08 Jul The first days
Don, Will and Tommy have spent the last week with the bus in England, visiting a few places while they wait for the rest of the team to arrive. Navigating the roads of England have been quite an experience, especially that pesky “wrong” side of the road thing. Don also got to experience his first fuel fill-up and got quite a lot of attention at the pump!
First of their excursions was a trip to Adventurist HQ in Bristol, where they enjoyed showing off the bus to a handful of the hardworking folks who put on the Mongol Rally each year. Don also presented them with an 18 pack of Watermelon Bubblicious gum and a Sheriff’s Badge for Rob, the Rally Chief. here are the boys posing in front of the fabled Adventurist headquarters.
Dan couldn’t resist a chance to climb into the driver’s seat for a quick picture before heading to the pub for a few beers. Don’s posing here with Joolz and Dan. Joolz is the merry prankster of the bunch, tweeting me a note during their boozing that the bus had been impounded and destroyed. Gullible chicken that I am, I had to call Don to check.
We’ve just confirmed exciting news about our stay in Cristian, Romania coming up soon. We’ll be overnighting at one of the region’s beautifully preserved fortified churches. This will be a wonderful start to our time on the Transfaragasan Highway, called the “best road in the world” by Top Gear. We are so grateful to Vlad Grigore of Team Mongolification and his kindly associate Liliana Cazacu with the Coordination Office of Fortified Churches in Sibiu, Romania. Just look at this beautiful place!
In other great news, we have learned that we have been selected by the Adventurists and JVC to receive a brand-new JVC ADIXXION GC-XA1 camera, with a big bundle of extras, valued at over $600 USD. With this wonderful new equipment, we’ll be able to record some great footage from the road, and if we do a good job of it, will be shown on the big screen in Times Square and also be featured in their advertising. Pretty awesome! We’re honored to have been chosen to receive this amazing gear, and we will do our best to share life on the school bus as we travel the Mongol Rally and beyond.
Don and the guys have gotten the bus settled in at the Little Switzerland campground in Folkestone, so have taken some time to sight-see and visit with friends, including Don’s favorite Brits, Sue and Anthony. They’ve shown him around London and their home village and kept him out of trouble until I arrive. Thanks, y’all!
Sarah
~Charleston, SC USA