Babs’ travels -The Peking to Paris Rally and other driving adventures.

A lazy day today before the off tomorrow.  The morning was spent collecting our tulip books and garmins, getting through scrutineering and, for me, marking up the tulip.  We went to a supermarket to collect some supplies - always interesting in a foriegn country.  It was very well stocked, although some things, like chicken feet, would not be on my shopping list.  At lunch, we discovered that one of our team (Kate) has a sister who lives in our village: hello Charlotte! Small world. We conducted a calibration route and found that all was well with our various navigational devices we have many, seemingly an extra one every time we rally - no getting lost for us!  Then, all the cars processed to the Shwedagon Pagoda.  We had a police escort, yet again, and caused quite a stir on the short journey.  Every single person either had their mouth open or they were grinning widely.  I can't imagine what reaction we will get in the more remote areas we will...

Mere words defy description of this astonishing place. Reputed to be over 2,500 years old, it  towers over Yangon and is reputed to be the largest Pagoda in Asia.  Monumental in scale, It is literally quite dazzling - gold, gold and more gold.  There are over seven thousand diamonds on the orb, at the top, crowned by one of 73 carats. We went at dusk, on the advice of a friend, and it was quite magical.  Very few tourists, they go earlier in the day, just hundreds of local people who go for devotions.  The main stupa is surrounded by hundreds of different Buddhas and is quite overwhelming.  A very friendly monk approached us for a chat in his perfect English, we learnt that he became a monk at the age of three  - the same age as my grandson, Kit. What a thought.

L We had a very easy day today.  There was not much rally stuff to do, except collecting the cars and reviving old friendships and making some new ones. Adrian and I set off for Scotts Market in the morning -  we were on a mission.  Adrian thinks he left his Tilley hat in a restaurant in Siem Reap, it has disappeared anyway.  Trying to buy a hat for such a large head in a land of small people is not easy.  He found a rather natty bamboo solar topee look alike in the market in super giant size though so the top of his head is saved.  The market was very orderly and clean, as is everywhere here, and was stuff to the gunnels with everything you could possibly need in life. Next door to the market is a magnificent Anglican Cathedral.  It is in surprisingly good condition inside and is set in beautifully tended gardens.  We talked to the Vicar who told us that there was not too big a congregation but, at least now, anyone can worship freely, unlike dur...

...Burma! The model A has had some corrective surgery since returning from Bolovia.  What an adventure it had to get home again.  It was a sad and sorry day that it disappeared into a shed in Uyuini, Bolivia for what became a lengthy stay in such a benighted place.  Eventually, it was transported to Arica, Chile, loaded onto a ship, sailed up to Panama, boarded a train to go through the canal (maybe not through it, but you know what I mean) enjoyed a Caribbean Cruise down to Venezuela, where it was transhipped  for the journey back to England. Then, onto a lorry back to the safety of its garage in Steeple Aston.  Phew. Now it is awaiting our arrival, today, in Yangon.  All refreshed and ready for some more action.  As I write, Adrian and I are sitting in the departure lounge at Siem Reap airport for our flight to Yangon, via Bangkok. I have been fully occupied by teeth for the last two weeks; initiating a dental hygiene programme at one of our schools ...

Ushuaia. The southernmost city in the world and the end of our rally. The southern part of Tierra del Fuego was a revelation after the desolation of the north. It became quite beautiful with petrified forest, azure lakes and rivers with a backdrop of snow capped mountains. The rally grouped together in the muddy forecourt of a filling station at the entrance to the town as the final destination was reached. It was deemed far too insensitive to make a fuss in the city centre as it will be the 30th anniversary of the Falklands war in a couple of days time. Ushuaia is called the capital of 'the Capital of The Malvinas' down here! Its been a long, tiring, scenically stupendous rally with some very tricky stages and all the crews in the old cars should be feeling very, very proud of their fantastic achievement. The rally family is breaking up and disappearing to homes all over the world, always a rather sad moment. Very close bonds are formed on a long endurance rally su...

What a place to conjure with: The Land of Fire! First, a surprise, fab sighting of some very close flamingoes as we left benighted Rio Gallegos. A bonus. Bleak. Desolate. Actually, make that bleak and desolate times 10, or even 20. It is impossible to convey just how grim and empty today's 300 kms to Rio Grande have been. And the wind, the howling, knock you down freezing cold wind that blows across this desolate place and is a constant presence, apparently. It may have only been 300 kms or so but we went through two border crossings and took a ferry across the Magellan Straits, so quite a lot happened. A little bit of Chile sticks into Argentina and has the only road into Tierra Del Fuego so there was lots of passport stamping at the efficient immigration posts. We also had to leave the last incarnation of car #7 in Chile as we could not get permission to take it on to Ushuaia, in Argentina. We had arranged for it to be collected at the Chilean border post before we...

Flat. Think of the flattest place you know, the Fens, for instance and then image it even flatter and with fewer features. God must have been wielding a flat iron when he made the 400kms section of Patagonia that we went through today. Not a tree exists, and if it did it would probably be horizontal from the wind. A few sheep, fewer Rheas and a handful of guanacos and that was about it. Strangely thrilling though. Mainly because we practically went the whole width of the continent today - it's so skinny at this point. We are in a an Atlantic port town called Rio Gallegos, pop 98,000. The charming GM of our central hotel told us that the town was a complete dump but wealthy because it was an oil town and full of well paid workers who all fly home to somewhere other for the weekend. It is covered in graffiti, really almost every wall has something spray painted on it. It's not even clever graffiti, just a mess. However, a few gems were waiting for the casual visitor....