Day 28 - It's good to be back ...

... not home ... just simply in a country that sells beer!

I am sure Peter will find a way of posting all the pics we have available, but rather than give you a total recap of the last week, here is a typical day on an Endurance Rally ... that is, today:

• Get up at around 5.30am and get ready to find what today's strange breakfast is ....
• Pack extensive baggage ....
• Dress appropriately ... both of us!  (didn't you only have 1 scruffy outfit each? ... Peter)
• Head out of Iran towards the Turkish border, collecting suitable items of propaganda enroute to win over the hearts and minds ...
• After 2 hours, enter Turkey ...
• Ces removes headscarf ...
• I put pedal to the metal ... pointed straights toward the pub ...
• Notice Mount Ararat (Noah's Ark) along the way ..... mash the accelerator into the floor ... (isn't Noah's Ark a pub in West Sussex? ... Peter)
• Notice that speedo hit 149 kph in a 120 zone ...
• Notice policeman stopping me ... for speeding..... welcome to Turkey ...
• Once he finds out I am a policeman (well, I used to be!), we're all mates ... and it's photos all round ...
• What a shame ... the poor German chap behind wasn't so lucky ... he probably copped my fine as well as his own .... he, he, he!!!  ...
• Arrive at hotel at 15:21 ... our ETA has been 20:17 ... if only it had been a competition day!!

Last week in summary:

Ah ... pretty park ..... I think I need the loo ....... God, I need the loo ....... God, I feel ill .......... God, I am ill ......... I hope the border crossing into Iran goes quickly.....

(Clive, don't you think you shudda been saying "Allah, I feel ill" ... Peter).

Well, 3 hours wasn't bad ..... I hope this hotel is nice .....

What do you mean you've sold our rooms??

No, I am fine with sleeping on the floor  ... after all, I only paid £30 grand to enter this rally!!!

.... and no, I don't know what my government thinks about Iran's nuclear policy .....

Mmmm, ahhhh ... a beer ..... ah, ye're up to date ... aren't ye?    Good, 'cos I gotta go to an important rally briefing ... it's on fluids and dehydration ... yeah, that's it!

PS:  The timed stages start again tomorrow ... the car is running well ... and I am feeling great!

CD & Ces

Day 27 - another day of drudgery!

Heavy rain last night ... so both of today's stages were cancelled ... you can imagine the effect that had on our competitive participant ... hence Clive's description of today as another day of drudgery.

On the positive side, the scenery over the mountains was really spectacular ... but they could only spare one eye for the scenery because the standard of driving by locals was really, really scary.   One minor consolation was that the brakes started to fade really badly going down one of the hills ... almost exactly where one of the two timed stages would have been held.  Phew!

Of course, the radiator mounts are disintegrating more each day ... coat hanger wire, cable ties, trouser belts, and Ces' tights are all being used to keep the radiator from falling back into the fan.   Ces doesn't need her tights right now anyway ... well, not since she inherited Clive's trots.   Ces was probably also less bothered about the cancelled stages ... imagine telling Clive in mid-stage that she needed to spend a penny.

Tonight they are in Tabriz, just 300 kms short of the Turkish border.   They do have a hotel room, but a far cry from any Intercontinental.   Apart from the tensions of being in Iran, they are also conscious of being just 250 km north of the Iraqi border.   For you geography buffs, Tabriz is in East Azerbaijan.   Ehh?   Yes, East Azerbaijan is a province of Iran.   Azerbaijan itself is about 150 kms further north on the Caspian Sea.  Of course, you already knew all that ... right?

Tomorrow's agenda is 300 kms to reach the Turkish border, and another 300 kms from the border to Erzurum in Turkey.   The schedule allows for a 2 hour delay at the border, which might or might not be enough, but perhaps Clive and Ces will be lucky since they are closer to the front of the field.

In Erzurum, Clive has high hopes of having email, internet, etc so that he can report on the ups and downs of the competition ... that'll take 60 seconds at most ...  but he can also upload all of the photos taken in the last week ... that might take a little longer.    So, fingers crossed for some exciting images tomorrow night ... rather than just more words.

For and on behalf of Clive and Ces

Day 25/26 - It's definitely an endurance event, but for the wrong reasons!

The crossing into Iran was relatively quick and uneventful for Clive and Ces.   Apparently, only a skeleton staff was on duty, so the first few cars breezed through, but then a backlog quickly built up.   As a consequence, some of the later cars didn't get over the border until 5:00pm ... and then had a 6 hour drive to the hotel (of which more later).  

Because of these delays, Monday's two long-awaited timed stages were cancelled.

During the morning and the border crossing, Clive was still feeling really rough and he painted a wonderful image of the dangers (to one's trousers and shoes) of using a squat toilet when one's bowels are out of control!!  

If you've been following the official P2P website, you will have read Syd Stelvio's report about the wonderful welcome that the participants received in Iran.   Clive's opening words in his report were that Syd was on a different rally to many of the participants (or perhaps Syd had yet to hear from all participants when his update was written ... we'll find out tonight ... Peter).  

Clive and Ces had no problems between the border and the hotel in Gorgan and it is true that the police were handing out flowers.   But at the same time, a female participant was hit by a rock thrown by onlookers, a male participant was hit in the chest by a bottle, and an Australian crew was robbed by 8 guys on motorbikes.  This was bad enough, but then they would have arrived at the hotel in Gorgan to discover that all P2P rooms had been cancelled.  (According to the official site, the cancellations related to the schedule/itinerary of the President of Iran ... Peter).

After much too-ing and fro-ing, Clive and Ces got to share a room, well, the floor of a room, with 6 others (a combination of competitors and film crew).   By that time, Clive's border-barf had gone, but he was so knackered from the previous 24 hours that he slept like a baby (he didn't mention the use of a nappy ... Peter).  

With no timed stages today, and another grotty hotel this evening, Clive is not happy with the way the P2P has played out in the last week.   He said:

"It's hard on the cars and crews ... endless boring transport sections ... separated by different shitty hotels ... few speed stages ... and half of those end up being cancelled anyway.   It's definitely an endurance event ... but for the wrong reasons!"

"Without timed stages ... or some sort of test ... I can't move up the leaderboard ... I didn't pay tens of thousands just to (expletive deleted) participate ... I'm here to compete!"

As for the Chevy, it continues to run well.   Clive dumped 40 litres from the sandy tank and that seems to have solved the fuel problem.  Now all they need are lots of timed stage so that Fugly can flex his muscles.

Tomorrow (Wednesday) is another 580-odd kms and, fingers crossed, 2 timed stages. 

For and on behalf of Clive and Ces

PS:  I had considered downloading some images for this ... but when I googled Iran on the internet ... I found some very disturbing images ... so I concluded that it would be wiser to wait until the crews were well clear of Iran ... Peter

Day 24 (more) - an official despatch from the 'Stan Front

You knew it had to happen ... sooner or later ... but definitely before they left the Asian continent ...

... no, no major problem with the car ... didn't get lost in the desert ... avoided being arrested

... instead it's the dreaded Delhi Belly, Montezuma's Revenge, Lüstülistan, Uzbek Bowel, Border Barf ...

Clives continually strives to lighten the weight of the Chevy.

More seriously, it's not very pleasant to have fever-like sweating and hallucinations during the night, and then have to drive 600+ km in 30-34C heat the following day ... on an empty stomach.   Even though it is always said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, the hotel in Ashgabad does not do breakfasts.   Instead, Clive had several anti-biotics for breakfast.

The car is running fine except for the sand in the fuel tank problem.   Apparently the bigger 60 litre tank has a lot of sand in it, so Clive and Ces have to clean the various filters several times a day (Clive tries to clean out his own insides at the same time as the filters to limit the number of roadside stops).  They are hoping to pull out the tank in Iran and flush it clean.

The radiator mounting also broke again, in a different place, but was easily fixed.

At the time of writing, they should be at, or past, the Turkenistan-Iran border.  Therefore it's long sleeves and headscarves at all times.  And Clive's beard is gone.

For and on behalf of Clive and Ces

Day 24 - no news is good news ... isn't it?

Okay, one more night in Turkmenistan ... and then it's on to Iran ... and more timed stages.  We all wish Clive and Ces well in the timed stages, but also in getting through Iran without incident.  Quietly, we hope that they have no intentions of going hiking or back-packing in the next 3 days ... at least until they get into Turkey.  

In the meantime, Clive's recent comment that it's "Boring and hot as well!" will probably continue to be the over-riding sentiment in Car 72.

For and on behalf of Clive and Ces

Day 23 - Ever crossed a pontoon bridge?

Another medium-long dull day at about 370 km ... and reasonably uneventful.   Well, uneventful compared with some previous days, but hardly a typical weekend jaunt in your old classic car.

First there was the 4:00am wakeup call ... but they're getting used to that.   Then quickly fill up the 60 litre endurance tank with petrol and head off.   They were a little concerned at the colour and state of the fuel ... which seemed to have some sand-like brown stuff in it.  

Hmmm ... let's just blitz on and see what happens!  

Some time later:    They didn't have to wait long because Fugly just stopped on the highway.   Immediate panic set in, because between the offending petrol station and the side of the highway, they had been calculating the "what ifs" relating to fuel.   They were fairly sure that the small tank (the 40 litre one with good fuel) would not get them to tonight's hotel ... and there were no more service stations enroute!!

So it was bonnet up, laminated checklist out, as Clive and Ces both bend over and get to work.   While Clive works on the inline filter behind, Ces works on the goldfish-bowl filter upfront.  When the process has been completed, the checklist is ticked off and they're on their way again.

Next is the pontoon bridge where the fare is listed as TMM 20/USD 12.  (The Manat is the unit of currency in Turkmenistan ... Peter)

Ehh, let's pay the 20 local widgets.   Ces says.
He wants the 12 dollars.   Clive responds
We haven't got 12 US dollars, he needs to take the local widgets.  Ces responds rather firmly.   Besides, why won't he take the 20 whatsits?   
A few minutes later, Clive comes back and says  He is taking the 20 whatsits but he needs the 12 dollars as well ... it's not 20 or 12, it's 20 PLUS 12 ... otherwise, he says he won't let us across!!.

Much to-ing and fro-ing followed, some strong language was used, separated by some periods of silence.

Eventually 12 dollars were found somewhere in the car (probably next to those keys in the safe place ... Peter) and they were on their way across the pontoon bridge.   The episode was, according to Clive, quite an adventure and definitely eliminated any chance of them being bored on this particular day.

Now they're at their hotel, which is very basic but friendly.   Mood of the evening is all's well that ends well.

For and on behalf of Clive and Ces.


PS:  Photos will be received and loaded in due course (ie. within a week) but I know you readers need an image every now and again, so that you can sit back and let your imaginations take over, so here you are ...

This may very well be the same pontoon ... it's in Turkmenistan.

Day 22 - lotsa zzzzzzzz's and late breakfast in Samarkand

Clive and Ces are relaxing in Uzbekistan ... but really impatient to get to the next timed stages ... scheduled for Iran.   They are currently chilling out but bored in Samarkand.   Apparently fuel has been a serious problem ... shortages across Uzbekistan and difficulties buying at just any old service station.  When they have bought fuel, it's has had a very cloudy colour and has been fouling the spark plugs.   Much of Day 21 was run on 5 (rather than 6) cylinders.  But other than the missing cylinder, the car is running really well.

Tomorrow, Day 23, Clive believes that they will be crossing over the border into Turkmenistan.  He's correct, and therefore he can expect much hanging-about sometime during the day.  But then the distance is only just under 400 km so they can accommodate a delay.   In addition, the hanging-about will be very pleasant in the 28C temperatures (rather than the -10C of Mongolia).

Less pleasant is the evolving stratification of the participants.   As the days pass, a non-Darwinian unnatural selection is taking place.   An aspect of this has already been alluded to on the official website, relating to the hiring of transport planes to leapfrog a couple of days' driving to Almaty.  The upper end of the stratification would seem to be modelled on the officer class of the old British army (ie. class distinction).