Stop the press!
Fourth run in with police today had a very different outcome - he gave Karen his phone number and asked for her! We think it was her dowry of an ironing board that attracted him... We never realised that driving out of town to an escort of flashing sirens could be so romantic...
Day 11:
Now camping with the guys in our convoy. Made a great first impression when we set fire to the grass making a cup of tea... twice... Guys had a hilarious time teasing Karen about her fear of the boogie man - she's predicting they'll wait 2 nights & then scare the daylights out of her ;) Sardi has taken on the Steve Irwin role of the group - found the only snake in Russia (dead, don't worry.) Flat terrain and masses of sunflowers! Stunning! Theme song for the day: "Highway Through The Danger Zone". All three cars have been pulled over by the Police three times today but gotten out of paying any fines or bribes so far. Kazakhstan here we come!
Day 10: Volvograd
Caught up with loads of teams and have arranged to convoy with 3 of the guys into Kazakhstan (including our irish mechanic - hurrah!). The main square was quite a sight filled up with rally cars. Lacking sleep but having too much fun to care.
Day 9 (I think...): Kharkiv to somewhere in Russia
Drove to the Ukranian border where there was discussion of marriage with the Ukranian guards - not that we minded as most of the other teams had to pay bribes to get out, where the guards let us through and signed our car instead! Russian guards were more exasperating but we still managed to buy insurance at a cheaper rate than many of the teams - we guess some days travelling solo as an all girl team really does work in your favour...
Got completely lost on the Russian motorway and ended up sleeping by the side of the road in the car. Still managed to find our way to Volvograd without maps or guide notes - we figured we'd head in the direction that the sun was rising and it worked!
Day ? (have forgotten already...): Kiev to Kharkiv
Loaded up the roof racks to fit our Ukranian friend in the car to drive to his parents place for the night. His mum was an absolute sweetheart cooking us a home-cooked meal, and even insisting that we wore her slippers! Bless!
Fourth run in with police today had a very different outcome - he gave Karen his phone number and asked for her! We think it was her dowry of an ironing board that attracted him... We never realised that driving out of town to an escort of flashing sirens could be so romantic...
Day 11:
Now camping with the guys in our convoy. Made a great first impression when we set fire to the grass making a cup of tea... twice... Guys had a hilarious time teasing Karen about her fear of the boogie man - she's predicting they'll wait 2 nights & then scare the daylights out of her ;) Sardi has taken on the Steve Irwin role of the group - found the only snake in Russia (dead, don't worry.) Flat terrain and masses of sunflowers! Stunning! Theme song for the day: "Highway Through The Danger Zone". All three cars have been pulled over by the Police three times today but gotten out of paying any fines or bribes so far. Kazakhstan here we come!
Day 10: Volvograd
Caught up with loads of teams and have arranged to convoy with 3 of the guys into Kazakhstan (including our irish mechanic - hurrah!). The main square was quite a sight filled up with rally cars. Lacking sleep but having too much fun to care.
Day 9 (I think...): Kharkiv to somewhere in Russia
Drove to the Ukranian border where there was discussion of marriage with the Ukranian guards - not that we minded as most of the other teams had to pay bribes to get out, where the guards let us through and signed our car instead! Russian guards were more exasperating but we still managed to buy insurance at a cheaper rate than many of the teams - we guess some days travelling solo as an all girl team really does work in your favour...
Got completely lost on the Russian motorway and ended up sleeping by the side of the road in the car. Still managed to find our way to Volvograd without maps or guide notes - we figured we'd head in the direction that the sun was rising and it worked!
Day ? (have forgotten already...): Kiev to Kharkiv
Loaded up the roof racks to fit our Ukranian friend in the car to drive to his parents place for the night. His mum was an absolute sweetheart cooking us a home-cooked meal, and even insisting that we wore her slippers! Bless!