We’re happy to see our ranking has improved and we’re now ranking 12 in our class position, and up to 36 from the low 40′s overall.  It is tempting to push the car to go faster, but it is more important to us to arrive in Paris on our own, not on a flatbed truck.  There’s still a lot of driving and challenges ahead.

The last days have been very interesting as we’ve traveled through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan.  We hired a guide to show us the old city of Samarkand, which was very interesting.  It was fascinating that they make an effort to restore their old buildings.  Imagine if the Colosseum in Rome had been rebuilt. 

We now journey into Iran for 3 days.  We’re official guests of the Auto Club in Iran.  Men, as well as women, must have their legs and arms covered.  There is absolutely no alcohol allowed in Iran, so all wine, beer, vodka, etc, etc. had to be consumed before leaving Turkmenistan….

I’ve downloaded several short videos which should be on the website or Facebook tomorrow.  This should give you a much better idea of the landscapes we’re traveling, the entertainment provided for us one night, the mechanics, Harry taking pictures of the children and our driving experiences.  Endurance is key to success in this adventure.

It’s great to know that we have followers from around the U.S. and around the world.  Here we go.  Thanks for following.

Driving through Mongolia & getting a taste of life here has been an amazing experience.  The scenery is quite beautiful, wide open plains, clear skies, mountains, deserts.  Night skies present a display of bright stars, full moon, like you could reach out and touch them.

The roads are much worse than anticipated.  When the route was palnned two years ago, the roads were apparently in better condition.  Rains, floods and other storms have caused pot holes and done damage to the surface.  Many of our competitors have suffered serious damage to their cars, spending days (or evenings) in the local blacksmith, truck or auto shops.  Those who are more competitive have taken the risk to drive faster in their attempt to win.  We have decided to be more cautious, take it easy on the car, and make it to Paris safely and in one piece.  That strategy has served us well, so far.  After all, I am a risk manager! Read the rest of this entry »

The last 2 days were spent racing thru the Gobi desert. Every day there were 2 or 3 “time trails”, which represent the true racing aspect of the event. We are starting to do very well in these, and it is quite exillarating. The car continues to behave better and better, probably because we starting to know it better. All kinds of things are coming off though, because of all the ratteling and shaking. We have to stop several times per day to tighten various parts, headlights, steering column etc.
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It seems that if the car makes it through the first few days, there is a good chance it will make it through the entire rally. We’ve had no major car problems, so we should be o.k. Just a few adjustments. Today we made some adjustments to the nozzles in the carburetor, the car seems to run smoother.

Lesson # 1 – Read the updates and daily bulletins. The first day, we drove according to the book and found ourselves off course. There were detours and other changes made that we would have known if we’d read the bulletins. Now we know. In one of the pictures you’ll see “Is this the road to Paris?” It wasn’t! Read the bulletins!

Lesson # 2 – Hold on to the Route Book. On the back of the Route Book is a 2-sided page to use if you stop your car for any reason. On way side is “OK” which means you’ve just stopped for something minor, to rest, or to pick up something. On the other side is “SOS” which means you need help. Displaying this sign will let other passing drivers know if you need help. Today we stopped to make a minor adjustment to the car, so we displayed the “OK” sign. Problem was, when we started again we forgot to take the book with us inside the car! Fortunately another driver saw what happened, and picked up our book, which we’ll retrieve tomorrow morning. So, hold onto your book!

This is tiring, and we’re ready for a good night’s sleep after driving and navigating strange roads. Tonight is our first in tents and sleeping bags. I do have to say, however, it looks a little nicer than the earlier hotels.

Tomorrow on to Ulaanbataar, and then a rest day.
Stay tuned.

The car is fully packed and ready to go in a few hours. We tuned the carburator with one size larger nozzle for bot the main, economy and compensator. We feel real experts now. Had to replace the battery also, since it appeared to be cracked and leaking acid. Just your average type of repairs before a big trip, I guess. The hotel parking lot is attracting crowds of people, making pictures. Over 100 antique and vintage cars is quite a sight.

Picked up the car from the warehouse yesterday. Everything went very well, just lost a little water on the trip. Overall just controlled chaos ! Lots of fun.

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