Lotus Update

Allison and Peter are convinced they have acheived a world record by being the first pople to bring a Lotus to Nepal.
The car is coping well with the fuel, which is one factor not tohave affected its performance. The problems with suspension and ground clearance were compounded on wednesday when the brake servo packed up and had to be disconnnected. It is not everyone's idea of fun to reuce braking capability when driving in the Himalayas but that's a rally for you!!

Day 14: Pokhara – Kathmandu

Day 14: Pokhara – Kathmandu
A short drive between the two big cities in Nepal. The only worry being about the lack of petrol within Kathmandu itself. David Moffat and Mike Barnes needed to be refueled along the way. The route itself was very easy with a lovely tea stop marked which looks over a very deep valley. The drive trough Kathmandu city took a long time and a lot of concentration as cars were just everywhere.

Day 12/13: Bardia – Pokhara + Pokhara Rest Day

Day 12/13: Bardia – Pokhara + Pokhara Rest Day

A pretty drive through the valleys and hill of Nepal. The Rolls belonging to Peter and Morna stayed being for some repairs to the transmission along with the green Bentley owned by Willem. The route through up very few problems and everyone was enjoying the drive. Giancarlo suddenly heard a very loud noise and on arriving at the next town parked up at the local mechanics, where they fixed the broken exhaust muffler in a few hours for the equivalent of 5 pounds. The hotel is on an island in Lake Fewa so we were required to use very old, rickety, unbalanced boats to reach the hotel!
In the morning we all finally see Martyn, Jenni, Rashid and the mechanic team after a few days. Many of the cars need a good service and lots of small jobs to be done by the mechanics. The cars were all washed by the Nepali boys in the area. The ladies used the day as an opportunity to go shopping. The jewelry and clothes were very cheap!
We were also alerted to the fact that there was a petrol strike within Nepal so the day was spent by John and Conrad searching frantically any petrol stations which may be able to provide with even a few litres. In the evening 100 litres was delivered to s so the panic was over!

Day 11: Binsar – Royal Bardia

Day 11: Binsar – Royal Bardia

The Lotus and the Bently that broke the day before had to stay behind in the morning to repair the problems from the day before. With a deadline the meet there was a bit of a rush onto the border between India and Nepal which only opens between 12-2 for cars. The windy mountainous roads made this deadline seem impossible but on arrival Olivia and Conrad had organized so that any car from the rally could pass through at anytime of the day with very little paper work to fill out. The roads through Nepal were a lot straighter, faster and emptier than those in India which meant that after an
John and Jean Noble, Ginacarlo and Agneta Puddu along with 2 other cars were ‘held up’ by some Maoists (a Nepali communist movement) along the route for 1½ hrs whilst the group held a talks and lectures. They all arrived safely though.
early start arrival was at a reasonable time.

Day 10: Corbett National Park – Binsar

Day 10: Corbett National Park – Binsar

The drive was supposed to be a short 3 ½ hour climb up to Binsar however the road conditions was bad and one waypoint was 23km wrong which fooled many people in particular David Moffat and Mike Barnes. The bad roads caused problems with the cars- Patrcik Helfer and Vanda Keel had the exhaust pipe break off their Sunbeam, Peter and Allison Coates had brake problems with their lotus, Rod and Cathy in the Sunbeam suffered clutch problems and Martyn and Jenni in the Bentley broke down with problems similar to those previously. In the end everyone arrived to the very secluded hotel in the footills of the Himalayas which had views of the mountain range.

Day 8/9: Rishiskesh – Corbett National Park+ Rest Day

Day 8/9: Rishiskesh – Corbett National Park+ Rest Day

Being only a 5 hour drive it gave the participants an opportunity to take in the beautiful landscape that changed from a mountain hill side into a jungle. The road out of Rishikesh followed the Ganges River for a short while. Once again there were no major incidences along the route. On arrival every sat on the balcony with a view over a river eating pokharas and drinking beer
The hotel arranged for elephant rides and jeep rides to begin at dawn in order to search for tigers within the park. Only one lucky group saw one walk out in front of their elephant! However for everyone else all we saw was a few monkeys and few insects. Nevertheless it was a really fun experience. In the afternoon there were more jeeps and elephant rides as well as the meachnanics fixing up any problems that ahd occured over the past few days. The evening eneded in a compettive Ping Pong championship. In the end it was won by John Brigden and Yves-Marie after many gruelling matches.

Day 7: Shimla-Rishikesh

Day 7: Shimla-Rishikesh

The journey was expected to be long so many people left extremely early in the morning. The mountainous roads were very bumpy as usual but there was only one problem. Walter Graber’s Mercedes. In the engine there was a small ‘poof’ that seemed at first to be a potentially serious problem. However after examining the situation it was as airlock in the new radiator that had been fitted a few days before. Then later that day he suffered a puncture in Nahan and on the other side of the town there was an accident blocking the route so they were diverted around the town. Finally they arrived, very late that evening. The group had a few drinks together overlooking the valley before dinner.