Team Dixie Chickens | Off The Rhumb Line

Lotus Children’s Centre

September 19, 2013 by Chris 2 Comments

Apologies for the protracted delay in posting anything new since Team Dixie Chickens crossed the finish line. I hope you all enjoy the following!

I was so thrilled today, August 17, to finally get to see the Lotus Children’s Center orphanage in person!

Lotus is one of the charities that we have been raising money for, and that so many of my wonderful friends and family have donated money and supplies to.

This morning we checked out of the Mongol Rally’s official finish line hotel (the Chinggis Khaan) and headed over to The Lotus Guesthouse, the orphanage’s hostel in Ulaan Baatar, where many of the team will be staying during the coming week. During the summer months many teenagers at the orphanage work at the guesthouse to improve their English, learn hospitality and gain some work experience. Some teenagers are also training to become tour guides. For as little as $10/night you can get a warm bed in their very warm, inviting, and comfy secure building which offers free wi-fi, showers, and access to a kitchen. It is a SUPER deal very close to the heart of UB’s peace avenue and Sukhbaatar Square. (They also offer more traditional private rooms and apartments for a bit more.)

Suugi, one of the orphanage’s wonderful staff, met us at the guesthouse mid afternoon to join us for the hour long drive out to the orphanage in the school bus. Once through the UB traffic, the landscape opened up to beautiful mountains, lush valleys with organic farms, and neighborhoods of colorful homes.

It was easy to spot the orphanage/school up on the hillside and my excitement grew as we approached. A warm friendly, young inquisitive face peered out at us as she slid open the blue entrance gate. We were quickly surrounded by young girls, who reached out to hold our hands as they fired away questions at us as we stepped off the bus. Where had we come from? Where did we live? What were our names? How long would we stay?

There are currently 65 children living at the orphanage. 29 of the children attend the on-site primary school (grades 1-5). The older kids are bussed every day into UB to attend various secondary schools. The school and dental supplies we have carried with us since the campground in Folkestone, UK were quickly unpacked off of the roof rack and taken into the main office where I met Will, and his wife Angie, who are from Guatemala. They are volunteering at the orphanage/ school for the coming school year.

With the start of the new school year less than 2 weeks away, Will tells me the kids have been questioning him endlessly as to when the new years’ school supplies would be arriving. I am so excited to be onsite and share with them then the school supplies my friend Dale and I spent so much time together picking out and organizing. We’ve brought: pencils, sharpeners, erasers, colored pencils, crayons, markers, metric rulers, solar calculators, scissors, and glue sticks, which Dale not only so generously donated, but then also shipped to the campground in the UK we’d began our journey from so I would not have to cart it all the way from Chicago by plane. My Dentist at home also donated over 100 toothbrushes and tubes of toothpaste for the kids. Suugi seemed far more excited about these as she said they were really needing them, so huge thanks go out to everyone at Richard Hogan DDS, especially Mindy for all her enthusiasm and support.

Suugi gave us a wonderful tour of the grounds and the primary school which was beautiful. There were a number of very clean and well lit classrooms, complete with a library and computer stations (which had recently been donated by a rotary club in Australia!) I loved all the whimsical artwork painted on the trailers and the walls along the border of the property. James, an Australian who was spending his summer volunteering at the orphanage, was hard at work building an amazing Gazebo when stopped in. We’d hoped to see Didi, the founder, but she was still making her way to UB, also driving (and fundraising) on The Mongol Rally.

After our tour, and walking the grounds, the throng of kids had made a beeline straight for our school bus and it was instantly transformed into a favorite new jungle gym as they are eagerly climbing all over it, inside and out, up the back ladder and onto the roof Many took turns behind the wheel, pretending to drive and they seem endlessly fascinated honking the horn. It is clear, that while the school supplies we’ve brought may be great, THE BUS is the real star! The kids were exuding sheer joy out all their pores and it was a delight to watch them.

We spent about 2 hours with the kids, but facing an hour drive back, it was time to go. We were advised by Will to be sure to check under ALL the seats for any stowaways!

In all, in addition to the supplies we’ve donated, I am excited to say that via the Team Dixie Chickens website, nearly $1600 has been raised, not including the donations made to the team’s paypal account also on behalf of Lotus. This has definitely been the most rewarding part of the Mongol Rally for me. Thank you so very much to everyone who donated!

Please be sure to visit the website and Facebook page for more info on this amazing organization
https://www.facebook.com/lotuschildrenscentremongolia
http://www.lotuschild.org/about/

I am also very excited to report too, that another Mongol Rally team, Team Detour was also raising money for this wonderful orphanage and as of today: 09/19/13 – according to the Team Detour donation page – they have raised a whopping $11,000 bucks! – WOW!! (check out Team Detour’s blog for amazing photos of their Rally adventure)

Lastly, but certainly not least, as it turns out, I was delighted to discover that a very dear friend of mine in Vermont is the webmaster for an online music site called Innersong: Music for social and spiritual transformation. (Innersong offers “meditation music, mantra music, Chanting, Relaxation, New Age and World Beat music and has the largest selection of Kiirtan titles with styles from all over the world”)

When I told Tony of my journey this summer, he mentioned that one of the titles Innersong carries is a CD of traditional Mongolian Music put together by Didi, and sung by the kids at the Lotus Children’s Center. How Perfect! He was able to obtain permission for me to post a track from the CD – so do give a listen.

You can also listen to samples of a few of the other tracks on the CD at the Innersong link above

The Finished Gazebo: (photo from Lotus Children’s Center Facebook Page)

August 16, 2013
by Chris 1 Comment

Lake Baikal

Tuesday August 13

We’d driven all night friday night into saturday morning as our goal of reaching Lake Baikal is still 2 days away.

We passed lots of small towns, and each house had massive piles of stacked wood outside their doors – a not so subtle reminder that winters here in Siberia really must be quite fierce, with the wood ikely their only source of heat.

Sunday morning, while stopped for a freight train, we are thrilled to see another Rally car! It has been weeks since we’ve another team – and this merry band of frenchmen (& women) driving an ambulance is a wonderful surprise! We pull over and sign each other’s vehicles, and swap stories and photos! They’ve picked up another team member whose car crashed in Kazakhstan (those pesky roads) but he was able to sell his scrap car for $1k US, and find another team – countrymen no less – to finish the race with! That’s the Rally in a nutshell.

After a stop in Irkutsk to stock up at the market, we are on the road for our final push to Lake Baikal – a gorgeous twisty turny drive up & down the hills with vistas every once in awhile. Top altitude going over the pass was 994 Meters. The first real overlook of the lake is stunning, full of folks and roadside stands of fish and knick knacks.

Lake Baikal is also THE only route through from east to west for all freight and passenger trains, and the famous Trans-Siberian Express which travels from Vladisvostok to Moscow, and whose tracks we’ve been following fairly close to for much of our journey across Siberia.

Getting to the far side of the lake and a camping sport takes us up and down more hills, following the power line cuts. While the trains go right along the lakeshore, the road is inland and along the higher terrain. Unfortunately most of the lakeshore is hidden out of sight beyond the treeline.

We successfully find ourselves a campground, down a muddy dirt road, and after having driven all the way from London, virtually without incident due to Sarita’s due diligence at every one of camping sites, as soon as we arrive on the gravel beach, Don drives just THAT MUCH too far onto the beach, and the bus is STUCK!! But have no fear, there is not 1, but 3, of the most amazing 4×4 machines I’ve ever seen that comes to our rescue – the Iveco! Sarah’s been extolling the virtues of these machines for most of our trip, and lo and behold, they are owned by 3 Italian couples, that could not have been more happy to be helping out some of their own contrymen – Pietro and Stefano – and they are as thrilled as over the coming couple of days, they are treated to wine, expresso, and home cooked italian meals!

Bus freed, and near dark, we set up camp while Tommy gets hard at work building us our first fire of the trip. It’s a gorgeous evening, and the view form our campsite is tremendous. The mountains to the west come right down to the shoreline and there is no visible development of any kind along the shoreline, so it is peacefully quiet (except for the steady stream of trains whistling by)

It is also first night of the Perseid Meteor shower – which I am reminded about via an email a few days back from a skipper friend in Chicago – Thanks Jim – about Siberia and meteors and that I should definitely keep my eyes to the sky. It is a late night around the fire as I get busy grilling with a beautiful star and meteor filled sky.

Tuesday is a rest day at the lake – after convincing Sarah that NONE of us wanted to pack up and go after having come all this way to this beautiful place. (Don took a poll via video interviews, and our mutiny won out!). I washed the bus, (boy was it in dire need!), we swam, did laundry, more grilling, hula hoop lessons, frisbee, and some fierce corn hole competition, particularly when a neighboring Russian kid easily beat us all!

After a beautiful sunrise, our trip to Lake Baikal ended the same we it began, with a stuck vehicle, but this time we were the vehicle to the rescue! As one good turn deserves another we were more than happy to pull this VW passat out of the gravel!

Our next major stop… THE FINISH LINE!

August 13, 2013
by Chris Leave a comment

Issyk-Kul to Taldykorgan

Monday August 5th

Stefano had been in search of a Lenin statue to photograph for the Vanity Fair article he and Pietro are working on about our adventure. Our drive out of town from Lake Issyk-Kul to Almaty on Saturday had us pass this magnificent example, which, with a perfectly parked bus, and 2 co-conspirators (Don & Caroline) up on top – made for great fun! Especially once we noticed a police offer had emerged out of the government building behind us, standing in the doorway with his hands on his hips! Whoops – RUN AWAY, RUN AWAY.

(We later discovered that Sarah’s tweet of her photo had been picked up and had made it onto Kyrgyzstan TV later that night!! )

On the road back to the Kazakhstan border:

With no warrants out for our arrest (mocking of an historical figure in public…?) our quick & clean getaway was complete and we were sad to bid Kyrgyzstan adieu. In fact, we were having so much fun chatting with the Kyrgyzstan border guards while they signed our bus, we hadn’t even noticed our passports had been stamped until an official asked us to “move along”.

Back in Kazakhstan, the crush of locals passing between the 2 countries surprised us and was the most folks we’d seen in awhile (and certainly at any border crossing to date). With Don and the bus escaping mostly unscathed from what Will and Tommy had named “The Customs Dungeon” we were on our way to our swanky Holiday Inn in Almaty. (yep, in Kazakhstan!)

When we arrived at the gate to the hotel, the guard took one look at us and the bus, and we were sure he was uttering under his breathe …”None Shall Pass”! But thanks to Sarah’s “La De Dah” elite status and her use of points for our block of rooms, he was forced to call the manager who acquiesced to our request – WHOO HOO!! With access granted, hot showers and cold beer were once again top priorities after our days of camping.

Sarita’s all night editing session and unsuccessful media file uploads to The Adventurists had broken the hotel’s internet! LOL! 🙂 The wi-fi came back on just before we departed at noon, and we were all busy trying to get off one last blog or facebook post before beginning our multi day trek across Eastern Kaz as we headed off in search of the Russian border.

A short drive out of town is where we discovered where all the Kaz locales go on a sunday afternoon: Lake Kapshagay – a large reservoir, with its beach chairs, umbrellas, and water park truly looked like an oasis in the desert!

The afternoon was spent driving through some beautiful countryside dotted with small farming towns. The light that fell across the vast wide open plains was a feast for the eyes. Big white puffy clouds cast their long shadows over the green rolling grasslands, an endless bright blue sky and mountains in the distance

The occasional passing semi with Military tanks loaded on their flat beds though was a quick reminder as to where we really were.

I watched another stunning sunset in the distance from the bus window. This one lit up all the surrounding clouds in magnificent orange with shafts of light streaming outward.

Time to find a place to camp. We all quickly vetoed the first potential site while we, comfortably sitting INSIDE the bus, watched Sarita take one for the team while checking out the off road conditions for the bus. Flailing her arms about like an epileptic in the midst of a terrible seizure, she furiously swatted away at the hungry mosquitos Yeah, not for us. We continued on til near dark and following on in our apparent theme, Sarita and Pietro navigated our way to another fabulous roadside landfill, I mean campsite, around 9pm.

Come morning, our landfill campsite, was not as bad as we’d imagined the night before. Trash aside, the very early morning light on the grasses and nearby hills was really quite beautiful, to me.

August 13, 2013
by Chris Leave a comment

Taldykorgan, KZ to The Russian Border

Wednesday, August 7

More wonderful rolling hills, roadside apple stands, rivers, & snow capped mountains in the distance were on tap for our viewing pleasure Monday morning. Stopping at a roadside cafe for a sit down lunch, and without a lick of english to be found anywhere, the team persevered and enjoyed plates of kabobs, and dumplings.

The afternoon brought an awesome thunder, and lightning show with fabulous virga, rain streaked clouds, streaming down out of the sky. Of course rainbows followed.

During the rain storm, Captain Don had to venture under the bus, in a muddy police parking lot, much to their dismay, (and Don’s too of course) to have more fun “tweaking” the brake caliper bracket that continues to give us intermittent issues. He again pleaded with Pietro, (our italian Mario Andretti , who’s been tough to tame) to try and drive a “bit” more carefully through the crap roads.

A short while later not only did we find ourselves at a “non-landfill” off the beaten path road to pitch our tents, we were enjoying cocktail hour before dark (Win/Win!!) Watching the passing storms and sunset from our camp chairs with adult beverages in hand seemed so civilized. Those with waterproof tents pitched before dark, the rest chose “bus” camping for the night.

I shot awake at 1am to brilliant white streaks of lightning flashing across my tent accompanied shortly thereafter by huge cracks of thunder. Never too concerned about camping in the rain, I now pondered what my chances of escaping my tent if it were hit by lightning…slim to none? I was seriously rethinking my use of Sarah’s large metal glow in the dark tent stakes. Counting time between lightning and thunder, danger did not appear imminent and my need for sleep overcame any concerns and I drifted back to dreamland to the sounds of rain pattering on my tent.

To Don’s great consternation, Tuesday brought us more road “construction” which for us meant dodging rain soaked, potholed dirt roads. We could see the “new” road to our right, with piles of sand, gravel, and dirt alternately plopped along the seemingly abandoned road bed.

On the Road:

The last major town in Kaz before the Russian Border is Semey (More infamously known as Semipalatinsk). My guidebook describes that over 460 Nuclear Tests were carried out in this area by the Russians during The Cold War years of 1949 – 1989, only ceasing when over a million signatures had been collected in overwhelming protest by the citizens, who had never been given any protection or warning to the dangers, many of whom are now suffering from the long term health effects.

We drove past & stopped at a square that had an outdoor display of WWII tanks, vehicles, a fighter jet, and a war memorial for the 1941-1945 time period. There was a family of kids in the park who were playing on and around the equipment as a guard dressed in military uniform looked on in amusement. The chickens, never ones to pass up an opportunity to connect with their surroundings, had Sarita jumping at the chance to acquire more footage for The Adventurists Speech. Caroline standing on a tank (Girl Power!), and Don and Tommy lying down in front of the treads of another brought more smiles from the guard.

Our route is fast paced with many long days on the road strung together, usually stopping only for the essentials: Gas, Food, & occasionally, “Lodging”. There is little time to “sightsee”, if at all, other than what we view through the windows of the bus as we pass by.

Road trips, and frankly life, trend either towards being focussed on reaching one’s chosen “destination” as quickly as possible, or taking the time to experience the journey to wherever it may eventually lead us. The latter is what I love most about sailing and soaring. My course is dictated by the wind and where I may go is anywhere but where I may have intended, which is inherently challenging, but can be a wonderful experience, even when you least expect it.

In each town we have passed through, there are places I wish I had just a little more time to spend. I can not imagine when I will ever pass some of these ways again, and each day I seem to long for a bit more substance. Even a small town such as Semey, essentially what one might define as being lost in the midst of nowhere, literally and figuratively, is a community of people, with a history, with something to be expressed and shared with the world.

For me, here, first up would have been the Dostoevsky Museum, which the guidebook says pays a wonderful tribute to the 5 years Fyodor lived here in the late 1850’s in exile / enforced military service with his wife and child and where he began writing “The Brothers Karamazov”. Another would have been the “Stronger than Death” memorial built in 2002 in honor of the victims of the nuclear testing which the guidebook describes as..” somber and impressive” and has “a marble centerpiece of a mother covering her child above which a polygon mushroom cloud billows etched into a 30 meter high black tombstone”

Unfortunately, we headed out of town nearly as quickly as we came, steaming straight for the Russian Border while night fell, and mile after mile rushed by.

August 13, 2013
by Chris Leave a comment

Warm Hearts in Siberia

Monday August 12

We left Barnaul Thursday morning under grey skies and light rain heading up a 4 lane paved highway towards Novosibirsk. Don’s proclamation Wednesday night, in the midst of a drinking game, to finally let the women drive, had Sarah at the wheel, until we hit bad traffic outside the city and Don was quickly back in the drivers’ seat.

Novosibirsk looks like a very clean city, lot of new construction, and a wonderful green parkway down the middle of the main road through town full of statues and flowers. The center square had grandstands up all around it

Kemerovo

The drive on to Kemerovo was rainy, but beautiful through the Pine and Birch tree forests & rolling hills. We arrived in Kemerovo at 8pm at night. Don, Will and Tommy stayed with the bus, parked on a street corner, while the rest of us went looking for the hotel Sarita’s i-phone/internet search had produced. 1.5 hours later, we still had not found the elusive hotel, but we HAD discovered a delightful and charming town. The streets were full of friendly people that tried, despite the language barrier, to help steer us in the right direction. I regretted not having a camera with me as we walked from the beautiful and well lit theater building down a tree lined parkway full of flowers, whimsical statues of penguins & elephants, and folks out enjoying the warm evening. (Kids & grandparents sitting on park benches eating ice cream, guys drinking, couples strolling…) At the end of the parkway was an eternal flame with an obelisk monument (also 1941- 1945) which overlooked a river with great views in either direction. Most of the outdoor squares we’d passed also offered free wi-fi!

By the time we’d returned to the bus, The boys had befriended some locals who spoke english and they knew of a hostel not too far away that could accommodate us and the bus. We followed them in their car, and they waited with us while the manager, whom they’d called for us, arrived. Once we were settled in, it was past 10:30p, but the manager insisted on escorting us on our walk to a pizza place around the corner to make sure we’d find it safely and were able to get some food. We finally had to beg him to go as he was intent on waiting for us to finish our pizza and beer to walk us back!

Max from Krasnoyorsk

The next day we made a long push for the next town – Krasnoyorsk. Arriving, again late in the evening, and in valiant search of another elusive hotel, (darn you, Russian Google maps!) Don talked with a woman at a gas station who pointed us towards downtown and potential alternate lodging. We found this one, but at 10pm, it was full. Around the corner however we’d spotted an Irish pub, which garnered much excitement. Don offered to stay with the bus while the rest of us ventured forth for libations and food. Although we’d found Guinness on tap, and a waiter whose broken english was enough to help decipher the menu, the nearly 2 hour wait for food with ear blasting music did not go over so well.

After an hour and a half, my salad had arrived which I made short order of and I headed for the bus, or for at least to where I’d remembered it was parked… Ummm….GULP!

I turn around to head back to the pub…and… driving up the street past the pub… was the bus! Pheew!

The doors open up and I walk onboard to discover about 15 lively & animated Russians who all greet me in unison! Don & the bus have been busy making friends again, and he’s been giving tours / rides to the locals all night!

Max, is a 15 yr old blond haired, blue eyed Russian kid, originally from Vancouver, Canada whose family moved here when he was 7. He’d happened upon Don and the bus, and Don, having given Max a few rubles to go get him a soda, had come back with a care package of “the best” Russian cookies and chocolate, and the soda, along with some friends, to keep Don company We all decided Don and the bus had a much better time than we’d had at the pub as he’d been mobbed by eager russians wanting to see and ride in the bus.

With no lodging, we headed out of town around 1am, leaving max and his friends behind. We’re sure they would’ve joined our merry band if we’d asked.

One thinks of Siberia as cold, remote, isolated, which may all be true, but most of the folks we’ve met so far who live here are wonderful, warm, and inviting!

	Leslie Kohler on Lotus Children’s Centre
	Lauren DeJesu on Lotus Children’s Centre
	Greta! on THE FINISH LINE
	Lauren DeJesu on THE FINISH LINE
	leslie kohler on THE FINISH LINE

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