Our apartment at Paradise Studios was nestled on the top of a hill overlooking the beautiful beach of Agia Fotini. I was amazed that such a beach existed-as it was full of the perfect skipping rocks. Kim and I packed a few away for our gardens back home.

Chios, birthplace to Homer, not Homer Simpson you Seattlites. What a lovely place.

And now we are nestled together in our Izmir hotel room avoiding prank Turkish phone calls. Yasmin and I will be headed out tomorrow to Almaty, Kazakhstan and Kim back to Assos, Turkey.  Kim is headed to Mongolia on the 24th–details to come on where she will be. Yasmin and I are really hoping that the gas shortage in Uzbekistan will not prevent the team from getting to us.

Until we post again-Opa!

I also uploaded some new photos:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47555946@N02/collections/72157624578165163/

        And even though Kim and I are taking a mandatory break from the rally our little team continues to sludge on.  I can only imagine Jean’s list of misfortunes as she loves to list them all out in her little book like the 10 Days of Christmas– 6 hours at the Azerbaijan border, 3 Rally cars pulled over for speeding and one shreeedddded tire.  It sounds like they have had a lot to endure over the last few days–and I can only imagine how long her actual list is. We miss you guys!

       I booked my ticket  for the 18th to meet up with them in Almaty and I am strangely looking forward to being part of the mayhem again. The Fiat Puntos are small but oddly started to feel like home as they pushed through thousands of  miles. Jean and I managed to create a very cozy little bed in the back of the Fiat–a little too small for Tom’s legs, but we quite enjoyed it. You can learn a lot about people when you are crammed in a small moving vehicle–so for a small fee I have plenty to share about my teammates! Tom especially loved our conversation of the different “languages of love”–and applied his new knowledge quickly as he helped us navigate through unknown territory.  Thanks Tom!

         Kim and I are slowly letting go of our sadness for having to depart the rally and our team. Each day Emily, owner of the Eris Pansiyon, lets us tag along to her “Joy Luck” lunch club at the beach. At this little spot we have had the special priviledge of listening to a bunch of expatriates discuss life, love, and loss in Turkey. The ladies take care to order us lunch as we lounge away reading our books. Emily has been so sweet to us–coffee and fruit in the morning and tea in the afternoon. We feel so spoiled by her generosity that it has made missing this part of the rally a little more bearable.  Assos, Turkey, a tranquil Aegean-coast seaside retreat, amid ancient ruins and olive groves is a must see for anyone going to Turkey. The hillside cobbled streets are filled with villagers selling spices and olive oil in plastic water bottles. And the sea breeze at Eris Pansiyon is worth a stay. Thank you Emily for taking us in!

       Kim and I are off to Izmir tomorrow and to see Yasmin! We are not sure exactly where we are headed but we will keep you posted! Yasmin, pack some sunscreen because it is hot–100 degrees! Kim and I had to hide away today because even under umbrellas the sun found us. Our skin is now a lovely shade of red.

I have posted a sampling of some photos from the trip–enjoy!   

http://www.flickr.com/photos/47555946@N02/sets/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/autarken/tags/baatarhero/

We have also been using the SteriPen UV purifier to fill up our water bottles whenever possible. However with the heat we are all consuming more water, and just keeping it cold is challenging. So we are trying to re-fill our bottles with the bottled water when we need to and leaving the waste plastic bottles at the point of purchase for better disposal or recycling than wherever we end up camping for the night.

Now for the bad news: Turkey was pretty dirty. Many European cities are polluted, but Istanbul was the haziest we’ve seen. After crossing the border into Turkey we saw fields of something being burned, and across the whole countryside we saw burning of garbage at landfills. Just A Steppe Away even saw garbage being pushed into the Black Sea! Seeing this kind of environmental destruction along the way is disheartening. Hopefully Turkey will realize the value of its natural beauty to preserve for its future citizens and travelers.

Family:

Meeting Tom’s uncle and Brain’s cousins was one of the highlights of Europe. In Koln, Germany, we were treated to a truly Indian/German fusion meal…pork and cabbage but with an Indian twist. Deeelicious. Yes, it came with a spicy sauce on the side. We were also able to do some much needed rearranging of our stuff as everything seemed to be everywhere but nowhere when we were looking for it. And Tom got in some much needed QT with family.

In Budapest, Hungary, we were treated to not only dinner, but also to a lovely walking tour of Budapest (so beautiful), a night out  on the town and our first flat tire upon leaving their house (oopsie!). We had a great time enjoying time for one day on the slow having coffee, conversation and quite a few laughs with the girls. New facebook friends!

Klenova, Czech Republic:

This party was crazy. We met up with our two F5 guests and caravaned in to a steam of people walking from the campground to the castle for the party. We turned up the Motley Crue on the radio and if we didnt pull away when we did a slew of people in costumes including Borat would have walked up to the car window to greet us hello. This was green thong Borat, btw. (Yikes!)

We were amazed that the Adventurists actually got the permit for this party. Last year, someone ran off with the head of one of the 14th century statues. Luckily, it was returned and the party resumed…complete with gin, roasted pig, watermelon, hookah and live music. All the teams were so excited to meet each other and the stories were insane (like the guy who was wearing a very nice sundress that Jennie would have loved telling the bit about how last year on the rally he sunk his car into a river, got arrested and thrown in jail for 8 hours).  Needless to say, we woke up feeling some pain and needing to erase the green graffitti written on our windows.

Bulgaria:

Our first grease. We didnt pay the vignette, so we “paid our fine on the spot”. Who knew there would be cops on every corner in Bulgaria! Not even out of the EU!

Turkey:

Ahh Turkey. I think I imagined a country full of Tolga’s and while everyone is quite gregarious, friendly and willing to take the time to engage in conversation, there is only one Tolga

There are, however, quite a few of Tolga’s peeps. Tamer and Tanol, college friends of Tolga’s, were originally going to have lunch with the team. We received a delightful mail with lines that said ”if you eat two profiterols, do not drink water in between” and “screaming is allowed while eating” while recommending places to eat and including text in Turkish to show restaurant hosts to ensure the proper treatment. After running into trouble, we called for help from the three T’s and we quickly got calls, emails, texts, favors to Moscow, and lunch.  I hope they visit Seattle soon so we can take them out and return the favor!

Our split off from Kim and Amy was really hard. They are now on the Aegean Coast enjoying some sun. I hope you are having a great time, girls!

Everything after Turkey:

Georgia: Beautiful countryside… two lane roads with 4 lanes of cars. Sorry, no lanes, I meant lines of cars. 2 lines passing into oncoming traffic at the same time! These people drive crazy! Goats, cows, ducks, people, cars, all in the road crossing whenever they g’damn well felt like it. Not to mention the craters for potholes. I fell asleep on our push to Tblisi and awoke to a massive earthquake in the car and yelled a groggy “oh god, something broken!” to Tom. I snuck some pics of the cops who had fun watching Tom and Brain switch out the flat at 2am and flirting with the other teams we found and caravaned with (one ambulance team named Magic Mongolian Mystery Tour and Just A Steppe Away). Georgia is like the greatsest ghetto car video game ever. Luckily no smashy smashy.

Azerbaijan:

Mmm, 6 hour border crossing. Line cutting (my NJ elbow came in handy at least once). Some ppl cant speak English and some people plain pretend they cant speak English. Transit visa  – read: need to be out of Azerbaijan in 3 days with the cars though our visas are tourist and good for 30. Shady “fees” at the border, immediately pulled over on the road. More “paying of the ticket on the spot”…halfway to Baku to get ready for 13 hour ferry with no bathroom and more greasing. Not sure I like this place but this hotel we are in is really really really nice. I am in a bathrobe and slippers writing this post. I think we are at least still 5 or so hours from Baku. 

Well, more later. I am nervous about this boat and how much we will have to pay in extra “costs”. Most of all the bathroom situation. Not that I’ve actually had a full meal in days but definitely no food or drink for me tomorrow

–
Brian Shrader
rally.roamgreen.org

Massive downpour in Germany on our way to Prague. We have been pushing hard since Goodwood, I have been a bit sick to my stomach but starting to feel better. Hope we make it to Czechout before dark.

–
Brian Shrader
rally.roamgreen.org

Yesterday, Kim and I flew redeyes into Heathrow and were graciously picked up by car service, courtesy F5, to meet the rest of the team for our little hopefully not too bleary eyed photo op with the F5′ers at the Chertey office (photos to come, but some on flickr).

We picked up some last minute items at our newest sponsor’s shop, Euro Car Parts (spare parts, oil, tools, Thule roof bin, you know, minor things) and spent some time jerry rigging the bin to the rack with first zip ties, then door hinges and U bolts meant for something else inside the car. (Solid job the boys I might add!) By the time we rolled into Goodwood’s camp site, it was approaching midnight.

The party was still going though, complete with grills, beers, music and other tailgaiting activities like sitting down, beer pong and running around naked (the Danish team from Arhus). It was really fun rolling in though with our twin cars and we definitely got some attention with the new wrap.

The next day, we headed over to the race track and after getting shaken down by a few guards in Russian accents and fake mustaches, we parked the cars next to another Washington team, Abandon the Cube, whom we hadn’t seen since the meetup a few months ago.

We spent most of the day catching up with other ralliers and taking it all in. There was quite a bit to see – cars with grills welded to the back, cars with sailboats welded to the top, cars with tv’s fastened to the outside, London cabs, our friends at The Griswolds (green van complete with wood paneling inside and out), our friends at Just A Steppe Away and their blue Suzuki R4, ambulances, firetrucks, cherry pickers, gypsies singing and dancing, and of course, Buddy, star of the Mongol Rally movie and Nat Geo’s Wild Rides: Rickshaw Run. We got a chance to meet Mercy Corp’s events coordinator, Sandra Dow, and fundraising director, John Cunningham. (Thanks for the MC stickers – the cars weren’t complete without them!) Good friends Mary Ann, Matt and Isaac also made the drive down to cheer Baatar Hero on. Whoo hoo!

All too quickly, we took one amazing loop around the racetrack (photos and video to come) before heading off to see the white cliffs of Dover and hopping the ferry to Calais. Now in Bruges, its nearing some ungodly hour and I should really get to bed! 

Though overly tired and not without a bit work left to do on the cars, the team had a fantastic day. Yasmin – we miss you! We wonder where you’re going to fit in the car! We can’t wait to see you in Almaty!

Tomorrow we head to Koln and then Prague for more Mongol Rally maddness. We can’t wait to see more wacky cars and meet some more teams, as well as some F5′ers along for the ride. By the way, it seems that some of the other teams have heard of us – and thanks to you we are the top Mercy Corps fundraiser so far! You guys are Baatar Heroes!!!