Tashanta (Border) to Aya to Novosibirsk

Saturday, June 8, 2013

It was time to make the appointment for Little Red at a VW maintenance shop. Many thanks to all who sent suggestions for repair and leads to VW dealerships. Since the team did not have Internet access, I went ahead and made phone calls to the Russian VW dealers. (In a few days they would discover that there was too much work to do on Little Red that the decision to take her to a proper garage was prudent.)

A call to one VW dealership proved unsuccessful. The lady at the other end of the line did not speak a word of English. “English please” resulted in a Russian response (I did understand NYET) followed by the click of a disconnected call. Remembering a site Brett told me about earlier, I armed myself with “Google Translate” on my computer screen and made the call again. Cleverly, I thought, I typed what I wanted to say, pressed the audio for Russian, and placed the telephone in front of the speaker. The same lady’s response was a barrage of Russian, liberally spiked with nyets, and subsequently followed by a familiar – click! Not so clever at all.

With “Google Translate” still on, I proceeded to call MAX Grand Motors, the official dealer of Volkswagen in Novosibirsk (Автотехцентр "МАКС Моторс Гранд" - официальный дилер Volkswagen (Фольксваген) в Новосибирске, автосалоны Новосибирска). I did not have to resort to the computer screen. The lady who picked up the phone understood and spoke enough English to direct me to Manager Alexander. Although he had not heard of the P2P event, he is happy to welcome Little Red on Monday. I gave him ERA’s website, and our blog and Facebook pages to introduce Little Red and the other teams. Thank you, Alexander!

Here are the Reports for Day 12 - June 8th: http://www2.endurorally.com/pp2013/reports.html

Brett with Mongolian children at the Mongolian / Russian border.

John and Brett with Mongolian tykes on their two-wheelers.

Chelsea thinks John's turning into Santa.

Asphalt (bitumen to the Brits) in Russia!

Sunday, June 9, 2013

The locals watch the teams drive off from Aya to Novosibirsk.

Finally…. Internet connection! Spoke with Brett via Skype, from Novosibirsk.

After the long drive from Mongolia and one night just over the Russian border, the teams arrive in Novosibirsk, Russia's third most populous city and the capital of Siberia.

Brett heard from other UK teams that at the end of a work day, a British man needs his beer, and so to keep the tradition, sent his Dad off to the bar. The man worked all day and needed his beer.

Little Red is tired and needs some help. Her body is cracked and the driver’s door does not open properly so Brett had to show John the trick the open it easily. He admits that Little Red has taken some serious abuse since his Dad actually “can drive pretty damn well….and fast!” He added that John had Little Red airborne several times on the roads of Mongolia. The Mongolian roads are so rough on the cars that driving through the Russian countryside, on asphalt, was the huge reward for the battering they all received.

Having had his dinner and beer, John takes over the conversation while Brett signs off to meet his new friends for Russian vodka. John apologizes that he was quickly fading and after giving him directions to the VW dealer, he signs off.

The view from hotel window. Can you find Little Red?

Monday, June 10, 2013

A visit to MAX Grand Motors, the official dealer of Volkswagen in Novosibirsk (Автотехцентр "МАКС Моторс Гранд" - официальный дилер Volkswagen (Фольксваген) в Новосибирске), resulted in Little Red being a lot better for the road. It was a 13-hour job so one can only assume that there was little or no time to take in the sights on this “rest day” in Novosibirsk. As the ERA website reported, several cars were in local garages – even hotel parking lots - for maintenance and repairs. A few teams, including Miami’s Car#69 with Dirk and Alexandra, were interviewed by television crews.

Brett posted on his Facebook page today that “With over 21 million made, the Beetle is the most-manufactured car of a single design platform, worldwide. Despite this fact, not a single employee at the largest Volkswagen dealership in the Novosibirsk, the capital city of Siberian Russia, has ever seen one with their own eyes. Had lots of work done today, спасибо Макс Моторс! (Thanks MAX Motors!)” Interesting, isn’t it? Apparently, Beetles are not available in Russia, not even the new ones, so the VW staff must have been “bug-eyed” over Little Red, pun intended!

Having insisted that John send a few photos for me to post, he signs off.

Little Red arrives at MAX Grand Motors in Novosibirsk.

A "real live" Beetle!

Checking the damage.

 Note mudguard before Little Red left for China. 

Now note same mudguard after the roads of Mongolia.