DONG HA (7 April 2010, overcast, hot and humid) – At Monday near noon, the 3W6C team departed Zurich on time and embarked on our great adventure. Following a 4-hour layover in Singapore in the early morning hours of Tuesday, we arrived in Ho Chi Minh City at 10.45 a.m. local time (Zurich time +5) into sunny, humid weather and 32 deg C (89 deg F).

The first order of business was to check into the hotel, and the taxi ride amazed us all with the absolute chaos on the streets with seemingly thousands of scooters, all driving without any seeming rules and weaving in and out in all direction – but without any accidents.

After relaxing for an hour or two and a quick lunch, those who did not take a nap visited the War Remnants Museum, which is dedicated to the suffering of the Vietnamese people during the War during the 1960s and 70s.

The day concluded with a dinner to which we invited the local radio amateurs. First were presentations by Team Leader Hans-Peter HB9BXE to Bac Ai, XV2A, President of the Vietnamese Amateur Radio Assoc; the gifts consisted of pennants from USKA and the SDXF, a pair of SDXF patches, a SBB railway wristwatch as well as a specially made 3W6C pocket knife from Victorinox that went to all the visitors in attendance as a keepsake of the event. The local hams, for their part, gave Hans-Peter a special ivory-laid picture thanking him for his involvement, and each team member received a smaller version for themselves. Of special interest for us was the chance to meet Bac Ai and Huy XV2B, both of whom are coming to the island. We were treated to a special meal consisting of a bowl of boiling water into which a whole fish was put into cook along with local vegetables and spices.

Finally, after roughly 32 hours of being awake, we were able to enjoy some sleep – but not very much, because the taxis to the airport for the next leg of the journey left at 4.30 a.m. This was to catch a flight to Hue and a subsequent bus ride to Dong Ha, where we checked into the hotel before noon and got ready for the next stage of the DXpedition. At this point, we met up with Eddy XV1X, Michal XV9DX, Thorsten XV9TH and his XYL Huong. A truck/driver had driven down the day before from Hanoi, where the equipment shipped from Switzerland had been in storage; the trip through 2-lane highways took 13 hours.

Today we are examining the ships that will transport us to the island, doing last minute shopping for large amounts of water, beer and snacks to keep the operators happy (also on the shopping list: the Guest House on the island, besides having no electricity except from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., has no towels and no toilet paper). Another group is doing a final check into the coax feedlines that have been prefabricated for the various stations.

Meanwhile, everyone is healthy – not a single case of upset stomachs or sickness due to the severe change in climate and food.

If all goes according to plan, we finish loading our equipment on the ship and embark for Con Co before noon. Our next report will come from the island…

Check out the pictures in our web album.

    
3W6C Island Communications Team: Paul Schreier, AA1MI/HB9DST, Christina Toporitschnig, HB9BQW, Thomas Parthier, HB9BSH