people, the road, and everything changed. Especially for Japanese people who are surrounded by the sea on all sides, crossing the border on land can be a special event that cannot be experienced in everyday life. The joy of literally “Cross Country” with the five senses is fascinating.

Nonetheless, there was one major problem at this border crossing. It was a hot topic in the news several days ago, due to the massive flooding in Myanmar, not only the planned competition areas but also the roads of the moving section will be flooded. It is difficult to pass through the flood surrounding area.

However, the last trial run by the “zero car” confirmed that the water level in the area that had been flooded had lowered, and the organizer decided to continue the competition. Nonetheless, in a situation unsure whether a vehicle with large-diameter tires may run, the hurdles are even higher for motorcycles and support minivans. Expectations show that it will be a last-minute decision.

In any case, the competition section immediately after entering Myanmar was still at a water level where it is impossible to run, and in view of the fact that there was a major disaster around this area, this section was canceled and being notified to the players the night before.

The hotel departure from Thai Mae Sot is early at 6am. The official car and the media car came first, followed by the players' cars and support cars, and a group of 180 cars / 500 people headed to the border. Due to the large number of units, it was expected that a considerable amount of time would be required for departure and entry procedures. However, it was possible to enter Myanmar relatively smoothly due to the advance batch procedures implemented by the organizers.

When crossing the border, the border line was a rather small river called the Moei River, and a national immigration control facility was placed at the foot of the concrete bridge across it. What was interesting was the change in the driving lane of the car. In order to go back and forth between Thailand on the left-hand side and Myanmar on the right-hand side, the driving lane of the car must be changed somewhere, and a sign indicating in the center of the bridge in the example, and road surface paint that prompts the change of the traffic line was drawn.

After entering Myanmar, the participants' cars ran a little on the main road, and they were welcomed by the brass band playing by the students in front of the school beside the road. Polo shirts, flowers and drinks with the national flag were handed. Thank you, Myanmar! !

After that, the rally teamed up with a convoy and headed westward on the Asian Highway 1 (AH1) to the town of HPA-AN. What we experienced here is a sequela of the flood.

On the road which participants had to run, there are several places where the water surface spreads as far as you can see on both sides of AH1, and the road is broken in some places by overflowing water, splashing over a distance of about 10 to 100 meters like across the river. In addition, some houses in the lowlands were still flooded, and even though the water level decreased, the seriousness of the flood was shown everywhere.

Most of the cars mass medias uses are heavyweight Cross Country 4x4, so the flooded roads were not a big problem, but a small Jimny or sidecar, or a support Hi-ace or adventure class passenger car, seems quite challenging to cross the deep water.

In Hi-ace and Jimny, there were some voices saying that water invaded the car and that the water in the car was overflowing this time even though it did not happen in the SS. For the Ural Sidecar # 67 Tetsuo Iwamoto / Shikoh Tomimoto Supreme team (Japan Racing Sidecar Association), water entered the vehicle which Tomimoto rides, the road surface was bad, and both cramped.

In the adventure challenge class Hindustan AMBASSADOR of # 65 Masahiro Yokota / Etsuko Oki group (IKAHO Toy Doll Car Museum), the local people who were nearby thought that the water was too deep and yelled “Stop the engine, we will push for you” . There was also an episode that they were able to pass safely with the local people’s cooperation.

Furthermore, although the road surface of AH1 for Hpa An town is a paved road, the asphalt is stripped everywhere, and the occupants are always shuffled up and down and left and right with deep holes continuing to the bumps. On the side of the road, the super large trucks heading to the border stopped and moved without stopping, and the trains of endless trucks continued running 15 km or 20 km endlessly. The participants run silently in such road conditions.

Because of this, the average speed from the border to the town of Hpa An is less than 20km / h. In the evening, we were hit by a squall that was out of sight, and even without competition it was an “expedition” day indeed.

Lastly, we would like to introduce the comments from Takuma Aoki, the driver of the wheelchair, who is participating from Japan this day with the SS cancellation and flood damage.

"It has to be cancelled. I would like to express my heartfelt condolences to those whom loss their lives from landslides. We would like to send our best regards so that people affected by floods may get back to their ordinary life as soon as possible. We're fighting on a stage built in this wilderness, sometimes showing a harsh face, and aren't we in a position sharing their life roads? Cancellations due to floods are very disappointing, but I think we have no choice but to be patience and move ahead. Of course, if there is a competition section, we will try our best to challenge. ''