15 June 2024. Morning of Day 29, in Istanbul.
The ring gear broke.
It is the vital part that sends the engine’s power to the wheels,
and without it our Buick cannot move a single step forward.
I had spent days in a state where my heart could not keep up… but the morning came, as it always does.
And, in contrast to my dark, clouded heart, the sun was beautiful again today.
Another day began, a mix of hope and anxiety.
A call to the whole world brought a miracle
Day after day, sleepless at night, I kept calling out to the world.
The friends I had met here — people with whom I could barely share a language — saw how we refused to give up
and spread the word around the world for us.
Could there really be a miracle? And then news we could hardly believe came in.
A ring gear that might fit our 100-year-old Buick had been found — in New York!!
New York!? New York?? America???
It is, of course, nowhere near our route from Peking to Paris.
The part we needed was waiting for us on the far side of the Atlantic.
Just when you are about to give up, someone somewhere in the world reaches out a hand.
That something like this could really happen. There was no word for it but miracle.
Even here in Istanbul, Turkey, as the religious holiday began,
Found — but not in our hands yet
But… this is Turkey, and we could not simply celebrate.
Because the holiday was about to begin, we could not find a company to transport our car…
The part had only been “found”. It was still in New York.
How were we supposed to get it across a border to Turkey…
Where could we receive it?
When could we receive it?
Would it really reach us?
And would we make it to the finish in Paris in time?
We did not know the answer to a single one of these.
Istanbul and New York are, in distance, impossibly far apart.
Even if we used an international courier such as FedEx,
who would receive it, and in which city would it meet us?
No… it could only be received by the person themselves, and the place had to be specified with certainty.
We were in the middle of the rally… right at the edge of the finish, but the rally would not wait for us.
Only the hands of the clock moved on, without mercy.
Even just thinking about it… my heart felt as if it would break.
Abruptly, I started washing the car…
It was the only thing I could find to lift my mood.
The main group heads to Istanbul. We go onto a transporter truck
Today the main group drove about 480 km from Ankara to Istanbul,
leaving Asia behind and moving on to the European side.
But we, broken down, were not driving that official route.
For now, we were loaded onto a transporter truck and joined the main group, looking for a place and a time where we could set off again.
The frustration of not being able to drive ourselves. The anxiety of drifting away from our friends.
Even so, I could not bring myself to let go of the small hope that had been found in New York.
“If only the part arrives, we might be able to run again.”
Believing in that possibility, I kept making contact.
The time difference… the language barrier… not one thing went smoothly.
Would the miracle ring gear really cross the ocean and come to us?
Could we get back on the road to the finish in Paris?
The nail-biting journey is not over yet.
To be continued in Day 30…