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Broken cars, a procession and Popocatépetl.

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We’re back among the volcanoes and staying in atmospheric Puebla for our last rest day. I was  excited to see Citlaltépetl on the way here but even more thrilled to get glimpses of Popocatépetl having an afternoon puff through the haze. Such glorious names!  I remember reading about them when I was about 8, in my much loved ‘ Book of the World’ and here I am, seeing them with my own eyes. I swoon.  I just hope it’s less hazy tomorrow so I can see Popocatépetl better. Puebla had a very serious earthquake last year and there was another 7.2 near Oaxaca last month. The damage from these is evident in many places.  It’s been a hectic few days, some rather boring, but fast toll motorway; plenty of absolutely gorgeous mountain driving with steep narrow roads, vertical drops, endless potholes and those bloody ‘topes’ aka car killers. Hundreds of them - unmarked, unpredictable and truly nasty.  Of cours...
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'It's down at the end of a lonely street named Heartbreak Hotel'

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Our temporary address is: 75 Jailhouse Lane Graceland r v park, Behind the Heartbreak Hotel, Elvis Presley Boulevard, Memphis, Tennesse. Please send all correspondence there. Does it get any better? We were woken at Loretta's by the sound of trees being hammered all around us. We thought that some lumberjacks had started working and hadn't noticed we were there. It turned out to be several woodpeckers tapping the hell out of the trees above us. We went to see Loretta; her plantation house is gorgeous but some of the ornamentation is a little unnecessary, I feel. There is a massive museum on the ranch devoted to all things Loretta. It is like a giant version of the, sadly now defunct, Liberace museum that used to be in Los Vegas. She has obviously never had a good clear out and a trip to the dump. Every item of clothing ever worn, not just by her but by her family too is there, along with 50 million other items she has owned or been given. One of my favourite exhibits...
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In search of tigers......

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The rally moved to Sunderbans, part of the largest river delta in the world.  We went there out of necessity as the cars had to be transported to Siliguri on transporters for the start of the rally.   On the first recce, I drove with Liz between Kolkata and Siliguri for the first time. Previously, I had always either flown or taken the Darjeeling Mail overnight train.  Having driven it now, it is not something I would ever repeat and we certainly couldn't subject the rally to it.  It was a total nightmare, suffice it to say. The cars could not be transported before customs clearance and the customs officials would not start the clearing process until they had the driver and passport in their sight.  As an interesting side tour we went to Sunderbans, home of the Royal Bengal tiger, 103 reside there as of the recent census.   We didn't see any, sadly, although the chances of that are slim, but we did see fresh pug marks, which was pretty exciting.  There...
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