Day 7 - Saturday 25th October 2007 - Part 2

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Melvyn''s observations

Round the bend? Definitely - 36 in a 0.60 Km stretch to be exact! The
road was very steep and Maygo being an Ambie and not a mountain goat
was in 1st gear for most of the way. My biceps also got a good workout
on the tight hairpins, low speed and no power steering. She is however
a game girl and faithfully got us up the stage. The real problem with
the blind bends is not co-inciding your arrival with a lorry or bus
coming down. If so you know two things are for certain - 1) they will
be on your side of the road and 2) they won't stop! If you are forced
to stop the roads are so steep that getting going again is almost
impossible (remember my trip backwards downhill from Day One).

No major incidents on the climb for anybody except one Ambie in a
ditch put there unfortunately by another Ambie squeezing between it
and an oncoming lorry. Unfortunately one or two cars (or drivers) are
developing an unfortunate reputation for this kind of thing and we
ourselves have had a couple of little annoying episodes with other
Ambies. The rally is not a race but the challenging nature of the
driving is bring out quite a bit of competitive spirit - sometimes too
much. On these roads such behaviour is really crazy so I hope that we
can all get to the finish without any problems. Of course the cars are
numbered and most of them very distinctive so the "guilty" parties are
easy to spot. The organisers give out daily awards - "Spirit of the
Rally" (something good) , "Muppet of the Day" (something silly),
"Skidmark of the Day" (something funny). We have managed to avoid the
latter two so far.

The weather continues to be a surprise in that it varies from wet to
Monsoon. No sun at all. The only waterproof thing I have bought with
me is an umbrella so a bit of shopping is in order.

A long day tomorrow, estimated as an 8 hour trip to Kodia
and..............yet more hills

Tomorrow - Ambies In The Mist

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