Travel Tips

Budapest, Sep 28th - The flight from Italy took me to Budapest and what a great feeling it was to be there again and meet Joao right away. Sharing a common travel attitude, we immediately felt comfortable with each other.
Budapest, Sep 29th - After finally meeting and getting acquainted with Frank and Laurel in the city center, the complete VT Team was itchy to see the wonder VT machine. We reached the Memento Park with public transport by late afternoon and I received the package with VT gear, cards and stickers. There was only a minor problem: where is our car? We learned it was still undergoing a mechanical check-up and I wasn't sure whether this was good or bad news. We were impatient while all of the other participating teams seemed very busy with their vehicles and stuff. At dusk, suddenly, a lawnmower-like sound accompanied the Moskvich as she was brought in. Everything but spotless, it was love at first sight!

Budapest, Sep 29th - Despite the darkness we took care of a couple of initial things, such as using a borrowed mop and bucket to wash - at least - the glasses and the spaces to host some stickers. I made sure that the keys would work and got acquainted with the under-the-hood key mechanical and electrical features and components. The hood doesn't lock, but the hinges are luckily in the front without risks of getting wide open while driving. The trunklid requires a good punch or kick to be secured. A couple of window regulator cranks are repeatedly falling off. The door seals are well worn out and provide good interior ventilation. The chassis and body are bent, making it hard to open and close a couple of doors. The more we find out, the more we love it!

Make: 1986 Moskvich (Russian)
Engine: 1.5 l, 4 in-line cylinders, 4-speed manual gear, rear wheel drive
Power: not much
Torque: even less
Mileage at race start: unknown. Thought to be around 400,000 Km (250,000 mi)
Color: rust and blue. The paint comes off when washing it
Sound: lawnmower-like
Smell: various
Charme: unbeatable
Special feature: one extra cooling fan, manually operated

Virtual Tourist stickers were all over, including the roof. Other stickers of any sort were added as we collected them along the way, including an Albanian flag and a Turkish flag on the license plate! Too bad we couldn't manage to mount our flags as all windows had to be down to withstand the high temperatures!

Our VT Team was the highlight of the entire Caucasian Challenge race. Clown car and sparkling VT team made a real blast of it. We dragged clouds of people everywhere we stopped and the interaction with locals was fantastic all the way! The whole thing was an overall success.
We managed to take the odd VT Mobile through impossible road conditions and several failures. The tailpipe fell off on perilous Albanian roads. A puncture was repaired in Turkey. I managed to fix the following:
- The broken ignition key system was replaced with contact wires pulled to the dashboard from the engine compartment.
- The engine idling was kept alive with a modification to the air filter.
- The driver's side wiper was fixed under a hailstorm.
- All lights went off and fixed with a wire in the no-man's-land night.
We kissed the clutch goodbye in Tbilisi although it would keep going for a while.

- to be continued -

*** LIVE UPDATE as of Sat, Sep 13th 2008 ***
While in Tbilisi I learned about a priority of mine at home and I reluctantly took the decision to fly back from there. By the time I reached the airport I was already missing the crew, the Moskvich, a couple of wondeful days to come and the satisfaction to reach Yerevan for the final party.

*** LIVE UPDATE as of Sun, Sep 14th 2008 ***
Joao just sent me a message from Nagorno-Kharabak. The car is still running despite clutch problems.
Finish line expected for tomorrow in Yerevan, Armenia. Go until the end!

*** LIVE UPDATE as of Mon, Sep 15th 2008 ***
I received a message from Joao and a call from Frank, they are in Yerevan! CONGRATULATIONS! Details to follow.
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Maximum respect was always paid to the local people and their customs and traditions. We used our knowledge of several languages to spread the message of peace and blend in with all people we encountered, at times asking for precious directions through unmapped and unknown territories. Borders crossing was a lengthy practice at many places, with puzzled officials to deal with a Russian made, Hungarian plated car packed with Italian, Portuguese and US nationals. It all proved very easy though. We were the first racing team to proudly get into Georgia, this was the perfect occasion to ask the officers to give out our VT cards to the other teams to follow. And they did!

Evident signs of devastation form conflict are visible in Gori, Georgia. This building was in much different shape exactly one month before we got there.

International press and Red Cross vehicles (Italian Emergency Service) filled the main square in Gori, as the Georgian president was about to have a speech by the time we hung around the massive statue of Stalin.