france, belgium, luxembourg, germany, czech republic

Writing from the HOSTEL ELF, Prague, Czech Republic.

A brief recap of the past couple of days:

After leaving Lille we drove 555 miles to a tiny village outside of Nuremberg, Germany. We left Lille at 10AM, entered Belgium at 11:40 or so, cruised through and were in Luxembourg by 2:30, out again at 3:30 into Germany, and in the approximate region of LOST, LOST, LOST by 10:30PM.

Working with the unbeatable combination of hastily-jotted-down google map instructions and an all-europe atlas that didn't really get down to the nitty-gritty of rural Germany, we drove around in the pitch-dark countryside for about an hour searching for the Campingplatz Maria Penning. Eventually we stumbled upon a caravan park that was NOT called Campingplatz Maria Penning. It was completely dark, and all of the caravans appeared to be long-term, with tiny picket fences and the occasional potted plant. Mysterious. We debated what to do: drive back to Nuremberg and try to find a place to stay at 11:30PM without a single word of German between us? Search out a random field to sleep in? Just pitch up next to these mysterious caravans and hope for the best? (As opposed to an irate mob of German grandmothers..)

We were about to pile back into the car when I spotted, in fine print at the bottom of a sign, the words “fam. Penning†and the same phone number I'd noted down from the internet. Salvation! It was, in fact, Campingplatz Maria Penning. We gratefully pitched our tents, had a few subdued drinks in celebration of Greg's birthday (happy birthday, Greg!), and went to sleep.

The next morning, aside from a few curious stares, we managed to settle up without issue and get on the road again. We were headed for Klatovy, Czech Republic, and the Klenova Castle for the CZECH-OUT PARTY.

The Adventurists organize a second launch event for European teams that don't want to go all the way to England before starting their journey; many of the teams that launched in England also show up for the party, and for a last hurrah/farewell/round of beer before everyone splits off to follow their various routes.

As we drew nearer and nearer to Klatovy the density of Rally cars started to climb, with enthusiastic horn-beeping at every sighting. We worked our way through the city of Klatovy and out onto country roads, following the signs for Klenova Castle. When we finally reached the castle, it was a bizarre sight: hundreds of strange and fantastic cars winding their way up to a pair of large golden wicker towers, as though we were members of a strange cult come to congregate on our secret Czech mountaintop. One night of medieval revelry in an ancient castle, and we'd scatter to every corner of Europe and Asia.

 

We pitched our tents and watched some of the European teams launching. Here, because there were fewer teams, each one got a brief interview with Buddy, the MC.

Highlights included:

1. A team from Northern Ireland in an ambulance, who sat on top of their vehicle with giant beer mugs and whipped out fake petrol bombs (which looked worryingly realistic, at least from a distance..) and handed them to Buddy. Thick Irish accents. Straight from Belfast. 2. A German team in a Unimog, a giant army BEAST of a truck with enormous wheels. He said he'd spent 12,000 euros on the vehicle and was budgeting 25,000 euros overall for the journey. 3. Five German frat boys in two cars who were clearly wasted, said that their team was all about raising money for charity, and then admitted that they hadn't gotten to the minimum amount yet. 4. Spanish guys with home-grown tomatoes 5. Spanish guy who claimed to have done the rally 3 times, each time using the same route. True story or total bullshit?! Not sure. Difficult to tell due to language barrier. 6. Man doing the rally by himself, who had a golden bullet on a chain around his neck and reported that his wife had sent him off with the words, “save the last bullet for yourself.â€

Shortly after the launch of the European teams, we headed up to the castle for the party. The theme was Arabian Nights; many people had impressive Arabian Nights costumes, and many teams had brought elaborate costumes particular to their team, e.g. full-body tiger suits, or the inexplicable gang of guys in tennis outfits complete w/racquets. At the base of the castle there was a food tent, bar, and a great oom-pah band of old men. I can't remember exact instrumentation but I think it was accordion, tuba, clarinet, washboard, and possibly trumpet? They were excellent.

There were three other live bands on the main stage, up one level, and then two arched subterranean stone rooms, one with a DJ, and one with a rather etheral team of Czech hippies/gypsies/music festival lifers serving hookah/shisha and various teas and snacks. The castle had a gorgeous view of the surrounding countryside and plenty of nooks and crannies to hang out and chat in. Later in the night there was a firedancing performance. Many new friends made and stories traded.

Overall, a wonderful evening.

The next morning, a very hung-over crowd of Ralliers sluggishly packed up their tents, searched for lost keys, piled up their empty bottles, and set out onto the road, not to see each other again for a month – or six weeks – or, perhaps, ever. We've formed such instant bonds with people under the assumption that WE'RE IN THIS TOGETHER... but actually, this is more or less the end of the togetherness. We'll see people on the road, for sure, but there's no guarantee that we'll see any of the same people again. Many will not make it to Mongolia. Many will arrive long before us, or after us. Many will take completely different routes. (SIDE NOTE: Seriously, everyone is taking the southern route. I haven't met anyone else who's going through St. Petersburg. Did we not get the memo??) It's a strange combination of brilliant, intense camaraderie, and utter independence.

We managed to struggle off the field at about noon, and drove straight to Prague, where we checked into Hostel Elf (lovely place) and then went out into the town to see the sights and have a much-needed meal.

It already feels like we've been on the road for weeks. We're hoping to be into Russia in less than a week, and communication will drop severely from then... I'm going to be writing entries on the road and then uploading them whenever we have a chance, but it may not be very often.

(Which may come as a blessing... I know I write too much, apologies for my long-windedness! Must get the photos up. Promise to do it before Russia.)

Oh yeah! Almost forgot. CAR UPDATE: she's still running well, but riding very heavy. Expecting major problems on bumpier roads. The Mongol Rally Big Boss, Tom, took one look at our darling Agila and said “you've got about two tons too much stuff. What happens is that the shaft of the suspension ends up punching right up through the body of the car.†Ouch. Well, we'll see how it goes. May have to abandon a load of stuff somewhere along the way. Release our attachment to material things, etc. Good for the soul!

Tally-ho,

Jenn