2010 Peking to Paris Rally

The infamous Uzbekistan - Turkmenistan border crossing. (Thanks to Charles Schwager, No. 86, for the photo.) This morning was the long border crossing from Uzbekistan into Turkmenistan.  The first car to leave Samarkand for the border left at 3:30 am with most following between 5:30 and 6:00.  Only word from Lang and Fritz today is a quick – “All’s well” via email.  I’m sure they’ll have more to share in the coming days.  They were among the 17 teams who stayed... (more...)

Fritz and Lang plan to spend today on car maintenance.  They’ll tighten bolts, grease everything, replace a wheel bearing and change the oil.  Today is a welcome rest day and then on to Turkmenistan.  The rally officials have warned the group to prepare for this border crossing to take 5-6 hours.  There are 15 days left and mileage-wise Samarkand is about the half way point.  (more...)

Got a surprise call from Lang this morning!  He asked me to say hello to everyone.  He and Fritz are in great spirits although they’re both fighting off colds. The weather has been just beautiful – sunny and consistently in the 70′s to mid 80s.  They’ve only had one day with cloud cover so far.  It’s been just fantatic for driving.  I learned a little more about why they were at the garage in Almaty for 11 hours earlier this week.  The radiator cracked and was... (more...)

20 days down, only 17 left!  Here’s a message I got from Lang today.  Sounds like he and Fritz are still in good spirits.   We are in no man’s land between the Uzbekhistan/Kazakhstan border waiting for who knows what! Easy morning only 195 KM and just a little over 100 KM this afternoon. That is if we clear customs! Car is running great! We spotted a leak under the car a little while ago. Panic!! We discovered that a water bottle in the car had opened and drained through the floor... (more...)