Rally ‘rest days’ are not normally proper days off work – cars have to be fettled and problems dealt with. We found that one of the brake shoe return springs had fallen off and was rattling around. Mike came up with a pretty innovative solution to getting the spring back on. We also found that the car didn’t need much water and that the minor oil leak didn’t seem to be getting worse (one car on the rally was needing 12 litres of oil a day – ours needs one litre every 3 days which isn’t much worse than normal).
Figure 1: A typical ‘rest day’ morning….
In the afternoon I tried to get into the Konstantin Palace but my brief discussion with the non-English speaking guards seemed to suggest that booked excursion tours were the only way in.
The hotel and the villas surrounding it are often used for international events and we had some amusing discussions about the extent to which listening and other devices were spying on us in our rooms and elsewhere.
Figure 2: It looked pretty realistic…
The hotel was booked for a wedding and so no food was available and we had to get the concierge to sort out taxis to take us to a local restaurant. The food was actually quite good and there was a pretty realistic looking stuffed bear at the front!
They’ve reversed the rally order. We have been at the end of the queue which was quite a problem during the difficult bits as it meant we were consistently having to arrive in the dark – a major penalty in places like Mongolia where navigation was difficult at the best of times. We are now able to arrive early. Of course, the advantages are less when it stays light late and the roads are fairly simple.
Figure 3: Some of St Petersburg’s impressive new infrastructure
We started relatively early on Friday because of the border crossing into Finland. We were both surprised by the extent of the infrastructural development around St Petersburg – we had expected hours of being stuck in traffic but instead were able to sail through at a decent speed on spanking new roads. There has clearly been an explosion of property development around St Petersburg and it gave the impression of great vibrancy.
Figure 4: Border tensions clearly have built up recently
It was a bit surprising to realise that after St Petersburg we still had 150 km to go to get to the border.
The border area has been fought over frequently. In the peace treaty ending WW2 Vyborg, previously Finland’s second largest city, was ceded to Russia though first the city had to be depopulated.
The border seems to be an area of tension, apparently because gangs are organising people smuggling. It actually took longer to get into Finland than to get out of Russia, which was a surprise.
Pleasant roads in Finland, some gravel but none potholed and a fairly peaceful drive. This is the second time we have stayed in a hotel owned by one of the participants and is very pleasant. The Finns seem to love their classic cars and we had people waving and taking photos most of the way. The local rally clubs have turned out in force and in the car park at the hotel, there were nearly as many local classic cars as there were on the rally. We have been made very welcome.
And after the work we did on the rest day the car behaved itself all day! Fingers crossed it continues to do so….
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