We left Nur Sultan’s flesh pots and pottered along to a wonderful welcome in Balkashino where we camped.

 

This is the last camping of the trip and was notable for thunderstorms which left everything boggy. It is possible that I will never camp again. Certainly not deliberately though given my sensible political views I cannot rule out being sent to a labour camp if Corbyn gets in.

 

Two mini highlights:  an Aussie ‘lady’ barging me out of a queue so that she could get the precise start time that she wanted at a time control.   Since she was a lot taller than me I didn’t challenge her! But some of those fighting for position are fiercely competitive! And a rather scenic picnic in a national park where we ate the chocolate that had kindly been donated the previous day.

 

The rally leader is still Jerry Crown who has won twice previously. He is 87 years old! Wow.

 

Mike and Doug are fundraising for the Harinder Veriah Trust.  It provides essential equipment and tuition to enable the poorest of pupils to attend the Assunta School in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. It is a worthy cause and particularly close to Doug’s heart since his first Cub Scout Bob-a-Job week aged 6! The brothers have been supporting the school ever since. To donate or find out more please follow this link: https://www.gofundme.com/7hf8j-peking-to-paris-2019