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| August 9th 2006. After a cold, damp night in the windscreenless cab, SCR get up early and begin a bracing drive to Chadrinsk. The 120km route is extended significantly by an off-road excursion caused by approximate use of signposts, and they finally arrive at a garage two-and-a-half hours later in spirit as foul as Vodka and shivering like naked eskimos. Andrey, a lovely local police inspector, leads them to a concealed glass specialist, who fashion a new windscreen while they wait (lots of thanks to Vladimir, Misha and Sergey). The whole job costs 20 pounds, and the new fitment leaks considerably less around the edges than the original, even if it is slightly less see-though. They are back on the road by 5:00, and make it to Zavodovkovsk by the end of the day. Shunning army rations for one more night, they stop at a roadside cafe for a delicious and extensive feast of meaty Armenian food. A friendly local music teacher donates a dessert of water melon and chats with his arms about English rock music. Artur, the cafe owner, refuses to take any payment, eventually accepting a fistful of English coins and an almost-full bottle of Vodka, but then running inside to produce a gigantic lump of belly pork, insisting that it goes in the cab. They hide in a beary-looking forest overnight. Meanwhile, team Brick and team Tony have left Almaty, and the Skip Rats near the Russia/Kazakhstan border. |
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Current galavants:
'08 Iron Curtain Tour
Future galavants:
'09 India?
Past galavants:
'07 - Nurburgring
'07 - Banjul-Zwickau
'06 - Swindon-Vladivostok
'05 Plymouth-Banjul