Ending Point: N43°13 E76°56
Distance Traveled: 5.3 miles
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Our day started when we wandered into the hostel’s kitchens to find two South Africans cooking a breakfast feast while lamenting that their Rally clothes hadn’t been enough to get them past the strict dress codes of Almaty’s clubs the night before. After a quick run to the shop to contribute ingredients, we sat back and spent the morning in the kitchen swapping stories and eating like royalty. Eventually around noon we decided it was time to hit the road, but one thing first: Chase wanted to check out the Green Bazaar, Almaty’s largest bazaar. Once we reunited with the Elephants and the Lumberyaks it was off to the Bazaar, only to discover that it was closed on Mondays. Luckily for us though there was a little market next door, where Chase was able to purchase the much-coveted traditional Kazakh hats. By the time we left the market (and we watched the Elephants and Lumberyaks get pulled over by Almaty’s finest), it was already after 3PM; rather than hitting the road at such a late hour, we decided to spend the afternoon doing personal admin and then meet with Chase’s friend Aggey in the evening. Right around sunset Aggey arrived at our hostel and offered to take us on a tour of his city. Aggey has spent his entire life living in Almaty and climbing tall peaks around the world; in June he had been in Alaska to climb Denali, and when he met Chase the two decided that they’d have to meet up during the Rally. Aggey’s pride in Almaty and in Kazakhstan in general was obvious as he told us the history of this major city at the crossroads of Central Asia. Well before we rolled into town in our Panda, the Mongols had crossed the Kazakh steppe, the traders of the Silk Road had plied their wares, the Soviet Union annexed Kazakhstan, revolution had led to the world’s longest-serving President in a “democracy,” and rapid development and modernization in a shrinking and increasingly-connected world all proved that Almaty is truly the social, cultural, historical, and financial capital of this interesting country. The highlight of the evening was when Aggey brought us to Kishlak, a traditional Kazakh restaurant in the heart of the city. Like Kazakhs, we drank green tea and fermented mare’s milk while reclining beside the low table that was surrounded by beautiful tapestries on the walls. Aggey explained that a “kishlak” is the name for a large camp when multiple families of traveling nomads all temporarily join together; the perfect symbolic parallel to our convoys all camping together in the Kazakh desert! We feasted on traditional meals ordered by Aggey, and went to bed that night with full stomachs, active imaginations, and a strong desire to make it back to this wonderful city. Starting Point: N43°13 E76°56
Ending Point: N43°13 E76°56 Distance Traveled: 5.3 miles
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We finally took a day off to relax and to catch up on all of our things that needed catching up, including our blog! Karakol was the perfect place for such a day. We went downstairs in our guesthouse to find a full delicious breakfast awaiting us; the table (which seated 10) was covered with fruit, jams, honey, sweets, bread, and beverages, and so we were even more delighted when eggs and cheese arrived as well. After breakfast, we took it easy in our beautiful surroundings. Charla had a yoga session with Lisa Goodwin’s DVD, and then we set to work on our blog and correspondence. A while later, we thought a change in scenery was in order and headed to Karakol Coffee, where we continued working on our blog. While there, we met too many interesting new friends to be bothered with a computer any longer. Starting Point: N42°29 E78°22
Ending Point: N42°29 E78°22 Distance Traveled: 0 miles The morning started rather abruptly by waking up in the apartment with people sprawled everywhere. Chase was the first one awake, and he was soon joined by George from the Cads & Bounders. George wanted to go to a Post Office and then to a market to make breakfast for everybody, and Chase thought this was a fine idea. However, it is not always as easy to find a Russian Post Office as one would hope. After wandering around Astrakhan without seeing one, they finally started asking for directions. Unfortunately, Chase and George didn’t know if people really understood what they were asking for; and, honestly, whether they did or not was a moot point because the two English speakers never understood the Russians’ answers. Eventually Chase and George saw a mail truck on the side of the road, and they knew that truck would be the missing piece to the puzzle. The mailman was a very nice man, and finally he figured out that Chase and George were looking for the Post Office. He gave a very long account of how to get there, which was presumably very detailed and incredibly precise; meanwhile, the entire time he was talking George and Chase were just exchanging confused glances. Finally the mailman gave up, opened the back door of the mail truck, and told Chase and George to just get in. The mailman started driving with our two explorers bouncing around the back of the truck, with no idea where they were or where they were going. After a very impromptu tour of the city, the mail truck rolled to a stop in front of the Post Office, and the smiling mailman threw open the back door. We made it! Their happiness was short-lived, however, as the mail truck drove away again. After buying stamps, they were left to meander through the city on foot and hope to find the apartment again. Luckily, by walking through the city they found a market where they purchased 32 eggs, a pound of bacon, and a loaf of fresh bread; upon their triumphant return to the apartment, Charla (who had since woken up) joined George in the kitchen to make a massive breakfast feast. Post feast, Charla and George took off with James of the Thunderyaks to meet the Drama of Llama, a team of travel bloggers who had had to abandon their car in southern Russia (perhaps more aptly named Drama without Llama?). Once our crew was more or less together, we arranged for our cross-town journey to the next apartment—conveniently a much larger one for our growing group, which now included us, the Thunderyaks, the Cads & Bounders, Drama of Llama, and Elephanto Equitemus. At the apartment we met up with Igor and Nadia, who prepared an incredible dinner for everybody. It really was a day of feasts, as they made delicious Russian food—fish, veggies, salads, meats, and so many wonderful things we can’t even list them all. That night, we officially celebrated Igor’s birthday with a cake! Then, to our surprise, Nadia and Igor surprised us with giant pens and magnets that featured landmarks of Astrakhan to remember our time there (like we could forget!). We were lucky that night to also receive the official mascot of our team: a stuffed panda that we named Bertha who sings in Russian when you squeeze her hand! Our party went on late into the night with a speaker system and laser light show brought in by the one and only Sitting Thunder. Starting Point: N46°22 E48°03
Ending Point: N46°80 E48°00 Distance Traveled: 6.8 miles
The view of the Volga River from our hostel balcony.
We know, it's crazy to spend three days in the same place. We haven't done that any other time on the Mongol Rally! However, today we were lucky we didn't have to drive. Unfortunately, Chase woke up extremely ill, and throughout the entire day he didn't go any farther than the hostel bed to the hostel bathroom. Charla's day wasn't too much more exciting, as she never went farther than the market down the block throughout the day to see what they had that could make Chase feel better. Charla and the manager of our hostel (another vegetarian!) about to dig into some pasta. We stayed with Team Rougher Dan Khan, who we've been hanging out with in Volgograd since we got here. Tonight we got an unexpected surprise as the drivers in another rally also stayed in our hostel room; three Lithuanians in the Pamir Rally are driving from Vilnius, Lithuania, to Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Obviously, we are very familiar with our Rally and have spent weeks analyzing "Rally logistics", but it was interesting to hear the perspective of drivers on a completely different adventure and how the planning is going on their trip. Rougher Dan Khan is an Italian team, and tonight they showed off how great it is to be Italian by cooking a giant pasta dinner in the hostel kitchen. With meat and meat-free versions, the pasta sauce was also filled with a great assortment of vegetables. Dinner was a communal gathering with the Italians, Charla, and the Russian manager of the hostel, and it was a great time. Charla wishes we were traveling with Rougher Dan Khan more so that we could have more nights like this one throughout the trip! Even though Chase had yet to eat throughout the day, they also brought ice cream for after dinner, and Chase felt well enough by then to get in on the fun and enjoy some ice cream. Starting Point: N48°42 E44°31
Ending Point: N48°42 E44°31 Distance Traveled: 0.0 miles Still unaware that we had crossed into another time zone, we had quite a full night’s sleep and woke up to go downstairs to a full breakfast with the girls and Valentina. Shortly after breakfast, we began our day tour with Jenya that the Ganzas had organized. We were more than used to driving our little Panda around cities, but it was quite a treat to be driven around Moscow not only by someone who actually knew where he was going but also by someone driving a nice clean BMW. Valentina put a few sites on the must-see list, and so we went to those places first. As we drove into the city, we passed the Kremlin and headed straight to Red Square. After walking around Red Square and taking the typical tourist photos in front of Saint Basil’s Cathedral and the Kremlin, we went to Gum, one of the largest and nicest shopping malls in the city. From there, we jumped back in the car with Jenya and headed to the Cathedral of Christ the Savior to admire its architecture as well as its great view of the city. Because the Cathedral is located on the bank of the Moskva River, walking from the beautiful church across the bridge nearby (a bridge decorated with love lockets) allowed us to see a lot of the city. Back with Jenya, we cruised around for a while, as he pointed out notable streets and buildings of Moscow. After the driving tour, we decided to go back to the Kremlin to walk around the park and fountains outside, including a countdown clock for the upcoming winter Olympics in Sochi. We ended our day with Jenya at Moscow State University, also located on the river and offering a great view of the city. Our stop was a popular one, as many just-married couples and wedding parties cruised by. From there, we left the heart of the city and went back to the Ganzas for dinner and playtime in the garden. Starting Point: N55°40 E37°19
Ending Point: N55°40 E37°19 Distance Traveled: 0.0 miles After a late night on the beach with our friends from Pandaland and the other Rally teams that we had met on the Transfagarasan and those we has not seen since the Czech Out and Euro Launches, we decided we needed to take a day off and enjoy the beach (and to plan for the next phase of the Rally ahead). We started with a morning swim, where we found the Phileasfog Reformers still on the beach and not en route to Turkey. Joining up with Iona and Faye, we went to a local café for breakfast in Mamaia, the bigger town next to Oha Beach (somewhat reminiscent of Miami and Las Vegas). The usual hilarity of Pandaland ensued as we laughed about the night before, including noticing how many of us had been stamped (and still had stamps on our arms, legs, and even faces in some cases) by the Phileasfog teammates. Following breakfast, we said goodbye to Justin, Andrew, Simone, and Miriam as they set out for Bulgaria then Istanbul. We were sad to see Pandaland’s borders shrink, but we knew it would happen and enjoyed the rest of the day with Long Time No Sea and other Ralliers who lingered behind for another beach day. Starting Point: N44°16 E28°37
Ending Point: N44°16 E28°37 Distance Traveled: 17.2 miles We had driven to Brighton hoping for a quaint little seaside town, but we had arrived into a bustling coastal city. Brighton seemed cool but wasn’t really our style for a bit of relaxing before the start of the Rally. Luckily, we found a great campground in little Lancing, just seven miles to the west of Brighton, and we did very little driving today. We arrived at the Barn Caravan Park, and happily discovered it was a giant field that we could park and set up our tent wherever we pleased. We had a lot of time to prepare ourselves for this crazy Mongol Rally we were about to start: we repacked the car three or four times, double- and triple-checked all of our camping gear, and used the outlets to charge our computers and all of our electrical gear. We did manage to go hunting for the traditional English fish & chips, which brought us to the Warwick Pub in nearby Worthing. While we were dining, Chase decided that he wouldn’t eat fish & chips again unless he was in coastal England. After lunch we took a stroll down to the Lancing Beach. We had been waiting all day for the time to go down to the beach; English beaches are typically rocky, but if you wait until the lowest of low tides in Lancing you can get down to where the beach is nice and sandy. That sounds like our style! Until we realized that the water at English beaches is cold! We dipped our toes in the water, but neither one of us was brave enough to jump in.
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