25 May — the report from Day 8.
Yesterday we finished without any serious trouble.
A day like that let my mind rest, just a little.
Having gone to bed early, I started this morning full of intent.
I had settled on three sets of rally clothes, top and bottom, but today I fancied dressing up a bit and put on a favourite boiler suit I had brought.
It is a garment chosen for looks rather than function, and through all the trouble so far there had been no room to wear it.
Today’s route was short, so I decided this was the first and last chance to look smart, and set off in a different mood. Gravel roads and awkward brake adjustment notwithstanding, we made sure of the photographs.
Looking back on the days so far (video)
On down the motorway to the service area that was our checkpoint.
It is a very large service area, and while we were stopped and resting a crowd gathered around us.
Using the Chinese I had studied and showing them the route map, I explained — and there were cries of “you’re driving that to Paris?”, and a great many people took photographs. It felt rather like being a star, and I have to admit I enjoyed it.
Today’s finish was Dunhuang. Known for the Mogao Caves, a World Heritage site, the town sits beside the vast Gobi, and the hotel was splendid.
Dunhuang is famous with tourists, but we were as usual wrestling with the car.
Still, having come this far, I put on Chinese dress and enjoyed a photo session in the desert.
A startling transformation (video)
When I showed the other entrants the photographs they were amazed: “you can do that?” Putting a little pleasure into a rally is no bad thing. That elegant hour was a genuine, if very brief, refreshment.
In the evening everyone was together for the first time in a while, over dinner and Chinese dance.
With the beautiful Gobi around us, an elegant evening passed quietly.
And a thorough wash of the laundry before tomorrow’s run into the Gobi and on to the campsite.
Continued in Day 9 …