Today is a ‘rest’ day in the rally and we did actually get a chance to slow down a bit. Mike spent the morning at the Toyota dealer where the car had been left the previous night. I blogged and washed clothes.
Figure 1 Car clean on the outside
The guys from the Toyota garage did us proud. Some of the younger mechanics had never seen some of the mechanisms on a car like an old Bentley and they often crowded round as Mike and the older mechanics revealed to them various mysteries like how drum brakes work. Mike’s driving style makes rather less use of brakes than some, but I certainly prefer to have them working.
Not only do we have working brakes but also fresh rubber and new plugs. Various systems have been oiled and greased. The old tyres were by no means fully depreciated but have been relegated to acting as spares.
Lunchtime was spent with other rally crews catching up with their gossip. This mainly concerned the amount of support that some of the more aggressive crews have been using. Various non rally mechanics have been flown in by about 20 of the richer crews. Some of the crews apparently have vans travelling behind them to act as mechanical assistants. Others have had spares flown in. It becomes clear that we, by comparison, have been doing the rally on the cheap! Despite this we are officially in place 52, though of those cars that have arrived here under their own steam without being towed or trailered we are about 30th.
In the evening we searched out local restaurants. The first we tried was booked for a private event. Then we discovered an Irish pub which to our great joy advertised their beer from East Lothian.
Figure 2 We were delighted to discover beer from Dunbar in East Lothian, even if the locals think it comes from Ireland
The Belhaven brewery in Dunbar is just a few miles from our parents’ home in East Lothian and it was good to see that their export drive takes their product as far as Ufa, though the locals clearly think it is Irish. We decided not to undermine the trade by disabusing them of this notion….
Figure 3 Excellent burger at the locally owned ‘Prime Burger Gourmet’
Enjoyed excellent burgers at the locally owned ‘Prime Burger Gourmet’. Because of Ufa’s position as a Bashkir city where Bashkir is the second (and sometimes first) language, the proportion of English speakers is quite low so making yourself understood is a non trivial task – fortunately the burger restaurant has pictures which helped a lot.
We had a wander round the local market and a walk back to the hotel above the banks of the local river.
Figure 4 Evening stroll back to the hotel….
Then back to our rooms. Mike downloaded his photos many of which are pretty special, while I downloaded the latest Springsteen album. We will have music as we drive today to Kazan. Should be another day of great views and Kazan has a reputation for having a lot of sights including a famous Kremlin. So tomorrows pics should be interesting…..
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