DUMPTY DO — HERE WE GO AGAIN
THE MOST ARDUOUS ADVENTURE WE HAVE EVER UNDERTAKEN
We got ourselves into the scrutineering queue. We just breezed through — our first indication that the preparation we have put into this car wasn’t wasted
Garry wrote a log of his and Ken’s exploits, and in this issue we carry his reports on the eastern and most challenging legs of his journey through China, Mongolia, and Russia. Next month, Garry and Ken will complete their epic journey, passing through Kazakhstan then back into Russia, before coming down through the former Soviet states of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and on into Poland, Germany, Belgium, and France. Over to Garry.
Beijing, China
After a good flight up to Beijing we are now getting into the final preparations for the Peking to Paris endurance rally. The first formal obligation was the Chinese driver licence police briefing for all who had to have a new licence. We were instructed about the cultural differences that apply to Chinese driving habits, which are based on the days of the bicycle, and how to readjust our rear vision mirror. As someone who has held a driver licence for 58 years, I have to have a special licence for people over 70 years old. This was made available by my paying a facilitation fee of £280.
Friday was car pick-up day. It started with finding the documentation we needed before we could move the car from the shipping warehouse: Chinese registration papers, and a temporary number plate and driver licences for me and Ken. We accepted gracefully.
We had yellow wristbands so were on the first bus to the shipping yard. It took over an hour to get there. The car started after about 10 seconds of cranking, so all was good, then it was off to a fuelling station for a full tank of 92 petrol.
Lost already?
The ‘tulip’ route instructions to get back to the hotel [named for the line drawings in the route book for every change of direction] included a measured section so you could check and recalibrate your rally trip meters. We missed the finish post the first time so had to go back around and do it again — 4km and we scored 3.999 so that means we are accurate to less than 20mm per kilometre. Then we got a bit confused and went the wrong way for about 2km, so it took us an hour to get back to the hotel, over the fifth ring road then all the way into the third ring road, around that, and then a further freeway into the area where the hotel is situated.
By the time we got back, 60 per cent of the cars were there. We got ourselves into the scrutineering queue. It took ages to finally get to us. We just breezed through — our first
After a while, the car engine just stopped and would not start. We were just four hours into the Peking to Paris; we were off course and the car would not go.
indication that the preparation we have put into this car wasn’t wasted. Then the major documentation — getting our small minds around it all will take some time.
It’s now Saturday. We have taken everything out of the car and repacked. This is the only way to remember where to find the spare light bulbs when you need them in a hurry. It’s also the time to spend looking at all the other cars and having long discussions with their owners about how they interpreted the rules, and catching up with all the people we met doing the Rally of the Incas in South America. There is no doubt that the camaraderie at these events is part of the reason we all come back.
We have just been through the final competitors’ briefing, and, yes, we promise to be good boys, obey all road rules, not speed, and at all times not do anything that would give the rally a bad name. The alarm is set for 4.30am tomorrow, day one.
Novosibirsk, Russia
First, we wish to apologize to you all for not producing a report before now. Both Ken and I have concentrated all our efforts on keeping both ourselves and the car going. This is the most arduous adventure we have ever undertaken. So, this report will be a summary of many of the things that have happened to us rather than a day by day report.
Teething troubles
Out of the Beijing hotel at 5.45am to get to the Great Wall for the 7am official start. We were given a special tulip instruction sheet to get there. Confusion started between the third, fourth, and fifth ring roads around Beijing before we got sorted and on our way, but we arrived in plenty of time to see the dragon dancers, the lion dancers, and all the drumming. The oldest cars started through the arch first, so we did not go until 8.58am.
Out on to our first Chinese motorway traffic jam. After sitting in the slow lane going nowhere for 10 minutes, rally drive mode set in, so into the emergency shoulder lane, and we were off. All went well through many toll gates, then off on to a secondary road, past the many speed and surveillance cameras, past a big power station, then an acute right into a minor road and on past a fuel station that was not there. We missed a critical turn but thought we were still on course and continued to drive on, trying to go to the next waypoint using our new Garmin GPS, as it was telling us to keep on going. After a while, we stopped to try to reconcile the situation and the car engine just stopped and would not start. We were just four hours into the Peking to Paris; we were off course and the car would not go.
After some 10 minutes under the bonnet, we found the points had closed up. That was an easy fix. We also decided to turn around and go all the way back to the last point at which we were sure we had the route correct. We found our way and took the correct turn, but by this time we were well and truly late for a time control (TC) — by the time we got there, they had packed up and gone. We pressed on to the site of a hill climb test, so we were back on the route and within time. Unfortunately the hill climb was cancelled as a car had hit the wall halfway up. We then transitioned on to the hotel at a city called Hohhot.
The upshot was that we lost 60 points on the first day. Not a good start, but we could only do better.
Lessons learnt
The next morning we left the hotel for the first track test of the event and the last until we get to Europe: TS2.1 Open Pasture. Ken went for it; every grass gymkhana skill he ever learned was used to get us a very good time. From then, it was a transition through the outer Gobi Desert, through passage and TCS, to the border town of Erenhot; a very average hotel but only 4km from the border between China and Mongolia.
On to the border — what an experience in frustration, inefficiency, and arrogance! The instructions in the route book said to line up in car number order. We, car 98, held back to our place. All other cars just went around us and barged in where they could. Consequently, we were the second-to-last car to go through the tortuous queues and paper stampings. It took just on four hours from the time we arrived at the border to get through. Lesson learnt. As I said later to one German lady, “From now on, I will think and act like an arrogant German”.
On to Mongolia. First, about 100km of good tarmac then a right turn and into the
Gobi Desert. The Mongolian experience was about to start! The landscape is just spectacular — like nowhere I have ever been: flat terrain with stubby grass that must come up for a short time after the snow melt and then burn off with the heat by mid summer. No roads, just tracks through the desert; navigation is by Garmin GPS waypoint to waypoint. We have got our tiny brains around how it works by now: the purple line is the straight line between waypoints, the red arrow points in the direction of the next waypoint, and the small blue triangle is you and the direction you are travelling. The roads on the ground only roughly follow the GPS track and frequently split into parallel lines, with up to six tracks running beside one another. The centre track is usually the oldest and roughest. When the tracks cut up too much, the locals just drive alongside and make a new one, which means that the outermost tracks are usually in the best condition. All the tracks are rough — sand, stones, ruts deeper than our wheel clearance. Then come the gullies and major holes that just appear, and that you drop into at speed. Down you go, bang into the belly pan, major shock through the car, while all the time you are trying to maintain target speed to make the next sporting time control (STC). The target times are just not achievable, if you want to drive your car in to Paris, so Ken and I just did the best we could without breaking the car. I asked the leading car driver, who is 87 years old, how he got his times. His reply was, “You have to drive it like you have stolen it”.
Many people have commented on our car passing them on an outer track. They say we look like we are just floating along so smoothly as they are banging and crashing about, but we assure them it is like a swan on water — graceful on top but going like hell underneath.
Camping in the desert
On to the first desert camp. We find a place not too close to the generator truck but not too far from the toilets or shower block. Nomad does a fantastic job setting up a camp for more than 300 people. Bar, dinner hall, kitchen, buffet dinner, and breakfast. Ken and I share a tent. Many have two tents, and some have paid to have tents supplied by Nomad. Our tent works well, and we carry blow-up mattresses, sleeping bags, and blankets. It was much colder than I expected but we slept well. The next days were tough on both the car and us. The drive into Ulaanbaatar was difficult, with many diversions. We were asked for help, and ended up towing a French team’s Peugeot the last 2km to the hotel.
Our first rest day. We should have been doing this report but frankly we were just too buggered. We worked on cleaning up the car, getting some of the dust out and trying to find where it all came in. We also had to drill an 8mm hole through the floor to fit a new piece of threaded rod to hold up the back bracket of the belly pan. Then found the first good coffee since leaving home: they did flat whites. Also, the rally’s points system was changed and the number of penalty points we received for our first-day indiscretion was halved. As we had been consistent since then, we found we were now in 23rd place. Both Ken and I were chuffed just to be on the first page of the points table.
Spectacular scenery and gruelling conditions
Then it was back into the Mongolian desert, this time more rugged; not as flat but just as spectacular — mountains with snow vistas that went for hundreds of miles, more tracks that were car and people breakers. The number of cars dropping out is growing day by day.
On to what was the toughest day of the rally. Even the veterans of previous P2P rallies said this was the roughest, hardest day they had ever experienced. The mountain pass was a rough, tough track. You just bounced from rock to boulder then into mud. At one stage, we were charging through the mud, the limited slip diff was locked up with both wheels spinning, and we just started to go sideways. We came to a stop and slid back into a bank with both rear wheels off the ground. Luckily, there was a sweep 4X4 just there so we were hooked up and got moving again in just a minute. Embarrassing, but these things just happen.
We got over the top, over 7500 feet [2286m]. Many of the cars were having engine power losses that made it hard for them. Engine power was not a problem for us, just grip. On the way down, we got to a wet grass patch and saw Steve Partridge in the ’58 Morris Oxford do a full 360 pirouette. He had just got out of the way when we did a 180 pirouette ourselves.
As we proceeded down the valley we experienced the most violent rain, hail, and snow storm. It covered the ground so fast it was difficult to see the track; windscreen wipers on full speed and max. demisters. Those in the open cars had a torrid time. Within 5km it was all over and we were back into the sunshine.