On the wings of a tiger.






Being on the organisational team is a whole new experience. I'm enjoying it hugely but, in the way I frequently say that rallying is relentless, this is more so.  There is barely time to do anything else, let alone blog properly.  The only time I get to write anything is around now; 0520.  It could explain the poor quality of these missives. 


The best thing, the very, very best thing about it is when crew after crew say "it's the best rally ever" or " I've never had a better days driving" etc.  It thrills me.  Lovely Alan, who had his 70'th birthday yesterday, said he'd had the best day of his life on the journey up from the border to Paro.  Wonderful. 



Today is a rally rest day, but not for Max and Julie as their world travelled Vauxhall has issues. It has been decided that Xavier's Chevrolet is terminal and it has been sent back to Siliguri to be shipped home.  The local team have managed to get a privately hired car for them to carry on with the rally. Something unheard of in Bhutan as their are no car hire companies.  





Many people are walking up to the Tiger's Nest Monastery this morning - not a thing to be undertaken lightly, but rallyists are a determined lot. The altitude makes it a whole lot harder and there is no shame whatsoever, and a great deal of sense, in admitting defeat.  



The whole of Bhutan is highly decorated for the old King's birthday celebrations. It looks even more amazing than normal. Today is the main day and there are traditional parties with local dancing, music, archery, Bhutanese darts, an excuse to wear your best clothes etc.  Of course, we're going to join in the fun.  What a day we have to look forward to.






Comments

  1. Unknown11 November 2015 at 01:08

    Enjoying your blog as always, Barbara - as always warm, informative, polished and hugely appreciated ;0)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

100 day ceremony

Rithy, one of our drivers, invited Lori and me to a ceremony to mark 100 days since his father's death.  In the Buddhist religion this has enormous significance. For the first hundred days that you are dead you are not aware of it.  After 100 days you wake up to realise that you have died.  It is on this day that you have to decide which path to take.  You can either decide to be reborn or go to Nirvana.  Obviously, such an important decision cannot be taken lightly and you need some guidance. So, off we went to Rithy's mothers house in the countryside not quite knowing what to expect.  Rithy's family are not rich, his father was just a very small time farmer with one field and his family home was typical of most Cambodian village house being made of wood and raised up on stilts.  A very grand canopy and ntrance had been erected for the party and many preparations were being made. The first thing that we were aware of as we neared the house was exceptionally loud music be
Read more

To Bhutan...

Image
Well. We saw elephants, amazing black squirrely things, hornbills, deer and various other birds.  Did I mention the rhino?  No?  Probably because we didn't see one.  Oh well. It was such a wonderful way to start the day though. Our small jeeps entered deep into the beautiful forest.  It was beautiful, just beautiful. I'm writing this sitting on a bench outside the customs office in Jaigon on the India side of the border.  I've been waiting to see all the cars through and it's only the mechanics to get their carnets dealt with.  A bit of a patchy blog as I'm now in Bhutan and it will soon be time to get up and begin our driving in this magical kingdom. Finding time to write is tricky as there is much to do and I find trying to type on very bumpy car journeys impossible.  The contrast between the indian side of the border and the Bhutanese side is always a shock - and it happens in a few metres.  This time, it affected me more than usual as I was helping crews with al
Read more