Waiting in Kazan - 30 June Day 19

It's a waiting day for us in Kazan. Waiting for the rally to arrive this afternoon and hoping that friends are here early enough to share dinner; watching, slightly anxiously, the progress of Emerald on Vlad's low loader. 

It's a waiting day for us in Kazan. Waiting for the rally to arrive this afternoon and hoping that friends are here early enough to share dinner; watching, slightly anxiously, the progress of Emerald on Vlad's low loader.

We once hoped that he might reach us today but that's not realistic. Tomorrow is fine as long as it's in time for us to prepare the car before the evening as Saturday's departure will be early. He needs to get to Ufa tonight and as I write he's on the outskirts. Anything more is a bonus. 

In the meantime Kazan has been entertaining us well. It's an ancient town on the Volga and thought to have been a key point on north-south trading routes at least since medieval times. At the heart of the historic city is an enormous Kremlin (Russian term for a walled fortress including the one in Moscow but not uniquely so: think Tower of London or Prague Castle with an outer wall enclosing an assortment of buildings.   The Kazan Kremlin is huge with scores of elegant baroque, classical and modern buildings. At the heart is the Soyembika Tower, a dramatic tower associated by many with the pre-Russian Tatar Khanate and dating back to the mid sixteenth century.

The Kremlin also includes a Russian Orthodox cathedral, the Palace of the President of Tatarstan and notable fortifications. Dominating one part of the site is a modern mosque reflecting the traditional  Tatar religious allegiance.

The City has been set up to provide a tourist experience with pedestrianised streets lined by bars and cafes. In the West it would be teeming and even with tourism effectively limited to Russia it claims 1.5 million visitors a year.

On leaving Omsk

Our enforced stay in Omsk while Emerald has received treatment has allowed time to see the city. (It's amazing how little time is available on an ordinary rally day or even a rest day.)

Omsk is an old border city founded in the early eighteenth century whose claims to fame are as the place of exile of Dostoevsky imprisoned 1850-54, and as a closed city (for defence security) in the Soviet era. There is a sprinkling of grand buildings restored but not in public use.

Work is also underway to enhance a striking city centre street lined by terraced nineteenth century buildings in retail use.

The Greek Orthodox cathedral is dramatic but scarcely historical. It is a post Soviet era reconstruction of an 1890s building destroyed in the revolution.

>
>
> There is not, as yet, much capacity to welcome foreign visitors. A majority of restaurants we explored had no foreign language menu and very limited translation capacity. No doubt it will change.
>
> Our enforced stay in Omsk whilst Emerald has received treatment has allowed time to see the city. (It's amazing how little time is available during an ordinary rally day or even a rest day.)
>
> Omsk is an old border city founded in the early eighteenth century whose claims to fame are as the place of exile of Dostoyevsky in prison from 1850-54, and as a closed city (for defence security) in the Soviet era. There is a sprinkling of grand buildings restored but not in public use.
>

Moving day Wednesday 29 June

Yesterday we got the all clear to resume taking part in the rally so today begins the challenge to catch up. The people are easy to move: we catch the dawn flight from Omsk to Moscow Domodedovo and then make an internal transfer onto theology to Kazan. Siberia Airways is entirely efficient and we and our baggage arrive in time for tea.

Meanwhile back East in Omsk, Vlad is picking up Emerald on his car transporter and beginning the trek to Kazan. It may sound crazy but it's the least bad option. With a fair wind we'll be in place to start with the rally for Nizhny Novgorod on Saturday. (And we can monitor Vlad's progress on the tracking facility on the ERA's website (you can too - it's great fun)).

We hope the outstanding issues with Emerald concerning oil pressure will be made apparent through the new warning light and that the new dipstick will enable us to maintain a satisfactory oil level well before the warning system comes into play. But these are as yet unproven and whilst it's a shame for us to miss some of the journey, it makes sense for us and the car to come to the place where the ERA is set up to provide support.

Car breakdown: Sunday 26 June 17.30 : the beginning - part 1

So now it's happened: we've broken down by the roadside: the P254 from Novosibirsk to Omsk to be precise. It all happened so quickly and unpredictably: one minute we're cruising along at 100 kph with almost 500 of the 600 kilometres on the clock. With any luck we'd have been in the hotel in under 2 hours. Then a loud rattle starts in the engine and we're stopping as soon as we can. We know we need help. 

The diagnosis is relatively quick. It's not big end but it's deep in the engine. It's the sort of thing that often requires extensive workshop time so it may be fatal to our involvement in the Peking to Paris rally. On the other hand, the Alvis sump has an inspection hatch and so the problems may be treatable with relatively less effort than for a more modern car. It's all too early say. Today's task is to get it from the breakdown scene to Omsk. The sweeper teams of mechanics all stop stop to sympathise. Their words are comforting but their faces say - "trouble". Fixing is for tomorrow (or perhaps even later tonight) but certainly not now, it's about collecting the car, not curing it.

And connecting is in the hands of the Russian back-up team - Arkady and Nicolay. They have to arrange the truck to pick us up. Will it be a problem on a Sunday night? We have been assured that they are resourceful and dependable. They will text to let us know once the collection truck is within an hour. But the head mechanic has said contact them from time to time to remind them. That doesn't sound so good: shouldn't they be remembering us without nudging? So after a compromise wait of 45 minutes I telephone and am told that the procedure is clear and I should be patient.

So here I sit. It's not a surprise to be waiting at the side of the road and so I'm mentally prepared. I knew it would happen some time - or I thought it would happen sometime and now is as good a time as any. It's a pleasant evening. The ERA know we're here. Arrangements are in hand. 

And yet the uncertainties are great. And it's disconcerting to be exposed to the possibility - still remote at the moment - that no-one will turn up and we'll be out all night. The flies are buzzing eagerly despite several coatings of Deet. 

As to the future, if we can fix the car, then we'll be trying to catch up the column that is already travelling fast. So we'll be pushing a newly mended car without any easy back up: a challenge. And I've come for an adventure so here it is - but it feels like hard work rather than imbued with novelty and interest.

If we can't fix the car...well that's for another day too.

Car breakdown - Heroes part 4

Text this morning at 2am

"You car is repaired. It is fully prepared to participate in the rally".

We salute Reaktor - they have been brilliant.

Moods - surprised, delighted, grateful


Sent from my iPhoneHEROES!

Car breakdown - rollercoaster part 3

Progress zigzagged

9.30 investigation starts - much head shaking. Mood - gloom

11.30 decision made - pin and casing being replaced. Mood - hope rises

4.30 work completed and ready to turn on.
Mood - nervous then elated.

5.30 an hour of testing but it's not right: oil is leaking. Mood uncertain: dissension amongst mechanic team. Time for us to go and let them (and us)? sleep on it.

We seemed to be there but now there's doubt creeping in. Emerald got plenty of attention yesterday . We seemed to have at least a quarter of the staff - including the operations manager (doesn't wear overalls but keeps suit shirt and trousers immaculate: respect) - involved. A somewhat disproportionate share for a facility working on 20-30 cars at a time and probably through putting 100 + a day

Car breakdown - being picked up part 2

The truck driver was efficient and matter of fact taking us on a route round the suburbs of Omsk. I travelled in Konstantin's car but despite being a 'rally supporter' he hated the back roads slowing again and again for potholes. A journey to the garage that should have taken 2-3 hours took 4. We arrived at the garage at 2.30am

At the Reakter garage - a 24 hour facility - the head mechanic insisted on a complete oil change before listening to the engine. Only then would he allow the engine to be turned on and confirmed within seconds (at 4 am!) what we knew by 6pm yesterday.

A few hours sleep at the clean and basic Tourist Hotel and we shall be back at the garage and hoping they do some serious work.We waited by the roadside for 4 hours for the pick up truck. Konstantin - a volunteer helper and English speaker - arrived 30 minutes before the truck to smooth the way.

Driving in China - catch up post

He later explained that in the days of Chairman Mao, a red signal light meant 'forward' and it took a while for China to adopt international practice. 

We also each received a Chinese driving licence and a number plate for the car.

The utility of the license number was unclear:  we couldn't display ours and no one seemed to mind - so it's effectively a souvenir.

 

The Chinese Police gave us a briefing on do's and don'ts whilst driving in China. It started slowly when the senior policeman told us to stop at red lights but speeded up. 

Setting Off from the Great Wall - 12 June - catch up post

The first day was a gentle 400 kms (250 miles) on Motorway and mostly good roads to Datong where there are hanging monasteries and caves. The journey log is out of kilter following the problems so far in doing a timely blog. So here's the first of a number of catch up posts.

There was an official send off from the Great Wall about 60 kms north of Beijing: 6am departure for the ceremony at 10am with traditional Chinese dancers.

Shopping in Ulaan Bataar

During the rally there are rest days approximately every 7 days. Great you might think, a chance to soak up local  culture. The hard reality is that a rest is for the cars not the humans who serve them. Old cars have problems even when the roads are good. We are putting the cars through severe tests by driving them at pace over hard and rutted and uneven and stony desert tracks

Some cars have already been severely damaged and left the rally. Break an axle or crash a gearbox and you're probably gone. 4 cars at least have rolled, fortunately without serious human injury: it can happen at any time. Cars are transported on low loaders to main towns to undergo specialist repair or await the arrival of key parts flown in. 

The moderately damaged pr,voice the mechanical version of 'walking wounded', cars that still go but not as well as they should: 'the rolling wounded'.

Car 89 was having trouble turning and the the team Martin and Martyn feared major damage to an axle but found that reshaping their mudguard attachment solved the problem. A mere 4 hour task (added to other routines) made for a full day - no breakfast, no lunch. 

Car 30 Neil and Richard have been losing power intermittently - enough to be a nuisance but not enough to stop them completing the ERA's programme. They attacked (for the umpteenth time) their electrical system. The day passed as spark plugs were adjusted and readjusted. They have hopes of achieving progress but no real expectation of improvement. 

A car which shall be nameless needed to replace the shock absorbers fitted by their top rated - and
reputedly very expensive - vehicle preparers. But the equipment was 5cm (2" too long) and exacerbated, rather than dampening, the movement: distinctly not fit for purpose. 

Our problems were rather modest - given our Day 1 catalogue of woes. The punctured tyre still wasn't taking pressure after two repair efforts - solved by the back up team. A minor supporting strut had come lose after we hit a speed bump too hard. And we had some problems starting: solved when we cleaned the solenoid and found a loose connection. 

So my task was to was to go shopping for car supplies. I with several others including Mr shock absorber  went to the recommended place: not a car part supply superstore but a car bazaar. 

Chaotic in appearance and completely uncurated: a reminder of a past style - and very similar to the equivalent in Beijing, the day before we set off. 

My extra task was to acquire this piece of equipment for the back up team (when they ask favours, you say yes). On arrival my companions were sceptical as to my chances. You can't look around in a car parts bazaar, you have to ask the right person. 

I took along Sula, a charming tour rep from the ERA local team (Nomads) She had no car knowledge but together we were able to gently interrogate stall owners. Suffice to say, it was a success.

We've arrived in Beijing and so has the car

Friday 10th June

Teams have been arriving this week and we got into Beijing early on Wednesday morning. There was time for a little acclimatisation before collecting the car from a warehouse about 40 kms outside the heart of Beijing.

We were bussed in 5 coaches departing at 30 minute intervals from the rally hotel - the Shangri-La on the 3rd Ring Road. There was intense nervousness on arrival at the warehouse: would our car start after 2 months of travelling from Tilbury via the Suez Canal to Shanghai and thence to the anonymous warehouse on a Beijing industrial estate.

The car did start and for 10 minutes there was complete contentment. Then the engine began to fade and we stopped - petrol had run out. Quick switch from Tank A to Tank B and we were on our way to the nearest petrol station. Problems solved? Not quite.

The 30 km journey back to the hotel should have taken about 40 minutes but actually took twice that long.

Two issues have dominated our minds for the last two days:
a. what can we do to cure the sporadic misfiring: we think it's a result of petrol vapourising in very hot conditions and so depriving the engine of a steady stream of fuel; and
b. There is a nasty judder when the car hits a deep pothole (and there are quite a few in Beijing). It lasts a few seconds and is cured by stamping on the brake: just about manageable in Beijing but possibly not on tracks in the Gobi.

We have remedies in mind and will test those tomorrow with the official start of the rally from the Great Wall.

Leaving - what will we miss

Tuesday 7th June

Departing for Beijing I'm both excited and nervous about what I'll be doing for the next 6 weeks. Today I'm pausing for a couple of milliseconds on what I'll be missing.

Wimbledon is at the heart of my summer in London so it's a real wrench. I can't decide whether it's better on the opening days when lots of courts are in action or in the second week when the matches are more even.

Opera in the outdoors or in the country is best in June and July so it's a sacrifice to miss out. One of these years I'm going to do a music festival - but not this year.

London generally improves when the sun shines but I expect there'll be some sun where I'm going.

On the plus side, the builders have been slow to arrive: originally planned for April and then May they arrived last week to start the 10!weeks of works: oh dear I'm going to miss most of it.

And lastly I'm missing three weeks of the referendum. I've cast my postal vote and done my bit and I've had quite enough 'national debate'.

China: no Google, No Blogger, No Blog

The other side of the picture is the problem for a visitor in finding transport in the city. After visiting TS, walked a couple of miles looking fruitlessly for a taxi. We stumbled into a more basic form of transport - a tuk tuk to get us from nowhere - the middle of a totally congested traffic crossing to the nearest metro station. Flying along in the cycle lane, the tuk tuk was a brilliant choice.

The driver had no hesitation in barging pedestrians aside and dodging cars - 40 yuan it was an outrageous charge but still good value at £4.50. The metro system was low cost clean and speedy and in no time we were at the stop for our hotel a mere kilometre away.

No Google, No Blogger

Which is all a roundabout way of saying that the Blog has been offline because China blogs Google and its associated sites including Bloogger. So no Blog publications until reaching Mongolia yesterday but you'll now get the backlog and, campsites permitting for the next week, the running log.
Sent from my iPhoneYour picture book view of Beijing may look like this view from Tianamen Square to the Forbidden City.

Mongolia : What's there?

We visit 13 countries on the rally but 90% of the talk is about Mongolia and the Gobi desert. All the advice is targeted to preparing the cars for the wildness and the challenges of the desert. So what else does Mongolia offer? We get a rest day in the capital, Ulaan Bataar, and we spend 7 days in the country so surely there will be opportunities to imbibe something of Mongolian life?

I pored through the Lonely Planet Guide for highlights and here is the result of my search.

From the top 14 entries: 

3 are about local life - staying in a Ger (or Yurt); experiencing Mongolian hospitality  in a traditional setting - ie a Ger (or Yurt; and eating Mongolian food in its best setting - yes, a Ger (or Yurt) with a family.

2 are about Mongolian spiritual life: the monasteries and the "deeply spiritual" Khovsgol Nuur lake at the border with Siberia.

2 are about activities that suit the Mongolian emptiness - horse riding in the Steppes and hiking in remote areas "begging to be explored".

1 reference to history - Chinggis Khaan - the places where legend has it that he found his 'golden whip' and held his coronation; and the very real - but very modern - giant statue.

1 praises the local festivals - Nadaams - where horse races are exhausting and dangerous for the 10 year old jockeys. There's also wrestling, archery and ankle bone shooting (darts to you or me). But don't bother with the Ulaan Bataar Nadaam - it's too touristy. Go local for a true flavour.

1 is about Ulaan Bataar "an enormous city of pulsating commerce, wild traffic, sinful nightlife and bohemian counter-culture". the top attraction is Beatles Square named in the 1970s when groups of teenagers gathered to sing Beatles songs. No evidence that the Fab Four ever came but it's clearly a must for me as a visting Scouser. Sadly the food entries are unpromising: the local speciality is fried mutton dumplings and the best restaurants are in the (relatively) small number of international hotels.

4 are about the Gobi Desert whether as the Desert itself, the fossils, the eagle training and the wildlife watching (argali sheep ibex, majestic reindeer). The camels are a feature as are the dinosaur boneyards and the colossal sand dunes. it is praised for its "profound emptiness and terrible isolation" - though I'm not sure I personally seek very much of it.

So we shall be experiencing quite a lot of Mongolia 's top attractions in a week in the Gobi including two nights in Ulaan Bataar.