Month: June 2012

Things are heating up… and winding down with our prep. We’ve ordered a tent and sleeping bags, mosquito net, etc. from a company in the UK and will have it shipped to Ritta’s house in Windsor. What a tremendous help she has been!

I am starting to read the lonely planet guide books in earnest and am learning some amazing things about Central Asia. For example, the arabs conquered the area in the 5th century and brought Islam. It was a center of learning and study. Abu Ali ibn-Sina (Latinised as Avicenna), 980-1037 was the greatest medic of the medieval world and laid the foundations of modern medicine. Al-Biruni, 973-1046 from Khorezm was the foremost astronomer of his age, estimating the distance to the moon to within 20 km! I mean, wow!!

If you think of how much you need to do when you go someplace like Paris or New York to make sure you see what you want to see… and you are dealing with a few square miles… you begin to get what 10,000 miles of sightseeing entails. And because who knows if we are ever going back (except the kids really want to go “next time”), I am trying to make sure we hit most of the main stuff and not regret having not seen one thing or another.

I am currently mapping out the art and architecture and am really excited. I had no idea the artistic heritage of Central Asia was so rich and varied. I am particularly excited about the chance to see very early Buddhist art. It’s interesting how all these different people and religions have swept through and are still in the area but it’s all pretty moderate now with no extreme intolerance. As one of the guidebooks said, most muslims are happy to raise a toast to the prophet Mohammed with a shot of vodka. That’s funny :-).

 

It’s hard to believe that in less than a month (gulp) we are taking off for the adventure of our lives. We got our shots this weekend, just squeaking under the wire… Had to get Hep A and B and Typhoid. We should get the Tick borne encephalitis vaccine but it’s not available here in the USA because those nasty little ticks aren’t here (thank God). So we might have to get that shot from the good old British public health system when we get there. We are going to pass on the recommended rabies (!) vaccine (don’t you need to get bit first anyway?). Right now it’s lists and lists and shopping online for stuff and trying to comparison shop and research and… lots of details. Jim and I LOVE details, Oh yeah, we eat those puppies for breakfast! Not.

Jim picked up a satellite GPS messenger thingy from Fry’s today. I think what that means is that you will be able to tell where we are (even if we can’t tell where we are). Maybe we will also be able to text from it? As of now we are not taking an iPhone. Or a laptop. Or an iPad. Freaky. But with connectivity being such an issue and with routine shakedowns by border guards… what’s the point? But we still have research to do. I am hoping to write along the way and longhand seems like a real pain to edit later… so that iPad might just hitch along somewhere in our little Panda!

 

The reality of leaving is beginning to hit home. I am over the overwhelm, knowing full well we don’t need to pack everything under the sun. Our border crossings are known, we have our visas, we get our Letter of Invitation for Turkmenistan at the end of this month, vaccines this week… leaving the kids (all 7 of them plus the 5 little kiddos), family, very comfy mattress, Jura espresso machine (sob!).

The reality of really being in a tiny car in the 15,000 foot Pamir mountains. The reality of not speaking but two words of Russian. The reality of getting my period (I know, but for real). The reality of not being able to cook my own food my own way (I am turning into Bruno).

Then I think about waking up each day and looking into Jim’s eyes and knowing I am safe and sound. Being able to share all the glorious things we are going to see, with Jim, without interruptions. Wow. Doesn’t get any better than that.

We’ve decided to offer our very supportive friends and family the opportunity to put their face on our car. It will be super cool for Jim and I to see all our supporters with us out on the road. We hope lots of people take up the cause so that our car is covered in faces!

check out www.khalifornianz.com/sponsor and use the google cart there to order your sponsorship package!

Here are Jim’s decisions on the car. The mechanic in England has been super-duper. He not only sourced the car for us but is also storing it and is doing the modifications. I wish the exchange rate was better with the British Pound though!

1)    Yes – Sump Guard – £300 fitted

Today we talked to a rally veteran who lives in Virginia. Not very many Americans have done or are doing this trip even though it’s hugely international. He had so much great advice about what to pack and modifications to the car. Jim and I have been going back and forth on that. We don’t want to carry too much stuff unnecessarily and neither do we want to sit in Uzbekistan for a week waiting for car parts.

One of the things he mentioned packing is antibiotics. I hate taking antibiotics but I can see how that would be a really good idea. Another thing on the to-do list, get prescription. He also said that the greatest things about doing the rally in 2009 was all the awesome people he got to meet and consequently has remained friends with. This year he is going to the two launch parties and from there he and 6 other people in two cars are driving to Capetown. Is that nuts or what?!? Here’s his team: http://shoebaru.com/ It’s actually only 13,000 miles… I thought it would be longer.