"which aspect of Glastonbury ... did you have music?"
"... well, no!"
" ... did you have mud?"
" ... well, no! ... and we didn't have argumentative ghosts either!!"
BTW, it was the open spaces and the dust that he had in mind ...
As you can probably tell, Clive of Kazakhstan was in fine form today. The car ran like a dream, once he got it moving (see later). The distance was long, but the Chevy was very happy powering along the empty highways once it was given copious amounts of good fuel. They were the 2nd car to arrive at Usharal, tonight's camping ground, not far behind their nemesis in the yellow Chevy. (Hmmm, Clive would be happy ... Peter)
All of the people along the way were very friendly. Even the police, who keep a very tight rein on speeding in Kazakhstan, were friendly to those cars that were pulled over for speeding. Clive was pulled over for doing 68 kph in a 60 zone, so we're talking Swiss or Australian little-or-no tolerance. Nobody seems to know why Kazakhstan has decided on such a tight speeding regime, but it is such that the P2P has no timed stages in any part of the country. (Hmmm ... no timed sections ... friendly police ... I wonder what Clive has been smoking to have him in such good spirits ... Peter)
From a purely competitive point of view, this is all good news for Clive ... because it means miles and miles of highway speeds ... for which the Chevy is entirely suitable. Well, more suitable than all those old and quirky cars and especially more than the old British cars which were only designed to last till the next pub.
But let me get back to the reality of the P2P ... and especially the accommodation. This morning, they awoke at the Gulag Hotel and went to have their first proper shower of the week. You know that this isn't going to go well, don't you. The initial moments of the shower were quite pleasant, but the more the shower delivered hot water to flow down the hole, the more the sewage system provided warm, well, err, emm, dark lumpy stuff to bubble its way up from the same hole. What followed was a sort of spread-eagle posture ... standing on the raised sides of the shower base ... with head leaned forward to get some water from the non-adjustable shower-head.
Not surprisingly, Clive is quite clear that he'd take camping any day over a hotel in the this part of the world. Yes, you read that correctly .... Clive would rather sleep in a tent than in a hotel.
Mind you, the camping is quite entertaining as well. For the outdoor shower at the camping area, they are provided with canvas cubicles ... and a ladle. The idea is that you ladle the shower water over yourself ... as if you were basting a turkey. Needless to say, everyone is dreaming of the Intercontinental Hotel in Almaty tomorrow night ... so it'd better be good.
Before I forget, let me come back and explain my earlier remark about "once they got it moving". In Clive's enthusiasm after his deft repair work yesterday, he over-adjusted the brakes to the degree that the car wouldn't move away at all this morning. An initial cold chill was followed by sniggers and laughter ... after a quick adjustment in the opposite direction, the Chevy pulled away quite smartly.
Finally an amusing anecdote related to the Kazak who greeted Clive with "ello mate!" in fluent English and with a local London accent. Clive asked if he'd been working in London. No, he'd never been overseas, but he learned English in school and used to watch TV to improve it.
"From TV, really! Which shows did you watch?" asked Clive.
"Eastenders" replied the man.
For and on behalf of CD and Ces
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PS: As I mentioned, all crews will be sleeping at the Almaty Intercontinental tomorrow night. For their sake, I hope that the reality of the hotel is not still "coming soon" .... as the images on their site suggest.
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