Dave’s Diary has come about to give a personal account of the Nanhui to Longbridge trip in classic MGs.

All will be revealed, as whatever happens, the truth will be told!

Like; if Dan can’t do a Number 1 because his underpants are on the wrong way around, we will all know about it!

Or; if our first breakdown was 21 miles from picking up the MGBGT’s, the story will be told.

So; Here goes... It starts off matter-of-fact, but stay with me – it gets better – as it can’t get any worse! 

Sat 17 April 2010

I met Dan, Ian & Denise at the Brisbane Airport at 9.30pm.

Good flight on Singapore Airlines to Singapore.

We then met Reg & Mary, Peter & Kerith and Ken & Sue there. Simon is already in Beijing and Madeleine is in the UK.

Sun 18 April 2010

First day in China – Dan asked me to pinch him to ensure it was real – that we were actually here at last!  It sure is smoggy and a cool 17 Deg C.

Met by Queenie, our capable and gorgeous guide for the next 31 days, and our bus driver, whose job it is to ferry us from one government department to another. Both are lovely people. The driving towards Tianjin, our temporary home, is exciting to say the least. All on the right hand side of the road, of course; Motorway all the way – 2 hours – trucks doing 30kph in the fast lane, cars overtaking in the stopping lane. Not too much traffic as it is a Sunday afternoon.  Sheep on the side of the road with Sheppards; some pot holes or rough patches amongst the good road to catch the unweary; dams for drainage and fishing; shanties amongst massive clumps of sky scrapers; pay toll as you leave the motorways; millions of trees planted along the road edges; have managed to get Travelsim working but very tedious; not been on the internet as yet. Maybe tonight. Traffic lights horizontal; U turns allowed on the motorways; looks like we will have a lot of fun learning these road rules...

Our Hotel is classy – beer is 10RMB ($2) for 600ml and easy to drink. As Dan!

Had a communal dinner next door and Queenie handed us all a Panda Bear – from her native province in the Chengdu area South West of here.

Madeleine is not with us – she is stuck in the UK due to all the flights being grounded due to the volcano that erupted in Iceland. Hence, we have 3 bachelors in the group – Simon, Dan and Dave.

Friendly bantering – nice group so far – Ian B is a stirrer, as is Dan! 

Mon 19 April 2010

Another cold and foggy day.

We’re off to the hospital for a medical – colour blind test, sight, height, weight – so that we can apply for a temporary driving permit.  All passed, even Ian B, who kept on telling the assistant to ask him to read a line that he actually can read!  Denise’s specs saved the day – so now Ian B must drive with specs – which has hurt his ego no end!

Then we were off to the Vehicle Bureau (transport department) to get our temporary driving permits, but not before we had to do a driving exam with a nice chap (Policeman) who told us that safety came first (Yeh! We have already witnessed their driving skills...) and promptly signed the forms.

Next, we headed for a shopping centre in Tianjin to give the girls something to do while the blokes found a coffee shop. Dan and I went off on our own to find a toilet; we found a hole in the floor which was very smelly to say the least.  What a challenge! Toilets are called WC – easy.  Further along the mall, we found a food ally that was clean and well supported, so we had chicken on a stick for entree, egg noodle with beef pieces and shared a little pizza for desert.

Back to the hotel for a rest, catch up and then the obligatory drink at 6pm before going out for a communal dinner – and early to bed, in preparation for a big day tomorrow, as we are going to the Great Wall at Simatai.

Phoned Laurel to 1. See if the Travelsim phone was working and 2. If our new chicken shop inside our service station was ready to trade.

Dan went to the loo and came out saying that he couldn’t do a number 1 as he had put his underpants on the wrong way around! He will never live that one down! 

Tues 20 April 2010

As the paperwork for the first 4 MGs was taking longer than expected and the agent had said that he didn’t need our presence, we headed to Beijing for the night and drove 4 hours straight to The Great Wall at Simatai.  The road edges along the magnificent highway are heavily planted with trees to replace those cut down during the last century.  The dams and other earth works and also the construction projects in and around Beijing are massive in comparison to anything we have in Australia. 

The great wall at Simatai was a long walk and quite steep after alighting from the lift. All soldiered on as no one wanted to be the first to give up.  Dan made friends with a local lady around 80 years old who ended up just about carrying him to the top!  Not wanting to buy anything she had to offer, he felt sorry for his new friend and gave her a handsome tip.  Thereafter, she wouldn’t leave him alone – we are sure he has left his heart on The Great Wall!!!

Needless to say, the Great Wall is spectacular any way you look at it! This section of 550km was built 600 years ago and hugs the peaks of the rocky hills – certainly an inhospitable part of the world.

On the way back to Beijing we stopped at a restaurant that was famous for Peking Duck – which “they” call Beijing Duck.  All our meals are communal around a round table and hence are very sociable.  We had our first Spit of the trip over a misunderstanding and an assumption but all was resolved to some degree.  The background was we had just heard that the final 2 cars had landed as planned but that the paperwork was incorrect and that we would be delayed another day as a result.  This means that the earliest the last 2 cars can leave is next Tuesday, 4 days behind the first group.  This has put unnecessary pressure on the group as a whole whose patience is constantly tested as it is. 

When in Beijing central, we were given a bus tour past Tiananmen Square, the Opera House and Forbidden City on the way to our very comfortable 5 star hotel.

Before turning in for bed, we had a round table to discuss the requirements of the Kazakhstan Embassy as tomorrow we hope to strike it 3rd time lucky and get our Kazakhstan visas glued into our passports!!!

The driving/cycling/walking habits still amaze us as we see constant competition for small spaces on the roads and when doing left, right or U turns!  So many near misses... 

Wed 21 April 2010

Halleluiah, we have got it!

Today, we visited the Kazakhstan Embassy in Beijing, early, to be first in the queue.  Unfortunately, there were people there who had arrived at 6am and still were not first!  We queued in the street in the cold but otherwise good weather and slowly, one by one, the queue diminished until around midday it was our turn to enter the building.  This wasn’t a guarantee that we would get our visas – just that we were inside the building.  With some hard work by a few members of our group “charming” the officials and explaining our plight, we got a hearing with 15 minutes to go – what a relief!  Our applications were accepted and we were instructed to collect our passports, with visas attached, in a week!  Why is it so hard to visit someone’s country???

As it was a relatively nice day outside, we decided to visit the Houtong (Old town) and a bargain centre before driving the 2 hour’s trip back to the Tianjin Hopeway Hotel in Tianjin.  We were relieved but a little tired and the communal dinner wasn’t exactly what everyone needed.  The issue was aired at drinks before leaving for a restaurant nearby and a decision taken that we will only have communal dinners every 2 or 3 days.

In the few days we have been here, there has been a noticeable increase in the greenery along the roadside!  Spring is certainly in the air and it won’t be long and the blossoms should be out and everything should look beautiful!

A pearler – Dan was overheard asking our guide where he could buy a knife, fork and spoon...

 Another pearler – Dan was charged 87RMB for sipping from a bottle of water and opening a tin of Chinese tea in our room – and he doesn’t even drink tea!

22 April 2010

Another busy day organising paperwork, but with a result – 4 MGs through and ready to roll tomorrow morning!

It started off with us going back to the Vehicle Bureau to pick up our Temporary Driving Permits. En route, we came upon a MG6 in the traffic!  What excitement!  We waved to the driver and took pictures out of our bus window. At the next lights, he was still there alongside us, so I asked the bus driver to open our door.  I tapped on the MG6 passenger window, which opened to reveal two people with frightened looks on their faces.  It wasn’t long and they were smiling and accepted my MG China to MG Britain floppy hat and the meeting was called to an abrupt halt as the traffic started to chorus their horns – the lights had changed! What a handsome car!  I’m a MG Tragic, I know!

We all cheered when Queenie announced she had our driving permits in her little hands.  Another hurdle over...  then we headed for the Port to hopefully collect the 4 MGBGT’s. 

As we entered the warehouse, the workers had parked them all in a row looking splendid.  The cameras started clicking but the drivers weren’t interested – all they wanted to know was would their cars start!  And they all fired up first time!  What a fantastic result.

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So now there were only 3 people left in the bus.  The 4 cars, following our driver in the 4 X 4, had their first taste of driving in China as we headed to the first service station to fill up.  All reported it was a breeze and were comfortable with being on the wrong side of the road and on the wrong side of the car.

First breakdown – 21 miles from the port, the Buckingham’s fan belt rotated on the pulleys. The cause?  We think that the belt may be too wide, being 13mm instead of 11mm, but as the Buckingham’s had had an air conditioner fitted only 2 days before leaving Australia, they had brought a spare, so this was an easy fix.  We were soon on our way back to the Vehicle Bureau for a final inspection and to complete the final paperwork, not before causing quite a traffic jam on the motorway!

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The inspection process was very thorough but the inspectors, who could not speak a word of English, were very obliging and did their best to fudge where they could to get everyone through. They tested our emissions, lights, noise, park brake and front and rear brakes.  Now that that was completed, all we require is the temporary number plate to be printed tomorrow morning and the first 4 MGs will be on track...

On the way back to our hotel, 2 cars got lost... Apparently, further down the road, someone leaned out of their car window to take a photo, so Ken showed them his hotel key and the obliging couple said “follow me” and changed course and took them to the front door of the Hotel – the only payment required was a warm hand shake and a picture of the 2 MG’s!

Well done Queenie – all your preparation work the week before we arrived has paid off.

During happy hour and our communal dinner, we discussed the plan for the next few days: Dan was to go with Simon in Madeleine’s absence and Ian, Denise and I were to stay behind with a new guide to help us with the clearing of our 2 cars and help us catch up with the rest of the group.  This would mean that the rest would start the trip in earnest in the morning, visiting all the sights and meeting the Lin Gang MG factory and touring the plant without us.    Such is the way an adventure unfolds... Not fair!

23 April 2010

Another set back...

Ian, Denise and I had breakfast with the others and bade them farewell as they drove to the Vehicle bureau to fetch their number plates before heading to their first overnight stop at Jinan.  The sun was shining, it was warm and it was a perfect day for top down motoring.  There were hugs all around and promises from us to do our best to catch up later; next week.  We videoed the cars leaving the Hotel car park and we were in a mixed mood – glad for the 4 couples but sad we were not driving out with them.

We met our new guide, John, and took a Taxi to the Bullet train station.  We were on our way to Beijing for the weekend.  At 332kph, the train was quiet and smooth and so, so fast!  This was a welcomed compromise for the three of us.

We booked into our “old” hotel, the Wangfujing Grand Hotel***** and spent the afternoon at the Silk Markets, where the choice of clothing, jewellery and electronic equipment is phenomenal! In the evening, we caught a taxi to the Chinese Acrobatic show which was, as one would expect, enthralling and spectacular.

A message from Sue on my phone read “No luck here till Monday – Can’t make Nanhui”!!!

What next!  What has gone wrong now?  How much patience does one have to have? A brief call revealed that once a few more issues were resolved, the Vehicle Bureau’s computers went down and the number plates could not be printed!  So the 4 cars were back at the Hotel in Tianjin and the dejected occupants were left to salvage what they could from the weekend before going back on Monday morning to try again.  Very disappointing for all concerned!

My first mishap – I went out after the show to get a snack and stepped off the pavement and tripped over what I thought was a low bollard.  On turning around, I saw an Asian chap on the ground alongside his little motor bike and his lady friend shouting at him!  I apologised to him and he stared at me, but the lady shouted something else and he got on his bike, told her to F... off and duly rode away!  Without any hesitation, the young lady turned on her heals, pulled her mobile from her pocket, dialled a number and disappeared into the crowd, no doubt calling backup to the rescue!  Hope it isn’t a car that I tangle with next time!  I know who would come off second best then... Tony, our guide, warned us that old people and young boys were the one’s to be careful of when driving in China!  I must be old, I guess!

24 April 2010

Another lovely day in Beijing...

Today, we play at being a tourist! First stop was The Forbidden City, opposite Tiananmen Square, where Emperors from the Ming and Qing dynasties worked and lived from 1406 to 1911.  The area the wall encompasses is equivalent to 40 football fields and the outer and inner courts are surrounded by a 50m wide moat.  Many of the building have been renovated and are in a splendid condition. Ian B did the sums - $10 entrance ticket X 60 000 visitors per day is $600,000 per day – not a bad return for an attraction requiring minimal maintenance!  Anyway, Tony was an astute guide and we enjoyed our personal tour.

Thereafter, we took a taxi to the Emperors Summer Palace and lake.  This is another massive and interesting project and was well worth the visit.

Interesting enough, during lunch, Tony helped us chose Asian food, then promptly ordered himself a chicken burger!  So, there we were, the Westerners eating Asian food and the Chinese chap eating Western food!

Tomorrow, we go back to Tianjin on the Bullet train to catch up with the rest of the group and discuss plans for the next week or so – not that our plans ever come to fruition!  Something always seems to get in the way of progress.

Sun 25 April 2010

Nothing much to report initially – we said our good buys to John – a very helpful, capable and easy going guide -and caught the Bullet train back to Tianjin.

On arriving at our trusty hotel, we found a gathering at the entrance and two large hearts scribed, using fire crackers on the pavement, nearby. We were to witness a wedding reception and the Bad Spirits were to be frightened away before the lucky couple entered the building. As the BMW, top down, approached, the fireworks were ignited and the noise was so deafening that I could not video the activity without blocking one ear and protecting my other ear with my raised shoulder! Unreal! The couple were dressed impeccably – not so the scruffy Mates – and all cheered as the couple disappeared through the hotel entrance.

At 4pm, as arranged, the group met in the foyer to discuss the events of last Friday and the possible way forward.

Who says that group decisions (except for emergencies) are always better...???

During the weekend, the two separate groups had had time to consider “where to from here” options. We had worked out that if we were to receive our cars during the week, we would visit the factory and bypass the Old Chinese Village and Three gorges Dam Wall and drive directly to Xian, arriving more or less on time in line with the original plan. As the whole basis of the trip was always to be the first MGs to EVER drive from MG China (factory) to MG Britain (factory), I felt that EVERY EFFORT should be made to meet the MG China staff and hand over a Plaque to the Plant Management.

We felt that this option would also allow the MGBGT group sufficient time to visit the MG factory and the Old Chinese village but bypass the Dam Wall to arrive in Xian on time. In total contrast, the MGBGT group said that the MG factory visit was not sufficiently high on their list of places to see and chose to take a slightly shorter route and visit the Old Chinese Village instead on the way to Xian, arriving earlier than originally planned so as to build in a buffer should something go wrong along the road. I was understandably flabbergasted but the decision had already been made and no amount of effort on my behalf would change “their” minds. Maybe my leadership/team building skills require professional tuition?

Ian and Denise opted, understandably, not to do the long drive to the MG factory in record time should we receive our cars during this week, so that left me to “do the deed” and attempt to initiate the purpose of the trip!

Obviously, should Ian/Denise and I not receive our cars this week, which is always possible in China, we will have to consider loading them onto a truck and shipping them towards the Kazakhstan border as we HAVE to make the border in time – the Kazakhstan visa was the hardest to obtain and we would not want to have to queue in the street outside the Embassy in Beijing again!

On a lighter note, Ian/Denise and I met our “new” guide, Serena, tonight and we hope that she will be able to beat Murphy and organise our licences and insurances in double quick time.

Mon 26 April 2010

Eureka!
What a glorious day! The sun is shining (even though the weather bureau had forecast rain) and I have a feeling that everything will turn out alright, eventually!

The Melbourne’ites, plus Dan, have booked out of the hotel in the hope that this is the day they will hit the road... and how right they were, but only after they were delayed until 3pm due the insurance papers having the wrong registration numbers on them and having to be retyped. It’s hard to know the truth in these situations as the excuses are almost unbelievable, (apparently the insurance company computers were down this time) but I suppose this is China and we have been warned to expect the unexpected!

We returned to the hotel with Serena, feeling a little dejected and had a rest, did some bonding over dinner and retired early to catch up the diary. Another questionable decision: (Sue and I have been “enjoying” analysing the decision making process of the group!)

Should Queenie, our (now) experienced guide stay with me to help me through and give me the “best” chance to catch up the group, or should she go along with the(larger) group as planned? Over the breakfast table, it was muted that I needed the most help. I put this idea to Queenie who said she would go along with the group decision. When airing it with the group, one person disagreed, saying I was the one going out on a limb (even though making every effort to visit the MG factory was always the purpose of the trip). The rest of the group stood silent, so, as I am sufficiently confident to “paddle my own canoe”, agreed to “his” request. As it has turned out, Serena is more than capable, but the interesting development here is how, even in a group situation, the group decisions are not always made by the group. “Influential” members of a group tend to make the decisions and the rest seem to not mind either way and go along with the flow! Interesting! For me, that blows the theory that group decisions are always best! (Excluding emergence decisions, of course)

Tues 27 April 2010

What a turn up for the books...

The day started off ordinary – cool but dry and perfect for shopping for car parts. Peter had put us on to the biggest conglomerate of car part sales yard we have ever seen. Amongst the shops, we bought left-hand mirrors, safety triangles, a tow rope, a car fridge and a GPS. The call came from Tracy to say that Customs wanted us to unload the container so that they could inspect the contents. We took a train to the Port and witnessed them cutting off the lock to reveal our beautiful cars all in one piece as they had left Australia.

Before the surly Custom boys arrived – in about 5 minutes flat – we had removed all “sensitive” goods from the cars and were as cool as cucumbers. The photographing of the engine/body/chassis numbers took place as did the inspection of the now almost empty boot. Job done! How lucky were we! The other group took a day for this process! As to what happened to the goods; that’s another story. We taxied “home” to the hotel to prepare for our big night!

Simon had mentioned that there was a small MG sales yard in the vicinity of the car parts sales yard. We tracked the outlet down and they only had 2 MGs on display – a MG3 Hatchback and a new MG6. Serena interpreted for us and while taking photos of everyone with the MG6 and showing the staff pictures of our cars, Serena arranged for us to have dinner with The Boss of MG Tianjin! To cut a long story short, The Boss picked us up in a MG7, drove us to a very classy Chinese restaurant, we met his manager lady there and had a wonderful night, through our fantastic guide, talking about MG Marque in China and the adventures of our trip to date. Our hosts were horrified with our tales of woe and promised to rectify the situation immediately. So, if all goes to plan tomorrow, our host will arrange to have us driven to the Port and help speed up the paperwork process so that we will have time to call into his dealership in Tianjin en route to the licensing department, to meet his staff and the press before he assigns someone to accompany us to the Vehicle Bureau to facilitate our final paperwork and obtain our number plates. A big Ask, I hear you say, but the desire was definitely there tonight! Isn’t it weird how things turn out for the best in the long run?!? Roll on tomorrow!

PS: Tianjin area holds the record for sales of MG cars in China. They sell the MG3 Hatchback, MG3 wagon, MG7, MG6 and the MGTF mainly but also the odd MGZR and MGZS. The MG Zero is due to roll off the assembly line this year, a model I have not heard of as yet.

PSS: The Boss said that we would be very unlucky to be dealt harshly by the local constabulary should they find us outside of the exact areas as designated on our driving permits. This came up when we told him that our travel agent had informed us that as we did not have a permit to cross one particular province on a short cut to Xian, we would have to either drive the long way around or transport our cars on a truck to get through. The Bosses comment was that in his experience, the constabulary would do their absolute best to help foreigners generally and to us in our little old cars even more!

Wed 28 April 2010

We had a late start as the cars were only going to be ready after lunch. Mr MG Tianjin (Dang Eu) collected us, as planned, in his MG7 and whisked us off to the Port at Midday and our cars were waiting and ready for us. 15 Minutes and we were on the road to the Vehicle Bureau in Tianjin, 1 hour away, driving for the first time in China. What elation! Ian, who asked me to keep the speed down, was the fastest of us all and we had a hell of a time trying to keep him in sight!

The Testing Station section of the Vehicle Bureau were about to close so they told us to come back early in the morning. Mr MG had a quiet word with them and they rushed our cars through the process that took the others 4 hours to complete – all in 15 minutes! It’s not what you know...

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Ian and I tinkered on our cars in the car park while the girls tidied themselves up for dinner and a date with a local travel magazine. Mr MG Tianjin had arranged this interview and the 3 journalists were mesmerised by our story! Mr MG is trying to get the local TV involved tomorrow afternoon at his MG Showroom so that the MG marquee gets the exposure that it deserves! Watch this space...

Tomorrow, the plan is to book out of “our” Hotel in anticipation of getting a few km under our belts before sunset!

Thurs 29 April 2010

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What another fantastic MG day...

We arrived at the Vehicle Bureau to find a MG7 there already – Dong’s top salesman was there to help speed up the process! In double quick time (11am), the licence numbers were issued, our insurance was issued and we had our precious laminated number plates attached to our windscreens.

Mr Head Salesman led us through the city in convoy, with flashing lights and horns honking all around, towards the largest MG dealership in China. There, we were absolutely blown away!!!!!!! The staffs – all 20 odd of them – were standing either side of the door and clapped to welcome us “Home”. There was a 5m X 5m banner on an outside wall, saying “Welcome MG Club from Australia to China. We wish you a safe journey from MG China to MG Britain” – all in Chinese. Then our cars were whisked into the 12 bay workshop to be washed, (Ian’s speedo cable was replaced) before being set up in the showroom alongside an MG3 wagon, a MG6, MG7 and two Harley Davidson motorcycles while we were fed in their canteen.

And then the activity really started! The photographer from the local newspaper arrived and he and us all took 100’s of photos of each other taking photos – Unreal! I sympathise with movie stars now! Smiling continuously and being pushed around from pillar to post is tiring! Then we were ushered into the board room and given a handful of MG regalia, had more photos taken and an interview with 3 or4 journalists. What excitement! Hopefully Mr MG and the MG marquee get heaps of exposure from our efforts and Dong gets rich! He and his manageress are absolutely passionate about the MG brand and the experience was one i will never forget!

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As it was approaching 3pm and we had hoped to get to Jinan by nightfall, we said our goodbyes, promising to visit each other again and were led by another MG7 through town to the toll gate and sent on our way.

Yesterday, Serena had bought a GPS and she was given a crash course on how it worked. Now was the test! We drove “with the sun on our left” along these magnificent 2, 3 and 4 lane motorways at 100kph (I would have driven a lot faster if Ian would only keep up), but, at least I got to see some of the scenery this way! One fuel stop and we arrived in Jinan at our opulent 5 star hotel at 7.30pm, tired but very happy to at last be on the road to the UK!

RIP missed a beat – the motor cut out and then fired up again, but not before backfiring and us smelling an electrical burning smell, so I will have to look for a loose connection as soon at first light! It sure is disconcerting when that happens and our friendly mechanic, Dan, is 1500km away up Yellow Mountain!
Something funny – first thing in the morning, in a panic, Ian asked me to yank on one side of his boot lid while he yanked on the other and Denise pressed the knob – but to no avail. The boot lock nut must have come undone inside and were planning where we would have to drill through the boot lid to pick the lock when I asked a stupid question – was the boot locked or unlocked? With a red face, Ian unlocked the boot and we all had the best laugh...

Have just heard that Dan is in the clink – police station – for not having his Chinese visa with him! Luckily, I have all the passports with me delivered by a courier from the Kazakhstan while waiting for the insurance to be issued in the Motor Vehicle Bureau so he was released, unharmed but thirsty for a beer!

Fri 30 April 2010

Serena punched “Nanhui” into the GPS as we left Jinan but omitted to select “Expressway”, so we had a scenic drive through rural China over speed bumps and dirt roads around bridge repairs. We even drove through a town with market day in full swing with the stalls were half on the road and 100’s of people milling around! Is this our first real taste of China?

The day was otherwise uneventful – the cars behaved themselves and we covered 850km in 11 hours, including many rest stops!

EXPO opened in Shanghai tonight and we heard the fireworks but could not watch them as trying to navigate the road system and dodge trucks in the dark is not exactly second nature just yet!
A close shave: at an intersection in Shanghai, a bus drove through a red light and so nearly cleaned up Ian and I! It was only luck, not skill, that saved us... How many lives do we get in China?

Dong – Mr MG Tianjin sent us a text today to say that he/we were in the local newspaper today. A good result and hopefully it will help him sell more MGs to the younger generation...

Sat 1 May 2010

Labour Day in China – big fireworks celebrations all around! Still an unbelievable number of trucks on the Express ways...

Today was the day to officially start the trip – to leave from MG Nanhui for the UK!

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Everything started off wrong! Steve Pitt, Deputy Director, Engine Plant, and his wife, Jacqui, were late in arriving as I had got my days all wrong and thought it was Sunday, when it was actually Saturday! What a stuff-up! Anyway, Steve and Jacqui arrived in a Taxi (after getting home late after attending the opening of EXPO 2010 in Shanghai!) as we were taking long-distance photos of the front of the SAIC plant as security wouldn’t open the gates to let us get any closer.

Being No2 in charge of the Engine Room, Steve arranged for us to be let in and we took the obligatory photos before starting on a tour of the panel, assembly and engine plant. As the machinery was silent due to the long weekend, we didn’t get the full effect of the activity that must take place there. We were all astounded by the size of SAIC and the range of cars they produce – Rover, MG, GM, Buick, Volvo Bus and Truck, Earth moving Equipment and more... SAIC is the largest car manufacturer in China and all equipment at the plant is brand new and state of the art! Apparently, the Chinese government wouldn’t have it any other way!

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On the MG front, between the plants at Nanjing and Nanhui, SAIC produce the MG3, MG3 wagon, MG6 and MG7. Planning and production of numerous models of MG are also in the process – a smaller model than the MG3, a diesel range, an SUV and a special MG that Steve was not able to comment on! Even more impressive was the range of motors that SAIC produce! So, on the contry to the reports one reads in magazines from time to time, MG is in good hands and is reinventing itself to be the car for the successful young person – much like the MGA and MGB were in the Olden days.

Steve went to a lot of trouble, willingly, to meet us there and to make us welcome. He is a credit to SAIC Motors and MG in particular and confided that if he was to have his own way, he would live in Hangzhou, China and buy an MGA! What a champ!

At lunch time, we said our goodbyes and headed westwards to Huangshan along a wonderfully windy double carriageway. A few spots of rain cooled down what was previously a hot day and the new Bambini hood got it’s first taste of China today!

RIP missed a few more beats today, when hot. Once on the open road, she is hard to hold back so Dan advised that it has probably got something to do with fuel vaporization. Hope that is all it is...

Sun 2 May 2010

Today was all on 2 lane express ways – very easy driving – to our next stop at Wuhan, west of Huangshan and Shanghai. We are in catch-up mode now – 2200km to do in 3 days to Xian.

A few of you have asked after Serena, our guide from Tianjin, where we received our cars, to Xian, where we hope to catch up the MGBGT group. As RIP is so small and intimate, we had plenty of time over the 10 days to share notes on things! Nothing inappropriate, Mr Gary!

Serena, christened XX (pronounced shoe-a) Ning, Summer in English, chose the name Serena when she became a day guide in Xian as people confused her with the seasons! She is 23, born on 15 April 1987 but celebrates her birthday using the Chinese calendar, so this year it fell on the 1 May! Weird for us westerners...

Serena is 4 foot nothing, slim, very pretty and proof that dynamite comes in small packages! She was given 10 minutes one evening to make up her mind if she wanted to take on this assignment. Three guides had already declined! The next morning she was on a plane 1400km to Tianjin to do a job she had never done before – take a group on a road trip around south east China in an open car!

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The words resolve, commitment, attentive, talkative and vivacious come to mind to describe her personality. A lesser individual would not have got us through the red tape in Tianjin, learnt how to operate a GPS in double quick time, talked herself into and out of interesting situations, ensured that Ian, Denise and I could meet our commitment to start the trip from the MG factory in China and drive long days to ensure we reached Xian to meet up with the MGBGT’s. What a girl!

A bonus! Serena said that she likes looking after children. She also said that Chinese people say old people become like babies again. So she agreed to come to Australia in 20 years time to be Laurel and my baby sitter in our old age! What about now?

When I showed Serena photos of our house, she couldn’t believe that only 2 people live in it. In China, 20 plus could comfortably live in a 4 bedroom house with study, not to mention the garage!

Mon 3 May 2010

First things first. It was my turn to “be a man” and apologise to Ian for my driving last night coming into Wuhan. The traffic was appalling and I was driving “like a rally driver” in Ian’s words, swerving between the traffic. Sorry mate, all that you said was true and I stand to be reprimanded!

Having got that off my chest, our route northwards to Nanyang took us across the Yangzi River a few times – over massive bridges – works of art - and once through a tunnel! Rice and wheat was growing as far as the eye could see. Oxen are still seen ploughing the fields and the workers still wear those round peaked hats! The countryside is littered with white, 3 story buildings and except for the Huangshan area, very flat. The sky is always grey, whether from smoke (fires), dust (wind), smog (cars) or just temperature inversion one wouldn’t know. When I showed Serena a photo of my BP Service Station, she laughed. I asked what was so funny and she pointed to the clouds in the blue sky and said she used to draw pictures like that at school but didn’t know that it was real!

On another topic, we are starting to get used to the attention we attract wherever we go. On the expressways, cars overtake slowly, slow down so that we pass them again, then the window comes down and a smiling person, usually on the other side of a camera or camera phone snaps away at us. At fuel stations and traffic lights, people crowd around us in their dozens, honk their horns and often ask “Where are you from?”, so Serena tells us! When we tell them the cars are MGs, a few tell us that MGs are made in China! Unreal! We have met many very well educated people, directors of large corporations and a few professors, all of whom show genuine interest in our trip. It sure makes every day an interesting day!

RIP continues to misfire when over 190 deg F. At least it keeps my speed down a little! Hopefully Dan will give it a look over when we reach Xian tomorrow?

Tues 4 May 2010

It’s certainly getting hot these days. Above 35C... if we had started the trip as originally planned, we would have arrived 2 weeks earlier and hopefully wouldn’t have lost another few days on paperwork, then the heat would only have arrived as we were leaving China where winter stays a little longer due to the altitude of western China and Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan.

However, today we woke to rain – monsoonal rain! Thinking of Serena’s wellbeing, using an umbrella, I drove RIP under the hotel canopy and put up the hood. No sooner were we all strapped in and the rain stopped – drat! As we were already 1 hour late, the hood had to stay up for the day.

Ian and I decided we would take the national road (440km) instead of the expressway to Xian. The GPS was invaluable in these situations and the first 100km were slow but ever so interesting – this was the real China I had come to see! Muddy potholes everywhere; jay walkers crossing anywhere and everywhere; traffic driving in both directions on either side of the road; welders and stone masons all plying their trades on the footpaths; dogs roaming around and just general chaose... If we hoped to reach Xian before nightfall, we had no option but to take the expressway again and the last 300km were absolutely beautiful crisscrossing a river between beautiful green hills and mountains with caves and grave stones everywhere – much like I envisage the Garden of Eden to be like!

adnnn

What a welcome we received at the hotel! Dan, Reg and Mary were standing there with cold beers and we all roared and hugged and were happy to be reunited with the Team again. The serious shoppers arrived at the afternoon beer party a little later but we had time to catch up the news on both sides before Serena weaved her magic and won everones hearts and took us to her favourite resturuant for a fantastic meal!

Ian and I have been working on Serena buying a MG... she knows our stories so well...

I put the hard word on Serena today – would she please come to Istanbul with me! Her reply was “Are you serious – what about Dan?” I said that if I was forced to make a choice, why would I choose Dan! Quick as a flash, the reply came back – “Yes, of course I will come!!!” sorry Dan, I have a new MG convert...

Wed 5 May 2010

Today we visited the Terracotta Warriors with Serena as our guide – this is her “real” job but says it is boring compared with taking us around China! I guess it would be!

Xian was capital of China for many years and more Emperors have ruled from here than either Beijing or Nanjing.

The first emperor ruled for 37 years and was ruthless and conquered the 6 tribes around him, to make the first country of China. He had a tomb built for his afterlife and the Warriors were only discovered (again) by accident in 1974 when a farmer digging a well found ceramics and alerted the authorities. So far, 4000 of the 8000 warriors have been unearthed, along with bronze horses and chariots. Amazing to see!

adnnn

On returning to our cars, we found the Xian MG Dealer representative waiting to guide us to his service outlet where we had our cars serviced and washed while the girls were given a massive bunch of flowers each and a cup of tea. Thereafter, we went over to the MG outlet and experienced streamers and were welcomed with TV cameras and reporters. We were told that it would be on the news at 7pm but didn’t get to see the news as it was beer time and Dan was taking orders. It goes without saying that many, many people had their pictures taken near or in the cars and I ‘m sure the MG marquee will be better for it!

Dinner was dumplings of every conceivable shape and type cooked in a hot pot in front of each of us! A great experience and a great day...

As this was my last night with Serena – my special friend – she organised Queenie and our driver, Mr Lui to join us and have a drink in Pub Street. What an experience! The road was narrow with cobble stones and there must have been 15 pubs/bars lining each side of the street, each belting out their music in the hope to attract the bodies milling around. One drink became 2 and I stumbled into bed at 1.30am promising myself that I will have an early night tomorrow. I’m just so bushed, but happy! Love you, Laurel, my fantastic wife and friend of 18 years!

Thurs 6 May 2010

At last we are all together ON THE ROAD! We left in a convoy of 6 gleaming MGs for Tianshui 440km away. The expressway was only opened recently and is a work of civil engineering art! It curves through the hills and mountains, above rivers and through numerous tunnels, one of which was 12km long! The drive absolutely blew us away!

En route, we called into the Buddhist shrine at the Maiji Mountain Grottoes. These are caves high up the side of a cliff where a few 1000 budda statues were carved into the rock around 400AD. Over the years, they have weathered badly but in 1987 the government refurbished them and they are well worth a visit. They are not for the feint hearted, though. 300m up the face of a cliff on a 1m wide platform is a little scary, to say the least.

adnnn

On our return we found our driver chatting up a lovely friendly young lady who wanted a lift into town. Guess who had the privilege??? She insisted I put the Bambino hood down and squealed and waved to everyone, even imaginary people, I think, the whole 40km! Is this another MG convert coming in the making...

Fri 7 May 2010

Dan’s birthday – a spring chicken at 70! Such good health! Congratulations, Dan. You carried yourself well at dinner tonight when receiving all the gifts and having Happy Birthday sung to you in Chinese and English! Hope you enjoyed your special day and that you don’t forget it for 20 years or more...

The Team wanted to experience the real China – secondary roads – so Queenie took us along the old main road. Talk about chalk and cheese! Compared to the expressways, this was mainly dirt and very, very bumpy. All seemed to enjoy being up close and personal with the locals and their life styles and many photos were snapped. However, when the opportunity came to join the expressway, all opted for the easy way out (sensible too – took 2 hours to drive 80km). As we entered Lanzhou, we hit a traffic jam due to an accident 100m ahead of us. It took 1 hour to get through and the cooling systems had a real workout but that didn’t phase out Dan – he waved, greeted or talked to all the locals, whether they could speak English or not. He is so easy to have along in RIP (when not telling me how to drive!) and is really entertaining.
Traffic manners...

When one initially arrives in China, the traffic flow looks like chaos, absolute chaos! However, after a few days of driving on the main and secondary roads, one quickly realises that the system actually works. Cars move along the roads like water in a river with rocks strewn everywhere. The rocks are the obstacles – pedestrians, motor cyclists, carts and broken down cars – while the water is the traffic, gently moving around the obstacles without an ounce of aggression anywhere. Everyone lets everyone in when you get close enough and the traffic moves along well without disruptive traffic lights, stop signs and the like disrupting progress when there isn’t anyone coming in the other direction. I love it here...

Honking horns...

As above, the horn is a musical instrument to be used in a number of ways to educate someone that you are nearby and may enter their personal space very soon. It is seldom used in aggression, even when an accident is imminent. A few quiet honks means “I’m here”; slightly louder honks means “I’m coming through” and louder honks means “Careful, I cannot alter my course – I have to come through”. All sensible stuff... A great system...

I can’t imagine the western system of traffic lights and stop streets working in Asia! It is far too restrictive and disruptive! Yield signs and roundabouts are the go, but only after a serious training program is aimed at the driving public! (No, I’m not a traffic engineer – I just hate the effect traffic lights have on the flow of the traffic!)

Sat 8 May 2010

We left Lanzhou heading west along a double lane highway in perfect Top Down weather – we only had 270km to go to the Tibetan Taer Monastery near Xining.

What an eye opener! The Indian religion of Buddhism filtered eastwards along the Silk Road around 1200AD and they now have a stranglehold on the Chinese people. This Monastery was first built on the spot where the second Buddha was born. A tree under which the baby was born in 1357 is (apparently) still alive and the tree (apparently) had 100,000 leaves on it, so the converts to this particular sect (Yellow headdress) have to do the stand/ touch forehead (thoughts)/touch the mouth (talk)/touch the heart (soul) and then bow down and lay on the ground 100,000 times before they die to ensure the key is in the door up above when needed... Bloody hard work, if you ask me! They use beads to count during their lifetime – imagine how they would feel if they were to lose their beads and have to start all over again!

Apparently, a Buddha died and 3 months later his hair had grown 3” and the food from his last supper was absent from his stomach, which is proof that he is above the rest and would be reincarnated into another higher being in due course. Wow!

Prayer scrolls are always spun clockwise (for good luck). Queenie spun hers anticlockwise for half an hour before being informed she would have to pray 200,000 times to make it up!

The people here certainly look different! They are taller, have darker skins and rounder faces with round eyes. Apparently they are from Arab ancestry and lobbied to break away from China a decade or so, ago. The authorities replied by “moving” millions of Han Chinese to the western provinces to “average out the numbers” and set up big business and industry here to improve the GDP of the region and keep the peace. Wonder if that policy would work in Australia?

Tonight, Dan and I have soft beds! I mention this because the Chinese must believe that hard beds are best!

A pearler: I said “It must cost these people a fortune to build all these shrines on the hill sides”. The reply came back as quick as a flash “Pity they don’t spend the money building toilets...”

The Team seems to be functioning well and we all seem to want to get the most out of every day – which is a pleasure for me – as I just love experiencing new cultures and meeting new people!

Sun 9 May 2010

How quickly things change...

Today is Ken and Sue’s 41st wedding anniversary – congratulations you two! Sorry about the dinner! Hopefully next year will be a ripper for you both.

Today is also Mother’s Day in Australia. Happy mother’s Day to all the mothers in Australia and to those overseas and on this trip!

adnnn

We started the day thinking we would take a short detour to the largest salt water lake in China – Qinghai Hu – larger than the whole of Hong Kong. The trip up – 3300m – was fantastic and we got to see our first Yaks – furry (mainly black) calves is the closest I could come to describing them – a horseman with a very fancy saddle and the lake. It was terribly cold and the wind was blowing a gale. Dan and I put our cold weather gear to the test but think we may have to add another layer if we have to endure those temperatures again! The MGs hardly noticed the altitude, thanks, I believe, to the wizardry of the SU carburettors! We all noticed a lack of power but nothing to worry about.

Unfortunately, we were not able to take the short cut (not sure why not?), so we had to return to Xining, but all said they enjoyed the diversion even if not the return trip.

We then headed northwards towards Zhangye (No, I still can’t pronounce it!) through magnificent semi-desert scenery and over the Qilian Shan – mountains. We reached 3832m at the toll booth and had to pay the enormous sum of AUD1. What a pleasure, as Mike Brett would say! It being early May, there was still ice all around and the mountain tops were still covered – a very beautiful sight! Being Tail End Charlie, it was a magnificent sight to see the 6 colourful MGs snaking their way up and down this massive mountain range. If the definition of a glacier is a river of ice, we drove beside a glacier for 10km or more – truly awesome!

Mon 10 May 2010

Imagine Australia or the USA being on one time zone. For example, when you wake up in Sydney at 7am and the sun may have been up for an hour, while in Perth, it is dark for a further 3 hours. Well, that’s what it is like here. We are moving westwards and the whole of China is on one time zone, so daylight saving is happening before our eyes yet the clock stays the same. Interesting! To compensate, the Chinese just change their lifestyles. They get up at 8am, 9am or 10am and go to sleep correspondingly later. That’s certainly one way to deal with the problems of a large country spanning numerous time zones...

Today was to be a leisurely drive as we only had 280km on the expressway to reach our overnight stop at Jia yu guan. Before leaving Zhangye, we visited the Buddha Temple that houses “The Sleeping Buddha” which is made from clay and is 24m long! That was unreal! The Budda was in a room along with many other Buddha’s and we are constantly amazed at the dedication of these followers...

The drive to Jia yu guan was along a plateau with the snow covered Qilian Mountain range to the south and the Gobi Desert to the north. There is further evidence that the Chinese government is spending up big in the west with massive powerlines going up and the town looking splendid with all the mod cons such as statues, new buildings and children’s playgrounds much like those in Australia. However, there is a definite lack of cars and population here – the streets are deserted in comparison with the cities to the east...

adnnn

The highlight of the day was 2 visits to the western extremes of The Great Wall of China. They were built around 1372 using mud, wood and brick to keep the Mongols out. A wayward Mongol leader tried to conquer the fort but failed and the winning General was given a fitting funeral upon his death to acknowledge his bravery and good fortune. The land is so barren that I personally don’t know why the Emperor didn’t let the Mongols have the place! This wall was not quite as imposing as that found near Beijing but both sections were just as hard to climb to the top and gave us a wonderful view of the surrounding area. The Gobi Desert to the north is certainly an inhospitable place with not a blade of grass or tree in sight!

On booking into the hotel, we spied a MG7 near the gate and tracked down the owner – as you do! He couldn’t speak a word of English but told our guide that he bought the MG as he liked doing 240kph along the motorway! He had to have his picture taken in RIP – as you do!

Tues 11 May 2010

Our meal last night was different and entertaining. Mr Lui, our 44 year old driver who cannot speak a word of English as he was brought up during the Revolution period, decided to order on behalf of the group. Out came the grog and dishes and all was consumed amongst laughter as we didn’t know what we were eating nor drinking. After all was consumed and our mouths thoroughly cleansed with chilli and another very hot seed called Hua Jiao, all was revealed! The grog was a 52% whisky blend called Yao Jin that explained why we all had such a good time – and the food was eel and dried blood! Yuk, when we were told the truth but very nice up until then! Thanks Mr Lui for a great evening.

We left Jia yu guan for Dunhuang in perfect top down weather – 390km, of which 200km was expressway and the rest on a very good national road. The national road took us southwards into the Taklimakan Desert – what a desolate and dry place! Unbelievable! I have the pictures to prove it! You wouldn’t want to break down here!

En route, we visited the Mogao Grottoes (Caves). There are 400+ caves, each storing a number of Buddha’s and other statues. Most are unrestored since the 4th and 9th centuries and are works of art not to be missed! While the rest of the world were in the Dark Ages or up trees, the Chinese and Indians (Buddha’s come from India, obviously) were producing works of art up to 36m tall using clay and mineral colours that have lasted over 600 years in some cases. This certainly was an eye opener for me.

Some titbits:

Dan uses a second left hand mirror to keep my left had side safe – calling out when I am allowed to overtake vehicles.

We drove past a wind farm supporting well over 500 turbines (Fans). We commented to Queenie on its size and Queenie said we will be coming across much larger wind farms still! And we have already! Unreal how big everything is here in China. No half measures. Watch out, the USA! Everything here is bigger and better that anywhere else in the world and most of the western world doesn’t know about it yet.

Some kids were sitting on a bridge dropping stones onto the cars as they passed! They are the same all over the world! I would have given them a hiding if I thought I could have caught them...

There are no (hardly any) broken down trucks anywhere (although the condition of the trucks is generally atrocious!) The reason? There are hardly any hills! When faced with a gradient, the Chinese simply tunnel through the mountains and hills! Simple! What a way to go? How clever is that!

adnnn

We have had mobile coverage everywhere we have been – over 3000miles. Why can’t Australia get their act together? Our mobile coverage in Australia terminates 10 minutes out of towns on the main roads between capital cities! Pathetic!

The MGs are running well. We have all had minor problems except the Besly’s MGB roadster, thanks to Allan from the Classic Car Clinic! Some of the problems encountered to date are: alternator wire disconnected so battery went flat – pushed back on; timing out on Buckingham’s MGBGT; vacuum hose disconnected causing the MGBGT to run lean – pushed on to rectify; split pin left off brake master cylinder – lucky to find before the clevis pin dropped out, rendering the MGBGT no brakes at all; flat tyre – replaced with spare. There have been numerous problems associated with the two air conditioners fitted to 2 MGBGTs but nothing that would stop an MG in its tracks.

Wed 12 May 2010

Dunhuang is an oasis in the Taklimakan desert and the surrounding sand dunes are tall and imposing.

The top floor of our hotel supports a restaurant and open air bar with beautiful views across the sand dunes and the Taklimakan desert. Last night, there wasn’t a breath of air; there was no dust and the atmosphere and view was stunning! Watching the sun set and having dinner under the stars was a memorial experience. After the activities and busyness of the past few weeks, I can openly say that I missed Laurel heaps last night!

Today we rose before dawn to walk to the top of the surrounding sand dunes to get a glimpse of the expected sun rise. As nice and cool as the morning was, the clouds on the horizon did not spoil our endeavour! The walk through another oasis and up the dunes was exhausting but magical and the run/slide/fall down was great, except for Simon who tried to ski down and hurt his back! As he said, you cannot take the boy out of a real man!

The rest of the day we spent downtown shopping for more essentials and eating at local coffee bars. What a lovely rest (break from driving and rushing...) we have all had today!

adnnn

Tonight the wind came up and we are now in a dust storm. This makes us even more appreciative of the perfect weather we had last night and this morning!!! What a wonderful trip! Wonder if the storm will subside overnight?

Thurs 13 May 2010

Well, the storm had disappeared and we were greeted to cool and clear weather! The MGs were covered in a layer of dust. Dan had his first drive of a vehicle in a Left hand country – Simon decided to travel in the guide’s car and nurse his back. I can’t report any errors as Dan took to the conditions like a duck to water!

The 100+km of road out of town back to the national highway was extremely bumpy, as was the national highway for 200+km before finding a brand new section of the Expressway (Toll road). Before we started the bumpy section of national road, we were given a time by the police to be at the next check point. If we beat the time, we would be fined! Apparently the road is notoriously bad and this is their way to reduce accidents. Our average speed had to be 65kph! Most other cars seemed to drive at 80 or 90kph and then stopped for a wee break before the police post... There are many ways to skin a cat! There were 3 sick trucks along this stretch of road – 2 were dead and the third had an A frame over the engine compartment while still parked on the road – apparently the motor had to be changed en route! All road signs are now in Chinese and Uigar – no English any longer! They probably don’t expect westerners to travel to this area...

adnnn

The countryside is still barren but the signs of new infrastructure are everywhere – new toll road (flat – no hills), new railway line, new power lines... apparently this area is rich in oil, cotton, grapes, fruit and dates – and the water is brought from the snow capped mountains along underground aqueducts for 1000’skm! As I have said before, everything in China is BIG! (I’m sure the infrastructure is for military reason too, but shouldn’t speculate here. Reg believes the black cars that seem to follow us everywhere are carrying officials who are keeping a tab on us!)

Hami, our stop over, is the first Muslim town we have stayed in. There are many more to come through the ‘Stans... The local King, King of Hui, was a Muslim Uygur (pronounced Weegar), helped the Chinese Emperor to defeat the Mongols some 300 odd years ago so was knighted in The Forbidden City, Beijing. He took Hami fruit to the Emperor and had 8 descendents before the gene line ran out. His tribe is one of 59 minorities in China.

As a result of the Uygur uprisings last year, the Chinese government cut all mobile phone and internet signals in the area. How serious are they! No communication into or out of the area until further notice! Unreal!

We have just heard from Tracy, our Chinese agent, that the Kyrgyzstan/Kazakhstan border is closed due to further unrest in Bishkek again. Mila, our Uzbekistan travel agent has assured us that an English speaking Russian guide will get us through the border post and that we shouldn’t worry. What next!!!

Dinner was in a Muslim restaurant were Dan and I missed our beer! The menu now offers mutton and vegetables – no more Chinese food unless we specifically seek Chinese restaurants out.

Fri 14 May 2010

Today, my compass continues to read north, northwest, as we head out of China, north of the Taklimakan desert and south of the Gobi desert along the ....... corridor.

The weather started absolutely beautiful for top down motoring the 417km to Turfan, an exotic destination according to Lonely Planet. It wasn’t long and the northerly winds started to pick up from the snow capped mountains, then a gale, then a sand storm, then light rain – all in one day! Luckily Dan never complains and the top stayed down!!!

The roads were generally bad – potholes and broken tar - but the new expressway looks all but complete. We saw the reason for the massive amount of infrastructure spending today – oil wells everywhere and acres and acres of vines. As they don’t drink much, these Chinese could easily flood the world market with anything they choose – including wine.

adnnn

I must confess that I was crook today (from the rich mutton, I believe)and eventually had to “do the deed” and stick my finger down my throat, so Dan had a 30 minute drive while I recuperated in the 4X4. While the Team got stuck into the prawns and other delicacies last night celebrating Ian’s 69th birthday (69’er Ian said he has waited a long time for this birthday!!!), I stuck with plain food and feel on top of the world!

Near Turpan, the altimeter read 100m below sea level (4oookm from the sea! What a weird and wonderful country this is) on our way to the Gaocang Ancient City – ruins is closer to the truth, as it was built 100BC and raised to the ground by the Mongols in 1275. The city population was 37000 and the Buddha temple was 100m X 50m – an engineering feat in my language!

adnnn

Since leaving Xian, the Muslim influence is becoming more prevalent. There is hardly a Chinese person on the street... No wonder the Chinese government is trying to correct the situation by displacing millions of Han Chinese to the western frontier!

Sat 15 May 2010

Another interesting day!

Before leaving Turpan, we visited the incredible Karez underground well system serving this part of China. Since before Jesus roamed this earth, the Uygur’s have dug over 16000 wells to link up 5500km of underground tunnels from the snow capped Altay Mountains, across the Junggar desert to the settlements along our route. The water is used for drinking and cultivation but is drying up each year. The world over seems to have this problem, but in this desert region, that’s a real worry!

The weather then turned and became extremely windy – the wipers blew off RIP twice so we took the blades off, and the 500 wind turbines en route were locked to stop damage to their blades – and then the snow/sleet came and we had to put the wiper blades back on again! Neither Dan nor I have ever driven in sleet/snow so another mark in achievements for this trip! Needless to say, it was bitterly cold for the remainder of the day.

The Urumqi MG dealer met us on the motorway and led us to his premises where we were fed and watered and allowed full use of his workshop to service and repair the cars to our hearts desire. What a hospitable family this MG family is – worldwide! Thank you, Mr Sui! The showroom was full of potential MG purchasers and it was interesting to see that the 20 to 30 year old buyers still bring their aging parents to sit in the car with them and help with the decision to buy! Tomorrow, Mr Sui has arranged for the cars to be washed before the press and TV personnel arrive at 11am. Then we have been invited to lunch before driving another 280km to our next overnight stop.

Madeleine leaves us tonight for Australia while Mecca arrives to take her place alongside Simon. Simon has apologised for being “shitty” for the next 3 days in advance... Dan will look after you, Simone...

Another day of incredible extremes!

Sun 16 May 2010

We have now travelled over 3500 miles in China in 3 weeks.

We still haven’t understood why a lone sweeper must sweep the motorways for miles on end; why sweepers sweep roundabouts with their bicycles parked in the middle of the road; why road repairs are carried out with only one or two safety cones protecting the repairers from the traffic and why when resurfacing the roads, the man hole covers aren’t raised to the level of the new road?

If you miss a turnoff on a motorway, do you reverse back? No, you turn around, switch on your flashers and drive back, obviously!

Macca flew in late last night to replace Madeleine and drive the blue MGBGT with Simon. No Macca, the 5 star hotel we are staying in is not standard for the trip! Welcome on board. It will be interesting to see how the new team dynamics works out from now until Lorraine joins us in Istanbul!

The MG dealer was true to his word and ready to lead us to his premises at 10am sharp. What a welcome! There was a 60 piece Uygar band, an avenue of flowers and a microphone and stage all set up. Later, we realised that the paraphernalia was to open a trade show next door and our enterprising dealer had arranged for us to make use of the facilities after the Mayor had opened the trade show!!! Oh well, the public thought the setup was for us too so that is all that mattered.

adnnn

Dan did a sterling job seating literarily 1000’s of pretty girls into RIP for a photo shoot and just about wore out the door hinges! The MG China to MG Britain banner was in the background and around midday, we were all asked to stand on the stage with our regalia proudly displayed and asked questions while journalists and photographers wrote and snapped away. I certainly hope the MG marquee and the MG dealer gained something from this show – the atmosphere was fantastic and the hospitality unreal! After gifts were exchanged, the dealer, his brother and son took us all out to the best restaurant in town and we had a smorgasbord before saying our sincere thank and goodbyes and hitting the road once again for the western border of china.

The drive to Jinghe – we decided to drive another 200km as the road conditions and weather was perfect – saw us passing through what must be the Garden of Eden of the West. Irrigated fields stretched as far as the eye could see and the beautiful snow capped mountains to our south made for a beautiful backdrop. Then the coal belt started with literally mountains of coal and many power stations all pumping electricity into the grid to support the industries in the east. Only yesterday we were in a sleet storm in a barren land and today, this! The contrasts in China have certainly knocked us all over, as has the people’s gentleness and interest in our cars and our trip. As Dan keeps saying, “you wouldn’t want to be dead for quids!”

Mon 17 May 2010

We are nearing the end of our trip in China and we are all feeling a bit sad to be leaving. Today was no exception – we left the hotel for an “easy” 200km drive to the border town of Horgas (Korgas). The first 100km was on expressway and we reached Lake Sailimu early lunchtime. The scenery was absolutely stunning! What with snow capped mountains all around and the cold blue water and green fields and hills in the foreground. I’m sure the photos will not be able to do justice to this scene! Eat your heart out, Swiss Dominic! We are coming, don’t you worry about that!

Immediately on leaving the lake, the road conditions changed to being the worst we have ever driven on! The expressway is in the process of being built to Horgas so the secondary and service roads are carrying the traffic. The trucks and busses have all but destroyed the road surfaces and the100km trip took us 3 hours to complete. Admittedly, that included many scenery and civil engineering photo opportunities as the new road tunnels through the mountains and is often 100m above the river valley floor! No wonder the Chinese are winning contracts to build roads throughout Africa and South America!

adnnn

The Team is working well together and hearing Sue say “Bring it on!” over the 2-way radio when half way down the rugged mountain, all covered in dust, warms my heart – even the ladies are enjoying the “interesting” conditions!

Dan continues to amuse everyone by waving and greeting anyone half looking our way and making a range of noises as we hit each bump – almost as if he has rehearsed the different tones to match the severity of the bumps!

Tues 18 May 2010

How quickly things change!

Four MG couples decided to go to Yining today (on our rest day) to see what the capitol of the region had to offer. When buying fuel en route, Mr Lui, our driver, noticed an oil leak under RIP. No!!! The rear main that was replaced 5000km back was leaking again! No!!! What should I do? Pack in the towel? Give up? I had not planned to remove the engine here in china!

adnnn

Dan convinced me that it was the only option we had, so we found a workshop - read, outside hoist in the dust and dirt – and encouraged the reluctant owner to allow us to take over for the day. We removed the engine and found the front gearbox seal was actually leaking. Not having the correct parts, we improvised with the help of the owner and replaced the motor by midnight – only to find there was still an oil leak!!! Poor old Dan and I had 6 hours sleep – no shower nor breakfast – and took the motor out again the next morning and replaced the engine rear main seal– the exact seal we had replaced in Australia 7 weeks ago. The seal surface was found to be grooved and not having a speedie sleeve, we had to fit a new seal to the old crank shaft surface and hope for the best. As it turned out, we have now driven 200km without leaks but I am still not certain we have the problem licked! As a back-up, I have ordered seals and speedie sleeves to be mailed from Australia to our next 2 full day stops so that hopefully we will have the correct parts if it ends up leaking again. One good thing from this disaster is I can now remove a MG motor in 1 ½ hours flat! Here’s holding thumbs we don’t have to do the job again!

Wed 19 May 2010

Even on a quiet day, so much seems to happen to us all...

Ken and Sue became Grand Parents – Todd and Bec had a girl, Avalon. Congratulations!

Dan and I (with a lot of help from Reg, Simon and Macca), removed the motor again to replace the rear main seal.

We all said our good buys to Queenie, our guide of 31 days, Mr Lui, our driver and to China and headed for the border post with Kazakhstan. The work that our travel agents in China and Kazakhstan made the crossing easy and we found ourselves driving in a new country within 3 hours!

Igor, our Kazakhstan guide led us to our overnight stop at Shonji, a short but very bumpy 200km drive. The vegetation is lush, the houses are “normal” (not mud huts as in western China), Russian built Lada motor cars are common, donkeys pull carts or roam in the wild and the food is almost western – with good beer. We are all content tonight, but the Zero Star hotel leaves a lot to be desired! We have a feeling that the 4 and 5 star hotels and beautiful expressways are a thing of the past for us for a while as we travel through the ‘Stans!

Thurs 20 May 2010

Another interesting and full day!

The weather was perfect again and there was no oil under RIP, so why shouldn’t it be a good day?

During our briefing before setting off, our guides informed us that the Kazakhstan/Kyrgyzstan border we were planning to cross was closed over night. No reason was given! Wow! What next!?

We left Shonji in Kazakhstan to visit the Charyn Canyon in the hope that we would get news that the border was reopened but that didn’t come, so we had to make a quick decision to overnight in Almaty and hope to get more news during the day. En route, we drove on bumpy sealed roads to the Charyn Canyon turnoff and on dirt roads to the canyon. We then walked over 2km to the bottom to the river and up again – very spectacular but not as magnificent as the Fish River Canyon in Namibia nor the Grand Canyon in the USA!

After lunch, we visited a beautiful lake (Bartoghay Lake) and a very interesting Golden Eagle training centre, again on very bumpy roads. I have never been this close to an eagle before and to see and hear how they are trained to hunt is unreal! Mega patience! They also had Saluki hunting dogs and the eagles and dogs hunt foxes, Lynx and wild cats amongst other rodents and birds. This is certainly a different sport to the sports I am used to!

Drat! RIP had leaked 3 litre of oil during our lunch stop! That bloody rear main has done it again! The seal’s running surface is sure to be the culprit and the motor will have to come out again! Hope the parts we ordered from Heritage MG in Sydney arrive in Bishkek or Tashkent in double quick time!

At our hotel, our Kazakhstan guides informed us that the Kyrgyzstan border was reopened during the day and that if we didn’t want to forfeit our tour money, we should cross over into Kyrgyzstan in the morning. So, after speaking to the Kyrgyzstan guide, the decision was taken by the group to comply and put our faith into Arsen’s hands. Next morning, some Team members had a change of heart after talking to Kazakh locals and wanted to seriously consider bypassing Kyrgyzstan all together! Thankfully, after everyone was given another chance to voice their concerns, a vote was taken and the earlier decision was reinstated 9 to 3.

Our dinner downtown was a very comfortable and western experience. Almaty is obviously a wealthy city judging by the range of food on the menu, the range of cars on the roads and the modern clothing worn by the young and old alike. Now we know why the group of young people we met at the canyon were so disappointed that we had only planned to spend 2 nights in their lovely country! If only we had more time... and RIP would hold together!

Kazakhstan’s wealth comes mainly from the large deposits of oil and natural gas found north and west of the country. In addition, the government has been stable for 20 years since independence so foreign investment and tourism is flourishing.

There being no financial difference in a guide taking us 210km to the Kyrgyzstan border or a car carrier, we opted for the latter just in case we needed it en route. To damage RIP’s motor would be foolhardy and repairs could hopefully be affected in Bishkek while the rest of the Team did some sightseeing...

Fri 21 May 2010

The parts have not left Sydney yet! What was the point of setting up a system to get parts to us urgently if, after 3 days, they haven’t even left Australia! Bloody frustrating!

Anyway, we left Almaty – we must return and visit longer next time – with the tow truck up front and headed for the Kyrgyzstan border. The 210km took 4 hours – not a bad road but a slow trip – speed radar cameras every few kilometres. The border crossing was also slow – usually, when leaving a country the process is quite quick, but the authorities had not seen a Carnet – our cars passport – before and it took 1 hour for them to agree that it was in fact an official document! Four hours to get through the two border posts was mentally draining and a waste of a cool and damp day.

Kyrgyzstan is a poor country without oil, minerals nor industry. It actually doesn’t have much going for it, as even the beautiful scenery cannot be taken advantage of while the governments since independence in 1991 continue to destabilize the region. In our guides view, democracy has ruined the country! Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are dictatorships and are streets ahead in wealth creation and industry. Apparently, the difficult decisions can be taken easier in an autocratic state for the betterment of the population as a whole! Interesting view... even so, the sight of donkey drawn carts and herdsmen on horseback in both Stans reminds me of life 50+ years ago in South Africa!

The view of the snow capped mountains from our balcony is just stunning – as beautiful as anything I have seen in Switzerland! The 4 star hotel has seen better days but the room is clean, the shower hot and the food was excellent – what more could one ask for?

Sat 22 May 2010

While Arsen took the Team on a City Tour in a mini bus, Dan, I and Albert, Arsen’s friend, went searching for parts and a mechanic willing to work over the weekend to affect our repairs for the 3rd time! It was interesting seeing the city from a local’s point of view and the 100’s of tin shanty car parts sheds on the outskirts of town was a real eye opener for me, as was the numerous vehicle service ramps (free to use) found on the side of the roads, the seriously potholed roads and radar cameras on just about every corner! After everything was said and done, the advice was unanimous: it would be best to keep feeding RIP thick SAE 50 oil with an additive and try to get to Tashkent where, hopefully, the parts from Australia will be waiting to be inserted... At this time, RIP uses 2lt oil every hour of running, whether driving at idle or 100kph. So, to drive 1000km to Tashkent will take in excess of 20Lt oil – but the option of trucking her there and thereby not having driven from the MG factory in China to the MG factory in Britain is not really an option!!!

The team decided to rest our MGs and to continue to rent the mini bus for 24 hours and go back to the original program – to visit Lake Issyk-Kul, a salt water lake 1700m above sea level with a circumference of 500km, for the night, in a previously well frequented Russian hotel. The 240km trip took 4 hours over bumpy roads, low speed limits and past numerous well healed cops brandishing radar cameras! On the brighter side, the grass was green, the mountains spectacular, the canyon stunning and the lake a natural wonder! This certainly is the jewell in the Kyrgyzstan tourism crown if only the government was stable...

Some interesting points:

Up until 1991 when the Soviet Union disintegrated, the countries of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan did not exist! It was all known as Russia. The borders were agreed to by Russian diplomats and the local citizens have to now live with the authorities decisions.

Citizens of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan have very similar backgrounds and hail from Mongolia.
The citizens of Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan hail from Persia – Iran.

The currency of Kazakhstan is the Tenge – 20 years old – and is worth 115 Tenge to AUS$1.

The currency of Kyrgyzstan is the Som – also 20 years old – and is worth 35 Som to AUD$1

The fuel price in China was AUS$1.10per litre

The fuel price in Kazakhstan is AUS$.80cpl and in Kyrgyzstan is AUS$1.per litre

Aussie power board plugs slot into the Chinese jacks with a bit of a shove, but the two Stans above have small diameter circular pins as found on many international adaptors.

The USD is accepted in Kyrgyzstan freely – except fuel purchases, which have to be in Som.

There are many right hand drive vehicles on the roads in the Stans.

Other than minor hiccups, all MGs are running well except for RIP. We now think that maybe the rear main leak could be caused by worn main bearings allowing the crank shaft to effectively “whip” at the main rear seal... So many theories... Why me!

Sun 23 May 2010

We woke to beautiful sunshine and a magical view of the snow capped mountains above the ice blue Lake Issyk-Kul!

This certainly is the jewel in the Kyrgyzstan tourism crown. If only the government was stable...

We headed back to Bishkek in the mini bus via a rock garden with many rock paintings of animals and men on horseback – not as detailed as I have seen in Australia nor South Africa, but they do date back to 2000BC!

Further up the road, we visited an ancient town called Balasagun which dates back to the 10th century. There isn’t much left standing but it was entertaining watching, then taking part, in a wedding celebration and having to skull vodka before the guests would let us leave!

Back at the hotel early, we had time to do our washing, catch up with our diary and prepare our cars for the drive tomorrow – over two 3500m passes to a mountain resort deep in a canyon.

Mon 24 May 2010

Even a relatively uneventful day is extremely eventful!

Today, we awoke to sunshine and warmth and headed south over 2 X 3500m+ passes to our overnight stop half way to Osh.

Of prime concern to me was RIP doing the distance – 240km on 3lt oil and avoiding oil on the clutch plate. RIP performed brilliantly, even if Dan didn’t like the low revs up the hills...

The passes were extraordinary! The hills were green with pastures, the mountains were snow capped and the nomadic Kyrgyz were out in force with their herds of cattle, sheep and, more proliferate, horses, setting up their Yurts (Nomadic tents) for the summer. The scene was out of a picture book and the journey was a fairytale!

Just when you think you have heard it all – us driving Peking to Paris in 50 year old MGs; two 60+ ladies cycling Peking to Paris in 2009, we learnt of a chap who rode on horseback from Mongolia to Hungry in 2008 using 3 horses over a period of 1 year. What will people think of next???

To cap the day off, 4 chaps turned up to our “motel” while we were at dinner and told us they had heard we had been through, that they were born in the area and now lived in Russia and were coming home for their 30th anniversary of leaving school. We offered them a drink and they pulled out a bottle of “Russia’s best vodka” from their car, gave us all a drink, left the bottle on the table, told us they loved us and left! Isn’t that just a fantastic experience! Life is good!!!! Buggar RIP!

Tues 25 May 2010

Did the UK flat go through last night? Yes! Congratulations Laurel! 6 Months ago we committed to buy a 3 bedroom 1 bathroom, 1 garage town house in Martin’s Heron, 1 hour drive west of London, thanks to lots of help from our friends, Pam and Geoff Barron in Ascot. We now have a base in the UK from which to enjoy MG drives around the UK and Europe (we bought Snowy, a white MGBGT in May 2009) and anyone we know is/are welcome to share our new abode at a marginal rate when in the UK!

Our drive (meander) today through valleys and over aqua coloured, gushing rivers, along smooth, sealed roads in warm weather was fantastic! The people were very friendly and the young southern Kyrgyz’s certainly live life to the fullest – hanging out of car windows or through sunroofs taking photos, cutting us off and generally causing mayhem! The school uniforms are so perfect for the UK, the boys wearing black long trousers and white shirts with a tie and the girls wearing pig tails with white bows and carrying flowers for their teachers. Can you believe it?

Hydropower is generated in these southern regions and the power stations are old but the water is a beautiful blue colour. We saw the last of the herders of cattle, sheep, goats and horses today but the green hills and the snow capped mountains never seem to be too far away.

Our lunch stop was at Jalal-Abad, the site of the most recent anti-government uprisings (the Ex Presidents home town) but we saw nothing but lovely food and met friendly people!

Osh is reputed to be a lovely, historically important city – the next major Silk Road city after Kashgar, in China, so we await tomorrow with abated breath!

A coincidence: we met a chap in the restaurant in Osh who had offered to help us to repair RIP in Bishkek, 1000km away, 3 days ago! What are the chances of that happening twice?

A note: service stations here in Kyrgyzstan sell 93, 92, 90 and 80 octane fuel, are generally run down and the competition in brands is fierce! There are many One-off brands! The new service stations are well built but don’t have a shop – just a small room to house the attendants’. We have only seen a handful of Minimart type service stations around... Wouldn’t the Australian service station and shop concept do well here!!!

Wed 26 May 2010

Osh is a very old city (3000 years in 2007) and was an important stop over for the traders between Kashgar (China) and Tashkent (Uzbekistan). As it was settled by the Uzbeks who are also agriculturalists, it is also a rich farming area of Kyrgyzstan. It would appear that the southern Kyrgyz (Osh) don’t exactly like the northern Kyrgyz (Bishkek), hence the division in the government in this country...

The border crossing into Uzbekistan was meant to be an easy one. Leaving Kyrgyzstan was a breeze –half an hour for all 6 cars – but the productivity of the Uzbeks was abysmal! Not that they were not helpful nor rude – just bloody slow at doing everything! It took us 4.5 hours to get through but gave some of us ample time to meet the locals and play Aussie football and Frisbee with the kids...

We met Gulya, our lady Uzbek guide “on the other side”, who didn’t have a kind word to say about the border officials, and followed her to Fergana, 100km away (but felt like 200km...) The Uzbek President was in town, so we had to take byroads that were bumpy and potholed, but on the positive side gave us the opportunity to honk the Claxton and wave to many, many locals who were on the streets in the evening breeze and responded with shrieks and whistles. Some of them even drove past us time and time again, hanging out of their car windows, cutting us off while taking photos with their phones and waving and generally causing mayhem!!! An absolute wild bunch of excitable youngsters... (A bit like me when I was young, my Mum would, no doubt, say...)

Thurs 27 May 2010

Excitement!

At breakfast, our guide rushed in to say we had 10 minutes to leave the hotel if we didn’t want to be stuck there until midday as the police were closing the roads off due the expected arrival of the President! In 10 minutes flat, we were all heading up the road past police and army people stationed every couple hundred metre until we exited Fergana – exciting stuff!

The 300km trip took us past cultivated fields – the Fergana valley is the garden of Uzbekistan and on the Silk Road of old – and up and over a 2400m pass to Tashkent, the current capital of Uzbekistan (Samarkand was the previous capital before Russian times...). The roads and streets are lined with Mulberry trees which are regularly stripped of new leaves to feed silk worms – an industry the government keep alive by providing worms to the locals providing they process the cacoons and sell the silk to the weavers. Not a bad idea to me!

RIP continues to hang-in-there, albeit leaking more and more oil out of the rear main seal – and the Slater’s BGT radiator boiled, only to find a crook electric fan plug badly earthed – lucky no damage was sustained to the cylinder head.

Our hotel is 5 Star – I could get used to this style of living, but the prices are western – beers are 4 times dearer than the 3 star hotels we have been frequenting since leaving China!

Fri 27 May 2010

Our cars were rested today as we toured Tashkent in a luxury coach!

Tashkent dates back to 200BC, now has a population of 2.5 million (Uzbekistan a population of 27 million) and is a well laid out and attractive city. The Russian’s are responsible for the bulk of the infrastructure in the ‘Stans but they withdrew their troupes and government workers and closed all industry down in 1991 when they gave the ‘Stans their independence, which left a big hole in the budget and industry in general. By having a stable government and allowing joint ventures with outside countries and companies, such as Daewoo (Korea), Turkey and many European countries, the country is rebuilding itself and will, no doubt, become an even more powerful player in this part of the world than it is already. It already has a tram system and a metro to keep cars – hence traffic – out of the city centre.

Tashkent was never a major Silk Road city – too far north – and the earthquake of 1966 destroyed many buildings, resulting is a distinct lack of older, historical buildings and monuments. Now, the Islamic influence is everywhere with mosques, Madras’s (Islamic schools) and silk and carpet stall on just about every corner. Of particular interest to me was a copy of the Urban Koran (4 were made) that was written on deer skin in the 7th Century and taken to Russia in the late 19th Century but returned to the people later in the 20th Century. It consists of 167 pages about 600mm X 800mm and must weigh a ton!

Hooray! The first parcel of parts ordered over a week ago for RIP when we were promised a 3 day delivery period by DHL have arrived at our hotel! As RIP is still driveable and we ideally require the main bearings ordered later just in case we find the reason for the rear main seal leaking is due to the main bearings being worn or damaged, we have decided to push on another 850km to Bukhara in the hope that the rest of the parts will arrive there before us. Here’s hoping RIP makes it and the rest of the parts arrive in time...

Sat 28 May 2010

We left for Samarkand an hour later than initially planned in the HOPE that the second batch of parts may have arrived in the UPS depot of Tashkent overnight. No such luck! We were told they were still in transit – Monday maybe! I must have really upset a Chinaman in a past life!

The 350km trip to Samarkand was along flat countryside with agriculture and animal husbandry found virtually every inch of the way. We must have passed 5 police stations keeping an eye on the population, but they just waved us through. We are getting used to seeing police road block since first entering the “Stans, but this was particularly regular! The population continued to photograph us, greet us and laugh and point at us – we must be like a motoring circus to them! The road surface was sealed but changed from good to bumpy to potholed every few kilometre! We all managed to avoid 1000’s of potholes BUT got hammered by a few that really tested our suspension! These are the road conditions we prepared our cars for; not the dual lane highways of China, which offered easy driving conditions but boring!

Fuel crises..........

Can you believe that a country with massive oil and fuel reserves can have a fuel crises?! We haven’t got to the bottom of it yet, but one story is local fuel is sold over the borders to obtain a higher price than here in Uzbekistan. Another theory is that there is a technical problem in the local refinery – who knows the reason!

We knew there was something wrong when virtually every service station en route to Samarkand was closed! (They often have attractive fences and gates around service stations in Uzbekistan making it easy to see if they are open or closed...) While at a dinner show, our guide met her daughter and son-in-law who fortunately knew a service station along a dirt road out in the suburbs that still had fuel, so we did a late night dash to the Servo, woke up the grumpy owner and filled all our tanks! We now have just enough fuel to reach the Turkmenistan border in a few days time, so hopefully there is still fuel in Turkmenistan when we arrive! What was it that I did I do to that Chinaman?!

In Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, fuel was plentiful and came in 98, 95, 93 and 80 Octane options. Here in Uzbekistan, they only offer 91 or 80 Octane but we haven’t been able to find 91 Octane fuel so have been “blending” the 80 Octane fuel in the hope that we will find 91 octane fuel somewhere soon. We all now have only 80 octane fuel and our motors are pinking like mad – some worse than others! We always knew we would have to deal with this situation some time on this trip so now is the time to try the solutions offered to us before we left home – retard the spark and/or richen the mixture.

Sun 30 May 2010

Samarkand! What can I tell you about Samarkand (Sweet Land) that will encourage you but not bore you?

Gulya, our No1 guide, powerhouse of knowledge and narrator of anecdotes, was born here so was able to give us all the facts that we could ever hope to absorb to help us understand the importance of this central city on the main Silk Road of old!

Temur the Lame controlled the land from the Chinese border to the Mediterranean Sea in the 14th century. That is a massive area and he was a visionary in his time. Unfortunately, Ghandi’s Khan, from Mongolia, conquered Temur’s decedents soon after Temur’s death in 1405 and raised the majority of the Silk Road towns to the ground. Temur was influenced by the Muslims who arrived in the area in the 8thC and built many mausoleums (burial buildings) and turquoise domed mosques. He even had a mausoleum built for women, which was revolutionary in that time and is still standing tall today!

Mohammed sent his cousin to educate the Uzbeks but he was beheaded by a group of local Muslims of Samarkand. His legend lived on and now, Samarkand is considered a second Mecca – If you cannot afford to visit Mecca once in your lifetime, you may visit the mausoleum of Mohammad’s cousin 3 times and you will be saved... Another one of Gulya’s anecdotes!

Ulebek was the grandson of Temur and was given Samarkand as a gift but Ulebek was more interested in astronomy and studied the stars at the same time as Galileo – in the 14th century. It is constantly interesting how the west and the east claim to have invented things first... like mathematics, medicine, astronomy, time, fire, the wheel etc. The Silk Road probably had the answer – the information moved from east to west and back again and the person who wrote id down first was accredited as the founder of the invention! My theory and I am sticking to it!

The actual history of the city goes back to 750BC and there is a wealth of artefacts to help the archaeologist’s piece together the “old” history of the area. That makes the Australian, South African and American history appear to be very recent indeed!

Enough of the details – Samarkand was the capital of the area for many years before Tashkent came along and is now a modern city with the central government spending squiilions on rebuilding shops, monuments and on the infrastructure to restore the city to its former glory. I have no doubt that it gets very hot here in summer – well over 40C for 4 months of the year – but the people have learnt to live with the conditions and are very friendly and were curious to know everything about us! “Are you English/American/Austrian...?”

Mon 31 May 2010

We left Samarkand early to beat the heat and drive about 300km to Bukhara along sealed but mainly bumpy roads – we are getting used to these road conditions now... also the police control stations along the way, who never stop us and often wave and smile and ask us questions in a language only a local can understand. The vegetation has become more and more arid and the area is called “The Steppes of Uzbekistan”.
RIP is tired of splashing oil all over anyone driving in her wake, so Dan and I decided we would “do the deed” and replace the rear main seal for the 3rd time since leaving home, but, this time we also have a speedie sleeve to tap over the rough surface of the crank in the hope that the seal would “seal”! Mila, our Agent for the ‘Stans, arranged a friendly workshop and Reggie gave up his afternoon’s walk through the old quarter of Bukhara with the rest of the Team to help. The 3 of us had the motor out and on the floor of the local Chevrolet agent’s workshop in 1hr 15min flat! How sad is that! Anyway, after fitting the speedie sleeve and rear main seal, we managed to put the motor back into the engine bay (with the help of 31 helpers/clerks/onlookers chatting away)before racing back to our hotel to prepare for a night of culture, song, drinking and eating – hopefully in that order! Isn’t life good! Hopefully that Chinaman keeps away from RIP and I now!

The evening was spent pleasantly in a court yard sitting and eating and drinking while some pretty ladies danced beautifully to the 8 piece Arabian band and other much taller ladies put on a fashion show – in the hope that we would want to buy the wares in the shops set up around the court yard. There were no complaints from the blokes...

Dave's Diary Continues - Click here