Up very early, it is getting harder to write as we are more exhausted with each passing day. I now am coughing hard and have no voice. This is hard when you are navigator and you bark directions.
It’s a super early start and we leave with 6 minutes between each car due to Border concerns.
Back that up with the long gravel roads. We saw some of last nights entertainers as we leave hotel they are Doing laundry tending goats.
Roads aren’t great but gravel.
On we go
Today is border crossing and nobody is looking forward to the experience.
We arrive early, meet the early model Bentley’s there just clearing. First immigration, seems ok we line up in this Star Wars like town with horns and music blaring. The Hindu festival has just begun.
The agent behind the desk takes our passports goes through each page. He is the Nepalese Agent. He hands them back saying we haven’t arrived in Nepal.
HUH!
Says we must drive back to original border crossing to be stamped. We indicate we have a Carnet de Passage showing the car entered. It seems the stamp was never afixed to our passports. Logic escapes me. Our car went to Nepal but we didn’t.
The ERA guys helpful as usual find the translator. Our teammates move on albeit slowly. After 45 minutes and some money transferring. All is rectified.
I think it was embarrassing for them . As we were in process one of the teams. Car 9 came back in saying the Immigration agent had forgotten to stamp his passport for exit to India. At which time the agent shuffled and tried to hide it. Saying not possible. He looked back in his books and sure enough he had forgotten. Sigh of relief for us.
Next on to Car crossing Nepalese side. We arrived to see 30 teams all standing around. The agent had decided to take an hour and a half lunch break. WELCOME to border crossings. it didn’t matter that the line ups were 300 deep.
So we slipped in again to our group and did the HURRY UP AND WAIT routine.
The crush of traffic and lorries was now so long that the police came in trying to move it along. They called the agent and demanded his return. He was not a happy camper. The throng of people in this poverty stricken border town was overwhelming. This wasn’t something that anyone wanted to stay in. You are pulled at ripped off and totally frustrated. ERA tried to help but this wasn’t something that anyone could do. You moved with humanity here.
Now on to the INDIA side. Lokesh was there. He helped as best he could. The agent here was much less friendly but Lokesh tried to smooth it over. He moved things along albeit at a pace just above snail. I decided to try and find customs. Lokesh was doing Carnet or car transfers. I walked out into the masses and slowly walked through the throng. people asking for money, others showing me their bare babies looking for money. Shopkeepers trying to draw you in. It was difficult to make progress. All the while loud speakers playing very very loud HINDU music and cars and trucks honking their horns. It was really surreal, out of a movie. You feel like you aren’t really apart of this. You stare without being in it. Finally I found Customs. A group of our drivers were there. I asked for a form. I was allowed one as Tony wasn’t there. I said but he has two and his co driver isn’t here. The agent glared. Finally I smiled and said he is just out the door and the crowd is so big he can’t get in. He caved.
He said I need his signature. I said no problem. Walked out of office signed forms and returned.
He took me first, which was the best news of all. The other drivers weren’t too happy.
He passed it all through the multitude of officials and out I walked.
Back to Tony who by then had cleared the car customs and off we headed for the rest of the drive to Lucknow. Money exchange is too long a story to tell. I caught the transfer guy short changing me. And holding some in his hand. I later heard that many others weren’t as lucky as me and got ripped off much bigger. I was ripped off but C’est la vie. The roads for half the way were disgusting. The roads for the last half were highway-if you could call it that.
You see in INDIA people don’t care what direction a road is supposed to go. Crosswalks in highways, normal. Cows in highway Normal
Tuck tucs in highway driving on wrong side. Perfectly normal.
We had to speed, we have no headlights and time is marching on. Sun is gone by just around 6 pm. We hit Lucknow just before and drive with the flow arriving 4th at the beautiful hotel. An oasis in all this madness.
We are greeted with the traditional blessing to the forehead of a dye and a drink of the region and some type of beads. I have quite the collection now. People have stopped me in the street telling me I have visited somewhere as they can tell by the beads. Interesting !
Off for a much needed beer and then a shower while we wait the crowd. At the entrance we are greeted by BIll in one of the WO Bentley’s. Excited to see us. Many are worried about our tires and as with everyone we are excited to see who made it through the day.
Sadly we here later that a clutch went on one of the WO Bentley’s. (Mid nineteen 20’s ) so another one bites the dust. We started as 7 we are now down to three.
Jonathan and his son Freddy will work all night to get to Lucknow and be ready for the final assault on AGRA. The finish.
FINALLY
Off to bed
Nuts and Bolts:
The car has been running well on the new rubber although the shimmy from the unbalanced tires is maddening! Oil consumption has increased alarmingly and it wousl appear that we are losing it through some failed seal or gasket? There is nothing I can see from the top of the engine and the underneath is incased in a series of heavy skid plates that prevent any easy inspection. So far oil pressure remains OK and we will just carry a couple of gallons of extra oil just in case. The front shocks in particular start to give out after a hard morning of use so we end up bobbing along the road on rough patches like cartoon characters. The shimmy however is a real problem, and it has kept slowed our progress to the point were we cannot keep up with the field on some sections. It ahs already cost us the gold medal in class and threatens to reduce us to the bottom of the pack if it continues. It adds the extra worry that we can damage some vital suspension component through the violent shaking if we press on without slakening the pace. The skid plates have repeated shaved the day by allowing us to skid over rocks and broken roads that would have otherwise gutted the mechanics on the underside. However, removing the plates is lengthy, and replacing is very tricky as the frame and plates warps after many days of battering which makes replacing them a time consuming 2-3 man project (as we found in Kathmandu after removing just one of the plates under the engine). We no longer have the luxery of time to remove and inspect for oil leaks so will carry on. The headlights fix we did in Kathmandu failed within a half hour of setting off from the city!! So we had the added anxiety of pressing our transit speeds to insure that we could manage to get to an urban area in time before daylight was gone. This was a real challenge after Kathmandu as all the days were long and many competators would spend a 12-14 hour day behind the wheel and arrive well after dark to the target hotel/city. A late arriveal would be dangerous for us given the bedlam on the roads and our ponderous size and poor visibility. Press on, press on is the order of the day!!
I had already given the brakes an adjustment early in the week, but given the severity of the swithcback roads these last few days I re-adjusted these again. Good thing…the rear brakes took 3 turns and the front another 2 of the brake shoe adjustment thumb-wheel. This ingenious R&R device allows for easy roadside adjustment of brakes by the simple twist of a hub mounted thumb wheel. It acts to creep the brakes shoes closer to the drum surface and allow for better peddle feel and height. The brakes have generally performed very well, although in truth, most of the day is spent in 1 or 2 gear climbing or descending factured roads so engine braking is primariliy what is happening. Still, having the brakes respond quickly and positively during panic stops is reassuring, and one spends all day making panic stops on these roads.
Over heating has been a pague for many teams in this event. I have to give credit to the mechanics at The Priory for paying attentiton to this critical function. We managed to stay cool enough, even when stuck in a traffic clog on a truck cramed 30% grade, and never experienced a boil over despite extreme heat and engine strains. This is a life saver…!!!!
