Ending Point: N48°42 E44°31
Distance Traveled: 0.7 miles
|
We woke up at the Local Hostel, which was soon becoming a Mongol Rally Hostel, as the other three members of the Thunderyaks arrived in the night. We swapped stories of the road over a market breakfast in the park just below the hostel and attempted to come up with a plan for the day. Well, planning too much isn’t Rally style, so we decided to go to the Mother Russia statue and take it from there. Many of the buses from our corner go to the statue, but we didn’t get on one of those. Once the bus turned in the wrong direction, we jumped off and then found a taxi nearby. Our German-speaking driver saw no problem with the six of us piling into his Soviet-era Lada, so off we went. We didn’t exactly communicate which historical location we wanted to go to, and so we made a stop at the museum on the Volga River and took in the panorama. From there, we found an underground tram station near the large Lenin statue and finally headed in the right direction. The Mother Russia statue is on the top of a small hill so she can be seen throughout the area. So, to get to her feet (you have to touch the statue or you haven’t really been there), we walked past a couple of reflecting pools and smaller statues and carvings. Then, we passed through a room with an eternal flame to commemorate the Russian soldiers who lost their lives in World War II. From Mother Russia’s feet, we could appreciate the scale of the statue and have a nice view of the city and river below. The journey back from the statue was much easier than the one there; we just had to take the underground tram five stops. We celebrated another good day in Volgograd with a big dinner at a café on the block that the Thunderyaks had found the night before. Dinner turned into drinks with the owner and his friends, who were also trying to help our Italian friends come up with a solution for their car problems. By the end of the night, Vlad (the owner and overall guy in charge) was calling us all brothers; he also thought that since we were coming from Alaska, we were practically Russian-Americans. Just before we left, we shared a bag of coffee from The Grind in Girdwood, Alaska, to cement our friendship. Starting Point: N48°42 E44°30
Ending Point: N48°42 E44°31 Distance Traveled: 0.7 miles
0 Comments
We started our day with a strangely simple but elaborate breakfast at the Pensiunea Minerva in Halmagel, Romania. We knew we had a lot of miles to cover to reach the beach party, and after missing the Pit Stop Party in Sibiu, there was no way we would miss the beach party! We hit the road after breakfast, and with the road conditions in that part of Romania, pieces of the Pandas were hitting the road as well. Thankfully, the road conditions improved as we approached Deva and stayed fairly nice all the way through Sibiu, including a section of brand-new highway that did not last too long because the road itself was under construction. From Sibiu, we found our way to the start of the legendary Transfagarasan, picking up a couple other Rally cars before stopping at the end of the straight stretch of road leading to the mountains (where a kind old lady came out to greet us with apples and her tiny fluffly dog). Now, as we head into the mountains, we should clarify: the Transfagarasan is no ordinary highway. The Transfagarasan is a strip of windy asphalt directly up and over the Fagarasan mountains, and it attracts drivers from all over the world; Jeremy Clarksson, the world-famous driver from Top Gear called the Transfagarasan “the most beautiful road in the world” after his team conquered it in Ferraris and Aston Martins. If it was good enough for Jeremy Clarksson, the road was definitely good enough for us, even though we were driving a different Italian car that starts with an F. By the time we started gaining elevation, our convoy had grown to five small cars struggling with the slope. We slowly creeped uphill, continuously switchbacking and crawling up, and occasionally stopped for photos as the Romanian farmland shrank from sight and opened up magnificent views. Towards the top of the Transfagarasan, the switchbacks practically double-back on themselves, searching for any route that can continue up, and creating a route so insane that our road map actually gave up trying to trace its course. After kilometers and kilometers of steep grades and blind corners we finally made it to the peak, and we could look down at the road we had just climbed. It was a glorious sight: in the foreground, a ribbon of asphalt that so tangled that it could tie itself in a knot, and in the background farmland stretching to the horizon. By now our convoy had grown to eight teams, and there were many hugs and high fives with photos being taken of various countries’ flags being held proudly in the wind. Not to be outdone, the trip down was spectacular as well. Shortly after the surprise herd of wild horses on a blind downhill corner, our brakes began overheating. Before a crisis could actually strike, we found a pull-off to cool off our brakes and allow the entire convoy time for sandwiches and snacks. After a while of enjoying the sunshine on the mountainside, it was time to head off. Not surprisingly, the trip down the mountain was much faster than the trip up, and before long we were back on the highway driving towards Bucharest. Driving through Bucharest was quite the adventure, though of a completely different sort than the Transfagarasan. Charla nearly had a heart attack navigating, as there were no road signs to be found. She remembered talking to a Romanian guy in Halmagel, and we made a right turn after the President’s House in the center of the city that led us along the canal to exit the city on the correct road. Spotting a couple other Mongol Rally cars out in the distance was fairly helpful too! Once we made it on to the highway, the frequency of Rally car-spotting increased. We were indeed headed the right way! Once in Mamaia, our convoy was cut off by a Rally car using us for directions; we had made it over a thousand miles together and got separated five miles from the party. We went straight to the beach and awaited the others. We celebrated our success with a beach party with the other Ralliers! Starting Point: N46°16 E22°36
Ending Point: N44°16 E 28°37 Distance Traveled: 474.9 miles One of Iceland’s dirty little secrets is that the Reykjavík airport is located an hour and a half out of the city. They don’t tell you this when you book your 7:30AM international flight, which requires checking in at 5:30AM, which requires leaving the city at 4:00AM. Suffice to say, there wasn’t much time for sleep last night. Iceland was a spectacular starting point for our grand adventure because it was such an easy transition from Alaska. Rather than flying to Europe, we felt like we had just kept driving and discovered someplace we hadn’t visited before in Alaska. Iceland is a more expensive, European version of the Alaska we were used to. The climate, the topography, the 24-hour daylight; it all seemed very familiar. But, at the same time, it was slightly foreign to us. Europe was hanging in the air, and yet the ruggedness of the country made us feel at home. When we arrived in London, we were happy to get to visit with John, Chase’s friend from high school, for the evening. We had explored John’s neighborhood in the afternoon, but in the evening John’s very comfortable flat (combined with the early wake-up this morning) led to us falling asleep early watching Wimbledon. Editor’s note: Due to an unfortunate incident involving Chase’s cell phone and one of his cameras being left behind in one of London’s quintessential black taxis, we have no photos from today. We do have a Lost Property Enquiry filed with Transport for London, and are eagerly awaiting their response.
Editor's note from July 10th: We found ourselves back in London and back at John's flat, at which point we noticed a handwritten note on a pegboard in John's entryway that said, "If you left two mobile phones in a taxi, please call XXXXX-XXXXXX." Well, we said to ourselves that a cell phone and a camera could be interpreted as two mobile phones, so John called the number and lo and behold the electronics were being held by a very strange man in John's building! Apparently the driver found them and came back to the apartment building to drop them off. Success! And now we have photos to upload from the 27th for you! [Don't get too excited though, we just have transit photos as we lost the camera just after our arrival in London.] For breakfast today we went to one of last night’s last stops, and we started our day at Eldur & Is with some delicious breakfast crêpes with our Alaskan friends. As they were figuring out their plans for the day, we went off to the National Museum of Iceland. To our delight, the museum was hosting an exhibit by famous Icelandic photographer Sigfús Eymundsson, who neither of us had ever heard of before. His photographs of Iceland in the late 1800s and early 1900s were quite similar to photographs of Alaska of the same time period, and elicited the same feelings of cold and isolation at northern latitudes; needless to say, Chase loved them. In addition to that exhibit, it was a really well-organized museum: it told the entire story of the history of Iceland starting from The Settlement in 871 AD and coming to Y2K. We definitely enjoyed the museum, and now know a lot more Iceland’s history. After the museum, we stopped by 1011 (an Icelandic convenience store) to purchase our supplies for a picnic lunch. The Hljómskálagarðurinn neighborhood of Reykjavík was beautiful in the sunshine, and we ate after strolling around Tjörnin Lake. Later that evening, we finally were able to take part in a signature Icelandic tradition: geothermal hot spring pools! But instead of going out to a beautiful, remote location, we went for the true Reykjavíkian experience of taking a dip in the Laugardalslaug Public Pool in the city. The public pool consisted of a collection of hot tubs of varying water temperatures, a children’s area, and a lap pool. We packed into the hot tubs with all the rest of Reykjavík who were relaxing after a day’s work. With an air temperature of 8oC and water temperature of 40oC, it was a very refreshing experience.
From there we took a scenic walk along the water back to the hostel, where we made a late dinner before going out to Ölsmiðjan Café-Bar (a.k.a. Polar Bar and Home Bar) for a last Polar Beer. With the sun out all the time, like in Alaska, we didn’t even realize we were well into the night by dinner time. The early morning hours approached, and so we called it a night just a little too late to sample the pylsur hot dogs or kleina donuts on the walk back to the hostel. I guess we’ll just have to go back to Iceland one day… At the bright and early hour of 6AM local time, we got our first glimpses of Iceland as our flight descended into Keflavik. An hour later our bus was dropping us off on Laugavegur, a nice area of Reykavik, where we found our hostel. After getting set up for the night at Reykjavik Backpackers, we started wandering around town. The first thing we found was the biggest landmark in the city, Hallgrímskirkja Church. The church is the tallest building in the city with a gigantic interior space, as well as a giant organ with over 5,000 pipes! We also wandered down to the harbor where we found the new Harpa performing arts center. Saving the best for last of our morning wander, we explored the Iceland Phallological Museum. Yes, you read that right: we found possibly the world's only penis museum! All our wandering made us hungry, and at that point eating Iceland's signature hot dog wasn't a great idea! One of the only affordable dining options in Rejkavik is the ever-present noodle house, and we found a great option at Noodle Station near our hostel. Maybe it was the noodle soup, the grey skies, or we thought it might be the jetlag, but after lunch we passed out and slept the afternoon away.
Luckily, we awoke in time for Alaskan adventures! We met up with our friend Laura and her friend Caleb, both from Anchorage, in the bar below our hostel for our first taste of Icelandic beer! Unfortunately, Viking beer really doesn't live up to its name. Always the frugal travelers, we soon moved to Micro Bar in time for happy hour and found a tasty beverage: Gæðingur! Now that is a beer worthy of the Vikings! Laura and Caleb had been in Iceland for a couple weeks, so after a dinner of noodles, their local knowledge brought us to Ölsmiðjan Café-Bar for one last Polar Beer to end the night. Between the recent half-marathon, a late night in Alaska, and the time zones, we slept like babies on our first night in Iceland! We began our journey early in the morning and surprisingly running on the schedule we had set for ourselves. After a stop on Main Street for a bag of baked goods from the Talkeetna Roadhouse (including a few Rudies-in-a-Parka for Chase, a cheesy onion pasty, and a frosty), we made the familiar drive to Anchorage. We didn't have much time in the city, but we made the most of it with a stop at McGinley's Pub for lunch with Chase's father and his friend Bob, who were also preparing for an adventure, as they are driving the Honda Pilot south. After lunch, we headed to the airport, where Nikki and Geoff from the Alyeska Resort sent us off. It was our first time flying on Icelandair, and we loved the Icelandic sayings on the blankets, pillows, and headrests on board. Our plane was named Snæfell, after the famous volcano. Taking off over Point Woronzof, where we had just run the Anchorage Mayor's Midnight Sun Half Marathon days before, was beautiful. From there, we headed north towards Talkeetna and Denali. Our last glimpses of Alaska were of the Wickersham Wall on the north side of the mountain.
|