We are nearing the end of our trip. We entered Siberia about five days ago. The terrain looks much like the photo for thousands of miles. The forests can be remarkably dense and right up against the highway (no beard spotted, yet). One can imagine how easily folklore and myths of powerful creatures living in them could occupy a permanent place in the locals' imagination. 

Grateful for the change in scenery. Cannot overestimate how flat and open Kazakhstan is. Makes driving though Nebraska seem like a reasonably entertaining thing to do.

Crossed out of Russia into KZ without much of a problem. Driving consecutive  10-hour days over the next two days to Astana from Aktobe. 

On the road to Kazakhstan 

Shout out to Taylor Braun for hosting us in Tbilisi this weekend. Very impressed with this Caspian city. They did a great job of preserving their history and ushering in a new future.

"Check engine" light has been on for two days. Time to get it checked out.

Made it to Prague. Looking forward to the meet-up tonight. 

Player "Grigori" Enters The Game

Team Rasputin has finally found its Grigori: a 1998 Opel Corsa B. 150,000+ km to its credit, but it doesn't look a day over 30,000. Big thanks to Andreas and Uta at Kraftwagenhandel in Hüttenburg for helping with the transaction, and to Jane Leesch for trusting us enough to be our consigner!

Some background about this purchase is in order. Through June, we had planned for a number of aspects of this trip: border control issues, car repair tips, Caspian ferry conditions, Chechnyan security risks, etc. We had lists of official order crossings between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, multientry three-year Russian visas, and a map of acquaintances to meet with along possible routes, but we lacked planning in one area: actually buying the vehicle. It is a relatively simple process in the US, and we had not heard of anyone in this year's Rally dealing with any vehicle purchase issues, so why get a head start on buying a car before we land the UK on July 8? So imagine our surprise and concern when, upon telling the Adventurists HQ on June 30 that we have not yet bought our vehicle, and they reply "Yikes, you don't have the vehicle yet. Are you aware that vehicle registration usually takes about 6-8 weeks to sort out?" referring to the UK specifically. With the Rally starting on July 16, the situation appeared dire, and we needed a solution ASAP for how we could find a vehicle, buy it, and register it in two weeks. With the UK option off the table, we had to look elsewhere in Europe. We considered the Dutch (no-go, only residents can buy there), Swiss (too expensive), Spainish (too far), and German car markets. As luck would have it, Germany had a car registration option which designates the purchased vehicle as for export only ("Ausfuhrkennzeichen"), meaning the car needs to leave Germany shortly after registration. Our online research and correspondence with friends in Germany suggested that this would be a relatively simple process which we could do on our own, possibly within a day. With this expectation, we found several sub 1.2L engine cars in and around Frankfurt, and booked train tickets there from London two days after flying in from the US. Despite the approx 50 listings we contacted, only two sellers replied. We took the train and taxi to Hüttenberg, test drove the aforementioned Corsa, and strongly considered buying it then and there... until we learned that we would need a German citizen/resident to consign on the registration with us. This was news to us; indeed, it was a new change to the Ausfuhrkennzeichen process, becoming official only a couple of months ago.

The next 24 hours may be best described in a screenplay-like manner considering the speed with which everything progressed. CUT TO: naïv, a bar in Frankfurt. Jane Leesch, a German citizen and resident of the Frankfurt area, and a friend are meeting Pearse there to catch up since Llast meeting in Panama City in 2016. Pearse's head is spinning from the download of information about German auto registration, insurance, taxes, etc (and it doesn't help that the hostel room is occupied by a human foghorn of a snorer). Jane hears of this German cosign requirement, "wow, that is quite a big responsibility for that person. It basically means they are liable for any fines or damages the car takes on while you are driving. It is too big a favor to ask someone. I am not sure how you can get it done." CUT TO: the next morning, Jane is driving Pearse and Matt to the registration office in Wetzlar to become the cosigner of their 1998 Opel Corsa. After much discussion and assurances, Jane believes in the spirit of the Team Rasputin and agrees to be the cosigner. Matt and Jane drop Pearse off at a local McDonalds to use the McWifi and deal with the bank (where he spends the next three hours). Matt and Jane drive to the Wetzlar vehicle registration office and enter a three-hour long pressure cooker that is the Ausfuhrkennzeichen registration process. Andreas and Uta show up to lobby on our behalf and speed up the process. At 6:29 PM local time, the registration is complete, and Team Rasputin welcomes Grigori into the family.

The entire process was utterly exhausting, but ultimately successful. Andreas made sure the car was in good shape for our journey, and Jane gave us some last minute tips ("don't speed, don't get in any accidents, don't break any laws please"). We became familiar with the car's parts and quirks in an IKEA parking lot after eating celebratory Swedish meatballs and Vaffel.

T-Minus 43 Days

Welcome to the Rasputin 11 blog. In the coming weeks and during the Rally, this blog will hold accounts and reflections from our drivers, Pearse Lenz and Matt Lerner. As you can see by the attached video, our team of engineers, data scientists, media staff, lobbyists, jet fuel suppliers, and adoring fans are eagerly awaiting our launch.

До свидания

-Rasputin 11