himalaya-challenge-2018

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https://www.sportscardigest.com/himalayan-challenge-2018-report-photos/6/?envira_id=284294#envira-gallery-wrap-284294

We made the front page!

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Good Brakes, Good Horn, Good Luck and Good Bye (12-10-2018)

The first three are the essentials for driving in India as to our bus driver taking us back to Delhi. Summarizing this event I believe we had to push too hard these 21 days and only luckily no one was seriously injured. Lars is already walking on crutches! These countries are simply not suitable for a long distance rally. The bad roads in combination with the established driving habits create a cocktail hard to consume. Most of the cars suffered one or the other blow not because of our wreck less driving but the stupidity of locals behind the wheels. Even when visiting the Taj Mahal and waiting in line to enter the building they push and want to overtake for no reason. Their low regard about their or other’s lives is maybe caused by their hopes to be reborn as a Maharajah. One simply does not understand.

Comparing this event to all the others we have done it scores very low. Maybe we would view it differently if the Kaza Loop would have happened but the weather gods were against us.

Nevertheless the comradeship and all the fun with Len and all the other rally cohorts easily outweighs all difficulties we encountered. We had a blast and therefore we continue to

“Smile”!!!

Thanks for following us!

L&C

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Rally Song “Smile”

(Music: Charlie Chaplin/Lyrics: John Turner & Geoffrey Parsons slightly altered by Christof Ley)

Smile

Though your car is aching

Smile

Even though it's breaking

When there are clouds

In the sky

You'll get by

If you smile

Through your fear and sorrow

Smile

And maybe tomorrow

You'll see the sun

Come shining through

For you

Light up your face with gladness

Hide every trace of sadness

Although the car

Is a wreck what the heck

That's the time

You must keep on trying

Smile

What's the use of crying?

You'll find the rally

Is still worth-while

If you just smile

Smile

... guitar solo...

Light up your face with gladness

Hide every trace of sadness

Although the car

Is a wreck what the heck

That's the time

You must keep on trying

Smile

What's the use of crying?

You'll find the rally

Is still worth-while

If you just smile

Smile

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The end!

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11-10-2018 Racing to Agra

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11-10-2018 photos

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To the finish line (11-10-2018)

What a day on an absolutely fabulous 3 lane highway some 320 kms from Lucknow to Agra. They kept the best road for the finishing day. We left at 9:18 and soon got out of city traffic to hit the road. Since the toll for this highway is 585 rupees there were only a handful of cars. We speeded along at 130 kph leaving most of the rally cohorts behind us but the Bentley of Graham and Marina. They drove this car really hard obviously to be the first at the finishing line. When we turned off into Agra we waved them by only to notice shortly after that they had taken the wrong turn. Since we followed them closely we were also in the wrong lane. We then quickly turned to Indian style driving and left the road by using the entry as exit and sure enough there was the finishing line. They hurried to put up the arch and that was the end of the Himalayan Challenge 2018! Our old Mercedes survived with battle wounds all along the right side like most of the other cars.

Tonight stay at the Oberoi Hotel in Agra overlooking the famous Taj Mahal. Looking at this magnificent building while lying in bed is a special treat at the end of this rally. I handed over Len to his lady who to our surprise was not at the finishing line to welcome us. She had lunch with the Austrians since no one could tell her our arrival time. Even the ERA staff was caught on the wrong foot when they saw us rolling in so early.

In the afternoon we toured Taj Mahal with thousands of other tourists. Although I had been there with Britta in 2003 already it was breathtaking again when entering through the gate of the preceding courtyard. To my opinion it is one of the most beautiful piece of architecture in the world.

The event ended with a dinner where the prices were awarded. It was a good party. Everyone dressed up to the occasion. All men got a turban and the ladies finally not in rally clothes anymore. I contributed with a special version of „Smile“ slightly altered to a rally song and everybody sang along. Here are the first two lines:

„Smile though your car is aching, smile even though it‘s breaking, when there are clouds....“

We ended the evening in the bar around 1:00 o‘clock.

At the end we were glad the event was over. Len and me, we formed a good team and there was no disagreement on the whole trip although both of us believe that the driving skills of the idiot at the wheel suck. It was a real pleasure and I cannot thank him enough for teaming up with me!

Thank you for following us.

Drive safely and rally on.

Christof

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10-10-2018 Mayhem at the border and scary ride into Lucknow

We were supposed to leave Chitwan in 6 minutes intervals in order to avoid congestion at the border to India. A total misjudgment of the ERA officials since the chaos at the border easily beat the other chaos going into Nepal. We left at 8:13. Skippy let us go 20 minutes earlier. With the late start added to the time we lost at the border we ended up driving in the dark for 2 hours which was extremely dangerous.

The ride to the border was on good roads up to a last hill climb on a totally broken surface but sure enough coming down the road book read “last hairpin turn of the event”. The roads leading up to the climb were lined with endless dwellings left and right.

The border can hardly be described. Before you get there endless line ups of trucks (we figured it was 19 km on the Indian side going into Nepal) cloaked the street. At the border crossing it became a total mayhem. There thousands of pedestrians walking across the border between trucks, buses, rickshaws, motorbikes, scooters, cars, bicycles and other ways of transport. Everyone tries to get through somehow even on the wrong side of the road which leads to even greater confusion. The border is lined with shops to the left and right selling all sorts of junk. In between beggars and money changers hoping for a fast buck. Dirty little children who try to persuade the travelers to leave their remaining Nepalese rupees behind. The occasional cows and hundreds of stray dogs round up the picture. The amount of money lost at these borders due to inefficiency must easily add up to billions. We estimated at least a week of camping at the border for each trucker crossing it. They are used to that since they live in the trucks with their families.

Our hopes for swift handling of our documents vanished at the Nepalese immigration immediately. A border official working alone with 4 other goofies watching him (the capo in the corner on his cell phone, the receptionist working his cell phone intensely as well and two more guys who were not so lucky to own a cell phone watching the others playing with their phones). We were told that the entry stamps of coming into Nepal were missing. Therefore we could not be in Nepal although we were physically present. I asked him to verify my very existence by touching me. He refused. Even the Indian exit stamp could not convince him of us being there on our way out of Nepal. So Len and myself and two other rally cohorts had to get copies of various pages of our passports and fill out forms before we finally after an hour received our exit stamps we required for our carnets to be processed at another office across the street. Another hour of waiting although only 5 cars were in front of us! We then carried on to the Indian side with similar inefficient processes.

At 14:30 we were finally good to go and still had 316 km left on our way to Lucknow. The first 116 km we hobbled along on terrible roads before we finally reached the highway but by then the sun set already. The last 2 hours it was pitch black. Driving in India at night is outright scary to say the least. On London to Sydney in the seventies a German father and son team got killed because the ran into a bus in India without headlights. We had a couple of moments too. On Indian highways the overtaking lane is used by the slower vehicles. Passing someone therefore requires going to the left lane where all the scooters, tuck tucks or slow tractors with trailers containing 20-30 passengers are driving along mostly without any lights on or any reflectors. More than once the navigator started yelling “watch out another suicide candidate” before you slam on the brakes to avoid running them over. When swinging back to the right lane sometimes cows lying on the street add to the surprise.

We finally reached Lucknow at 20:00 and we were done. Even the fabulous Taj hotel with dinner at the pool could not prevent us from going to bed early. Had we left at 6:00 with all the others this could have been avoided.

One more easy day to the finishing line in Agra!

Best

L&C

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Kathmandu to Chitwan 09-10-2018

Today was another strenuous rally day. We left Kathmandu circling around the inner city on the ring road before we turned left to crawl up to the pass we came in. The same dust and traffic. Shortly after that there was a self start regularity were we got screwed by the marshals who clipped two minutes of our time to get to the start point. We were late due to traffic and then got stuck in a Mexican stand-off between a truck and a bus.

The rest of the day we drove one of the worst roads ever up and then down a mountain pass. One pothole after the other the size that can easily wreck the whole car. The roads were broken with deep dips and surface changes from tarmac to gravel. It was not a fun road to enjoy. We drove carefully not to damage the car but constantly had to chase the time while one hairpin turned into the next. It took hours and hours with an average speed of 22-25 kph.

At the end of the day we missed the master time control by a couple of minutes but the car was fine. The Bahrai Jungle Lodge is a very nice resort with fabulous rooms. From the interior they look like Freddy Flintstone has furnished them. The bar, pool and restaurant area presents itself in a beautiful setting in lush jungle vegetation. We were greeted by four elephants which was fun.

Dinner in the evening outside after a dancing and singing performance of the local talents.

I was totally exhausted and left early.

Tomorrow we have a long day crossing back into India on our way to Lucknow the capital of Uttar Pradesh.

Best

L&C

P.S.: The following article was posted in the Nepali Times about our Kathmandu drag race:

https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/bentleys-in-basantapur/

https://www.nepalitimes.com/banner/bentleys-in-basantapur/

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Police escort to the Royal Palace 08-10-2018

What was planned as a leisurely rest day with some work on the car turned into a crazy drag race from the hotel to the Royal Palace. What a hoot along the way.

In the morning we did indeed do some repairs on the car. We took the wheels off and greased the car, tightened the screws on the exhaust manifold, changed the spark plugs and sealed a fuel leak. While working on the car a guy walked up and introduced himself as Michael Kobold living in the Hyatt for three years already. He was from Germany and worked for the tourist board for pure philanthropic reasons to help develope the Nepalese economy because he loved the country so much! He was absolutely thrilled to see those vintage cars in the parking lot but at the same time annoyed that no one in Kathmandu knew about it. After chatting for a while he came up with the idea to maximize the benefit of our stay for the tourism in Kathmandu. He suggested to take 5 cars with a police escort to the Royal Palace.

Sure enough around 14:00 the police showed up at the hotel and off we went behind a motorbike with two police officers waving and honking at everyone to clear the streets. We drove right through the center of Kathmandu sometimes on the right lane sometimes the wrong direction through roundabouts with policemen blocking the rest of the traffic. Len rode with Michael and shot around 500 pictures. Michael constantly overtook us wherever possible.

At the Palace the Bentleys were driven right into the Palace grounds and in the crowd of hundreds of spectators pictures were taken from the rally teams. Afterwards the whole insanity started again on the way back. In the evening we invited Michael and his girlfriend for dinner with the chief of police and some other officials. What better way to spend a lazy afternoon? Michael was a man of his word obviously well connected!

Stay tuned only 3 more days to go!

Best

L&C

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07-10-2018 some more pictures from our city tour of Kathmandu.

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07-10-2018 Mount Everest & Kathmandu

5:00 o‘clock was a pretty early start for a rest day but the traffic demanded an early departure. We were taken to the airport and boarded Yeti Airlines to fly alongside the Himalayan Mountain range. As soon as we flew above the clouds the view of all these giants was majestic in the rising sun. We were all allowed into the cockpit to look ahead and take pictures. Shortly after we passed Mount Everest we turned around so that both sides had a chance to see the mountains. After around an hour we landed in Kathmandu just in time for breakfast in the hotel.

In the afternoon we had arranged a private city tour and visited two world heritage sites. The Buddhanath Area with a Stupa from the 5th century set nicely in a circle of older buildings. That‘s how the city must have looked like in the past. Now these houses host all sorts of tourist shops. Then we continued to the largest Shiva temple the Shree Patupashinath Temple. We could only see it from the outside. Only Hindus are allowed inside. At the banks of a river close by the deceased get cremated covered under large wooden slabs. The ashes are then thrown right into the river. A very efficient way for disposal.

Coming back to the hotel we were caught in the rushhour again. 1 hour for 1,8 km.

Best

L&C

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Driving in Kathmandu 06-10-2018

Maps from Pokhara to Kathmandu

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06-10-2018 Pokhara to Kathmandu: Highway to Hell

Just a short note on yesterday’s happening in the bar before we continue with today’s experiences. While we were at the steakhouse a drinking contest between Bill ( one of the Bentley Boys) and a Polish guy ended with 3 people in the pool. After supposedly 4 bottles of Whiskey the Polish guy first grabbed Bill and threw him in followed by himself and the complaining night manager of the hotel. A sign at the first passage control read “No more throwing of hotel managers in the pool without buoyancy aid!” The night manager could not swim and had to be rescued by the hotel staff. What a laugh!

Driving to Kathmandu and arriving in Kathmandu was another experience we had never thought possible. First we had to get out of Pokhara on a broken road, diversions through mud and through nasty puddles. Lunch break and a time control were fun as we rode up a “Doppelmayer” cable car to the top of a hill called Manakamana a Hindu shrine with stands alongside the way leading to the temple. On the way you can buy a rooster to be sacrificed at the temple for good luck. We did not give it a try.

After lunch Len took over and we continued our climb up to Kathmandu around 14:00 o’clock. What a crazy experience. The roads winds itself up the mountains with thousands of overloaded trucks, tractors, buses, cars, everyone fighting against each other taking their lives in their hands. A true rat race only to arrive at the world’s largest shithole. It took us 4 hours to cover a distance of 112 kms.

Driving up the mountain ended in a complete traffic jam 1,2 km before we reached the summit. Len boldly drove on the right lane before we and the rest of the rally cars got stuck in front of a truck coming our way. The car then stalled in total vapor lock right in the middle of the road with honking buses and trucks passing left and right. Len first tried to get it going again but a couple of tries later and the smell of our smoking clutch we decided to give up right there before ruining the car. I got the tow rope out of the trunk and we got hold of Monty who pulled us out of the chaos. We then switched to Delle’s car who pulled us up to the top. By then the car had cooled down and we rode into the city ourselves.

The last 12 kms took us more than hour! Kathmandu is hell on earth. We came into the city on a gravel road where the poor people living alongside the road have to wear masks against the dust. A constant stream of traffic spills itself down the hill. We then hit the afternoon traffic and almost drowned in the flood of thousands of scooters, buses, pedestrians, bicycles and other people on the road. It was like driving through an ant hill. We drove all around the world by now but this easily beats everything we had experienced. I have no clue how we got through to the Hyatt Regency our refuge built on 37 acres of oasis right in the city.

Thanks to the shrine of the Hindu Goddess Bhagwati all teams made it and the day ended with drinks in the bar and a very good dinner buffet in the hotel. Off to bed at 22:00 o’clock since we have to get up at 5:00 for our flight to Mount Everest.

Best

L&C

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05-10-2018 Pushing it to the limit

They said it would be the longest day of the rally. We drove some 450 km and the only break was 20 minutes for lunch. We had to step on the pedal the whole day in order not to fall behind.

We left Tiger Resort around 6:30 to get to the time control at the main road. At 7:49 we took off. First we rolled through flat land before we got to little hills. Getting gas is not so easy in Nepal so we dropped some 25 minutes before we could drive on.

The first time control we missed by 6 minutes and rushed on to the second one. Not even time for a drink. Car behaved fine but the road turned into a nightmare. Potholes left right and center and no way to avoid them. Len took over since I was too tired to carry on. We managed to get to the time control at lunchtime spot on the minute only to learn that 20 minutes were added to all time controls due to traffic, distance, heat and what not.

The afternoon we drove up into the mountains again one hairpin after the other. With 45 km to go it started raining but we pushed hard to make it to Pokhara. We stopped once because we ran out of fuel and had to switch over to the other jerrycan. Then it became dark and dangerous since Nepalese drivers are even worse than their Indian fellows in switching on the headlights. When we reached the city around 18:00 we were done. Two icecold beers from the cooler and the smiles were back on.

We and the rest of the crowd decided to go to the Mount Everest Steak House. We hit the restaurant like a hurricane. Some poor other guests did not believe what was going on. It was a riot! Steaks were on the chewy side but what the hell!

Tomorrow off to Kathmandu.

We keep you posted

Best

L&C

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04-10-2018 First pictures from Nepal