Through the Alps: Vespa riders wind their way between the mountains of the Alps in Switzerland. - Photos courtesy of Ha Noi Vespa Club
Members of the Ha Noi Vespa Club set a record by becoming the first aficionados of the iconic Italian scooter from Southeast Asia to attend a four-day global meet in Italy. Lan Dung reports on their experience
Ferenc Halasz and Alain Warnon were surprised to see the Vietnamese contingent.
The Frenchman and Belgian, members of Vespa clubs in their respective countries had not seen anyone from Southeast Asia participate in the Vespa World Days, held this year in Mantova, Italy, from June 12 to 15.
In fact, Vespa lovers from around the world, expressed pleasant surprise when they greeted the group of 10 Vietnamese driving Vespas with licence plates from Viet Nam.
Starting their trip on May 31 from Genoa in Italy, the Vietnamese, everyone in their late thirties, drove 4,000 kilometres through three other European countries, France, Germany and Switzerland, on a trip lasting nearly a month, to take part in the event.
They were from the Ha Noi Vespa Club and set a record in becoming first Southeast Asian club of Vespa lovers to take part in the global event.
The idea of driving a Vespa in Europe and taking part in the event struck them two years ago. Earlier, members of the club drove 2,000km across Viet Nam in 2008, conquered 3,000km across Indochina in 2011 and rode 4,000km across ASEAN countries in 2012. Thanks to the immense experience gained from these trips, they were even more determined to ride their Vespas in Europe and participate in the biggest day for Vespa lovers.
Do Vo Tuan Dung, head of the Ha Noi Vespa Club, said that it took them about 20 months to prepare for the journey – from learning about procedures to transporting their Vespas from Viet Nam to Italy, to maintaining the scooters.
“We had prepared carefully for our long trip, with a budget of VND100 million (over US$4,700) one person. Besides, members had taken protective clothing, handheld transceivers, a GPS device, raincoats, boots and reflective shirts,” he said.
The participating vehicles concluded three PX Vespa scooters manufactured in 1996 and 2012, which were shipped to Italy, and three 2014 models of Vespa Sprint 3V, which were loaned to them by Piaggio.
We were here: Riders pose in front of the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France.
On the first stretch from Genoa to Nice in France, members drove at speeds of 30 to 40km per hour, much slower than what they did on the roads later. This was the first time they had ridden their Vespas on European roads, and were like fish out of water at finding their way around while seeing signboards, lanes and traffic regulations.
In the next few days, they got used to driving on those roads and did not have any problems.
“We were all surprised at the beauty of the places we had ridden through. The road from Genoa to Nice runs along the coastline while from Zurich in Switzerland to Nancy in France there was wheat spread on the road,” Dung said. “While travelling from Zurich to Lugano in Switzerland, we had an opportunity to challenge our driving skills on the Alps. We were all thrilled and impressed at seeing snow for the first time.”
He said that some of the roads in Europe were similar to the ones in the north-western and north-eastern areas of Viet Nam though their quality was much better.
Đăng ký: VietNam News
