We knew this day would come, and we dreaded from the moment we picked up our little blue Panda in Grays. We had to hand the Panda over to the Adventurists to be auctioned for charity. We had grown attached to the car while it was ours since it was not only our means of transportation but also our home, our sofa, our trusty vessel, our storage facility, and our friend. The Panda dealt with a lot on the drive from England to Mongolia—half a dozen flat tires, a ripped-off exhaust, blinky lights on the dash that shouldn’t have been blinky, and parts flying off—but she handled it with finesse. So, for this day, we think photos say more than our words can. We’ll miss Panda, but even more, we’ll miss the friends we made with her and the adventures that we all shared. And, don't forget, we're still fundraising for our charities Cool Earth and the Lotus Children's Centre. To get involved with Cool Earth, click here: http://www.justgiving.com/TeamTurnagain !
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Panda found herself a good spot.
We crossed the finish line the evening before one day earlier than our original target (well, more like a few hours before our target), so we had a day to relax, catch up with our friends there especially our many convoy-mates, and eat a lot. The feasting started with a big breakfast at the Flower Hotel, which was hosting lots of Ralliers and had some wonderful Korean baths that we enjoyed the night before. From the Flower, we moved to the Chinggis Khan Hotel and started the slow unpacking and sorting of the Panda, including moving all of our wet and smelly camping gear past a couple nice wedding parties (apparently the Chinggis is the place to get married in U.B.). It was our day to celebrate, so we didn’t spend very long working on Panda matters but instead went out with our friends to Joe’s Burger. Chase had been talking about having a burger since some time in Russia after his cheeseburger in Volgograd. The picture of his first bite pretty much says it all. After burgers and walking around town, we spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out of the entryway of the hotel, welcoming Ralliers to the finish line and swapping stories from the road. We also finally found an occasion to get out the two bottles of Jacob’s Creek from the Calais Wine Superstore that had been rolling around in the back of the Panda for six weeks. So much celebrating put us in the mood for dinner, and we went to the nearby Hazara’s Restaurant for a northern Indian feast. Several other Ralliers had the same idea, so we went together from Hazara’s to Hennessy X.O. for the official finish line party. Fittingly, we were dressed as pirates. Viva Mongol Rally!
We were extremely careful not to declare anything “our last ____,” but now that it’s happened we actually can. After a late night of hanging out in the desert with our kish lak, our convoy group, we slept in and had our last standard breakfast of oatmeal and coffee then packed up camp. We were just under 200 miles from the city when we began, and we had heard that the roads would be pretty good until the finish line. So, we started out thinking it would be an easy day—a nice cruise into the city. Of course, we were wrong. We drove along “good” roads for a while and got comfortable with our pace. Then, BOOM! BOOM! We hit a couple potholes and blew out two tires. The Skoda was following close behind us and swerved quickly, making it out unscathed and ready to help us out. A few moments later, while we were checking out the car, we heard it again, BOOM! BOOM! A Mongolia family hit the same potholes and blew out two tires and sent a metal ring flying into Fabian. Luckily, Fabian sustained no injuries. We had some problems, though. We had two completely flat tires and one spare. We put the spare on one punctured tire and then went through our options. We had a good tire on a bad rim, a bad tire on a good rim, and a can of fix-a-flat. The best option was for Fabian and Oskar to go into town to have the good parts put together while we waited on the side of the road, so the rescue Skoda went to work. A few moments later, Daniel and Markus returned after hanging out with a bunch of Rally teams a few miles up the road. If only we could have been with them! There was a Panda! Instead, we got out the fix-a-flat just for ha-ha’s. Naturally, when the tire comes off the rim, it doesn’t work and the tire comes completely off. We packed the destroyed tire away and got out the soccer ball, Frisbee, and camp chairs. The Mongolian family came over, and we started a play party on the side of the road. A few hours later, Fabian and Oskar returned, and within minutes, we were back on the road! The rest of the drive was beautiful, and the Panda held up. As we came into town, the Panda did start making a few funny noises (and according to Daniel, we lost a part that hit his car?), but we turned up the music, made it through insane U.B. traffic, and crossed the finish line with our convoy!!!! Time to celebrate! Today’s lesson: If it seems easy at the start, it’s not. Also, WE DID IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOORAY!!!! Starting Point: N46°52 E103°25
Ending Point: N47°55 E106°56 Distance Traveled: 220.1 miles |
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