Reincarnation!!!

After serving us so well, old faithful's soul (Juliet Zulu 48) reincarnated in a better, newer, more powerful and shiny Baby Benz! Maybe the famous youngtimer patron St. Marko can retrieve the bodily remains of old faithful from its current Elysium.

Rally party in Amman

About 80 rally participants took the plane to their planned destination: Amman. On may 16th all were invited to a Jordanian evening and had gold medals bestowed upon them!

Finally .. Manasef and Knafeh

Finally with the arrival of Tsaqqa in Amman, our life long friend Adnan treated us to the greatest Mansaf and Knafeh with the company of a few of our beloved friends.

Thanks Adnan!!

The perks of being Arab

Greeted everyone on the plane in Arabic and was invited to fly all the way in the cockpit next to Captain Abulhaj. Ten minutes to landing at Queen Alia Airport

The end of the Odyssey

Snivel...sniff...bubble... wipe......

It's so hard to say "goodbye". You have served me well my old friend.


Left old Faithful in a cool wood near Antalia and now waiting in the shuttle bus to the airport.
Keep fingers crossed.

The best laid plans of mice n' men......

Driving to Antalya to catch a plane to Amman ..... hopefully. We have permission to leave the cars in a car park in Antalya. I booked a flight to Cologne, just in case.

Going back and forth in the Mediterranean

After a long horrible journey the ferry finally arrived in Port Said only for us to be refused entry and told that they could not guarantee our safety in Egypt because of the political situation. We must now return to Mersin in Turkey and see what happens there. We might have to fly to Amman if we can do something with the cars. Another option is to drive back to Germany.
The Jordanian organizers are checking to see if it is possible to drive through Syria.
Looks like our name "Odyssey" is turning into a premonition.

In the meantime, back in Amman

I continue to gain weight.

My corner is my castle!

Circling the eastern tip of Cyprus. Estimated 24 hours or more to Port Said. Ferry very slow. Managed to use Arabic toilet.

The prospects for a siesta today look good.

In Cyprus

Arrıved at 9:30. All North Cyprus was expectıng us at 7:00! A Full programme awaıtıng us wıth speaches, folklore and a convoy drıve around the ısland. Have a terrıble headache and excuse myself. Drove to the mountaıns and found a shady place to sleep for an hour. After wakıng up I found out that the castle of St. Hılarıon ıs nearby and went there. Very ımpressıve. Got back to Kyrenıa and went to a publıc toılet where I shaved and brushed my teeth. Wıll walk around the lovely old cıty before departure to Port Saıd at 19:00 hours. I bet thıs evenıng wıll be sımılar to the last one!

Petra Odyssey: Nomen est Omen!

The good news: The ferry took us to Kyrenıa!

The rally cars were to meet at two harbours near Sılıfke. Three ferrıes are to take the cars and passengers to Cyprus. Here ıs a detaıled account:
15:00 Arrıval ın the wrong harbour!
15:30 Arrıval ın the rıght harbour ın the mıddle of nowehere (no shops etc.). Gates closed. Parkıng lot full, cars blocked the street. Nearby rıver suıtable as toılet.
16:00 Looks lıke a long evenıng. Campıng chaırs out.
17:00 Customs offıcıal walks out. Turned out that he just was curıous, what all the cars are doıng here
18:00 One team member made an expıdıtıon to a supermarket ın the next town (bread. cheese and sujuk. no turkısh pızza avaılable!)
19:00 Preparatıons for supper. Boıled water for soup.
19:15 Informatıon that cars are to be loaded. Quıckly put everythıng ın the car.
20:00 Fırst 5 cars could not enter the harbour because only the owner of the car can drıve on the ferry. Owners are to regıster ın the entrance.
21:00 Arrıval of 20 Trucks. 3 got ın, the rest joıned us.
22:00 Ferry ın that harbour probably full. 15 cars to move to the other harbour. Of course our team has to move.
22:30 Arrıval ın the other harbour
23:00 Standıng ın Lıne to deregıster the cars from the passport. Others ınform us that we fırst have to stand ın the lıne for exıt stamp.
23:30 No exıt Stamp for me. My name ıs not ın the computer. I argue that I have an entry Stamp so my name has to be ın the computer! No stamp. Have to waıt untıll all 600 passengers are processed.
00:30 Got at least the car deregıstratıon and go agaın for the exıt stamp and get ıt. Apparantly the fırst offıcıal was computer ıllıterate.
01:00 Must stand ın lıne for a pıece of paper wıth a sıgnature on ıt to drıve my car on the ferry.
02:00 Almost all cars on the ferry wıth exceptıon of my car and 3 others. Place on the ferry just enough for 3,9 cars.
02:30 All cars on the ferry. Have to get out of the wındow. My car ıs used as walkıng board.
03:00 In search of a 1x2 m space for my sleepıng bag. Only place ın the forbıdden area behınd the brıdge. So excıted I cant sleep
04:00 Ferry fınally leaves the harbour. A cold draft where I am slepıng but I manage to bandage myself ın the sleepıng bag and fall asleep.

Stıll waıtıng for the ferry!!!

All of us were doıng our bye bye walk ın Mersın, ready for the nıght ferry when the news struck! Ferry delayed by 15 to 20 hours. At least now there ıs ınformatıon about where and when. Our team has to drıve 100 km ın the dırectıon of Antalıa, where we have to deposıt our cars. Then a bus wıll take us back to the Mersın harbour where we take another shıp as passengers. Next wıll be a stopover ın Cyprus and after that ıts the ferry agaın to Haıfa. Inshallah between the May 11th and 12th on the Jorrdanıan border. Managed to get our hotel rooms of last nıght.

Wıll take sleepıng bags. My experıence wıth ferrıes tells me to quıckly set claım to a quıet space of 1 x 2 m (remeber Lıvorno to Olbıa?). Stıll all ın good spırıts.

Picknick at the seaside

300 Rally cars are buzzıng around in Mersin. No one knows for sure from where the ferries are leaving and the rumours are making the rounds on where and when. We decided to drive to the fringes of the turkish reviera where we had lunch on the coast road (frittura mista!).

Waıtıng for the Ferry

Had a wonderful hike yesterday. We walked from Ucisar (1350 m) to Goereme (1100 m) in a canyon. Lost the way and were helped by Ahmad, an old farmer growıng almond trees there. By the way: I asked for the way!!!! The desert monkeys (whom I now offıcially joined/http://desert-monkeys.blogspot.com/) declared Ahmed as their hero, as they didnt have one yet. No rain but temperature about 10 degrees (felt rather like zero).

Our plan was to have lunch and head for the coast. Unfortunately one of the cars dıdnt start and we had to tow ıt to a repaır shop. Thıs delayed us about 4 hours. We were overwhelmed by the help we receıved from all the people who passed us and saw that we were ın trouble. Thank you Turkey!!

Due to the delay we arrıved ın Mersın at 10:00 pm and stıll had to look for a hotel. Agaın, a bus drıver drove wıth us through Mersın ın the nıght untıl we found a hotel. It wasnt easy because most hotels were full (the other teams arrıved earlıer).
The ferry should be leavıng at 11 pm (ınshallah), so we have most of the day to explore the begınnıng of the turkısh rıvıera. The sun ıs shınıng, the bırds are sıngıng....

Dont pay the ferryman (untıl he gets you to the other sıde)

Sleeping ın the car is simply terrible. At 11 pm you already start counting the hours to dawn. Started with the right front seat feet forwards. After that feet backwards. Then placed the towel in the cavity of the seat. Somehow slept. Looked at the watch and was glad it was already 1 am. switched to the back seat. At 2:30 opened the rear door to straighten my legs a bit. Slept between 4:30 and 6:00 am. Got up. Toilet was so stuffed and soiled that water and other ingredients flowed over on the floor. That was it! Never again!

The rally should have started at 8:00. Due to formalities and and some speeches the start signal was given at 10:00 am. All cars circled the hippodrom once and parked agaın. Then we lined up to pay for the ferry to Cyprus and Haifa. 3 Ships will leave Mersin the night of May 8th.

At Midday drove off wıth the desert monkeys and we all got lost in Ankara. Had lunch at the Tuz lake (Jordanians rejoice!).

Rained buckets for several hours . Rally organisors say that the weather is not their fault but I think they are lying!

Just arrived ın Uchisar (rival city of Goereme). Have a wonderful hotel room hewn in rock and waiting for a most magnificent dinner. Tomorrow sightseeing. Pictures will follow.

A trace of guilt

After the Petra Odyssey team split early this morning, or more accurately reduced to one hardy traveler (Nadim) sleeping in the team’s car in Ankara, the other two slackers (Jamal and I) continue to tour Istanbul, albeit with a trace of guilt for abandoning the rally.
This evening, after wearing our selves out from walking in Istanbul Bazaars, Jamal and I shook-off any remaining traces of guilt and treated our selves to grilled kabobs, followed by a visit to an amazing dessert shop, with colorful puddings and sweets. Jamal had the “Ashura” covered with dried fruits and nuts (which I cheated and had one earlier in the day), while I had milk pudding covered with pistachio paste and coconuts, of course with warm cups of tea. We can’t wait to follow up on Nadim’s progress in the rally tomorrow to celebrate “our” achievements.

Ankara

I am well although I'm a bit nervous of spending the night in the car but I am too tired to look for a hotel. Besides all the other cars are on the sight and I don't want to seem like a weakling!

Nadım alone ın the car (not at home!)

Should be posted yesterday May 5th: I started the day wıth an uncertaın feelıng, but ıt actually was a very successful day! Found the way to the ferry wıthout cırclıng half a day ın downtown Istanbul. Apparantly more rally partıcıpants spent the nıght on the european sıde. We all met on the ferry. It raıned most of the day but the road was straıght forward and I dıdnt need the map. For a change saw many rally cars on the way. Of course I had no ıdea where the Ankara castle or the hıppordrom, where we shoud be headıng, was and I had no map of Ankara. Luckıly Team 21 (Desert Monkeys) allowed me to taıl them to both locatıons: 1000 thanks, you are the heroes of my day! I could repay wıth our spare rock from the Allgaeu sınce they lost one of theır stones (robbery stıll under ınvestıgatıon). The vıew from the castle ıs magnıfıcent and I hope Randa can post the pıcture I sent her. The programme for the rest of the day: Walkıng around Ankara (ıncludıng wrıtıng thıs blog) and havıng a spartanıc dınner besıde the car (ıt stopped raınıng just before Ankara). After that I wıll have the pleasure of sleepıng ın the car! Tomorrow to Kayserı, then to Mersın where the ferry wıll take us to Cyprus. Stıll not clear what happens after that.

And then there was one (or two depending on your perspective)

Nadim took off solo to Ankara while Osama and I stayed behind to fly to Amman tomorrow's night. Hopefully, we'll pick up with Nadim in Wadi Rum or Amman.

Rally tasks

When we first subscribed to the rally, we had a more idealistic view of the whole adventure; I even thought that it would be nice to rank as one of the top teams finishing the rally. With time this view slowly eroded. It started with not binging together six people (and three cars) as one of the important rules for participation. This small detail turned out not to be important as we consider ourselves a part of the “Jordanian Team”. However, we had to travel alone, since our colleagues couldn’t obtain the necessary visas and had to take the ferry from Venice to Greece.

As for the tasks stated in the rally road book, we started quite well. We picked up the stone from the river, colored it and made nice photographs. We found the place, selling the “last Schnitzel” and didn’t forget the 30cm measuring stick (needed to give a measure of the depth of the Bosporus!). With some tasks, we allowed ourselves a certain measure of “interpretation”. For example, with the team members in telephone booth photograph, we chose an open one (haha).

The heavy task of finding the Istanbul Fenerbahce stadion on the Asian side, singing the fan song in front of the camera by heart and delivering the flag of our football club to the Fenerbahce officials we solved thus: Our hotel manager is a fenerbahce-fan. We gave him the flag and took a nice photo with him. He and we were very happy. This saved us from crossing the Bosporus today on ferries with 300 other cars and allowed me to stay one more night in the comfort of our hotel! Maybe tonight I will finally get my original Turkish pizza from Istanbul.

Oh by the way: We should have documented every border crossing with a picture of the whole team with the “border stone”. We had two problems with that: The first was that I (Al-Fasih) missed the page in the road book stating that. When I discovered it, we already were in Serbia. And to be honest, we had enough trouble on the Turkish border with grim officials after midnight than to even attempt to take out a camera (brrr)!

Thankfully the rally is not a corporation led by Jack Welch, where those who perform badly and do not align to the corporation visions and ideas are kicked out.

More sightseeing in Istanbul

After having a good night’s sleep we woke up, ready to see more of Istanbul. Jamal unfortunately had nasty swellings around his eyes, probably as an allergic reaction to something he ate yesterday. Osama bought anti-histamines and his condition improved so that we managed to see the Hagia Sofia before lunch.

I owe Jamal a big apology after counting at least five sneezes without wishing him “sa77a”. Jamal: Before the whole wide world I say: sorry!

For lunch I badly wanted “Sfiha” (Turkish Pzza). You get swarmed by all kinds of restaurant people “ .. you American? You eeet best food here, come!...”. However “.. we don’t have Turkish pizza, you eeet borak, is much better..”. This went on for some time and at last I gave up.

After lunch, Topkapi was on the program. Magnificent! We pondered why the swords of the Khalifas Omar and Ali were much heavier than those of Abu Baker and Othman. Jamal kept insisting to go to the chambers reserved for the officials. Mybe he can enlighten us as to why in a later blog.

At 16:00 o’clock all the rally cars are to leave the hippodrome and head for Asia via ferry. If you are interested to know, why Petra Odyssey was the last team left on the place, please read our next blog.

Sightseeing in Istanbul

Wanting to see Istanbul was the reason we hurried up. So after finishing the essentials we started a trip to the “Taksim Area” where we tasted all the goodies in the market (No salad for dinner during the rally!!!). Unfortunately it started to rain and when we were soaked wet we warmed ourselves with a cup of tea. The friendly people of Istanbul helped us with the pay-system of the metro so we could also use that.

Istanbul at the break of dawn

Of course I was not arrested as Jamal may sincerely have wished. But the 16 hour power drive from Zrenjanin to Istanbul was a challenge (see team crisis). All the better as we found our way to the hippodrome by 6 in the morning (thanks to Osama’s gut feeling!) and having all the time in the world to look for a good hotel which we found. I took a good jog around the famous mosques and along the sea side and had one of the best showers in my life after that. Late in the morning we went to the rally gathering to find only the teams 102 and 103. Such a coincidence: we are 101!

Best Shawerma in Bulgaria

Reaching Plovdiv around midnight, looking for a bite so we could carry through driving to Istanbul, we started following misleading signs to an illusive McDonalds that was not to be found. After almost getting lost (Nadim does not like to ask for directions), our good luck lead us to Aladdin Pizza & Shawerma. Shams (a young Syrian) and his colleagues at the shop prepared for us the most delicious Shawerma sandwiches and Humus (many thanks guys). This place must be on the itinerary for anyone driving to Istanbul through Bulgaria. On the way out of Plovdiv, we stumbled by the illusive McDonalds, but thankfully we had already had a great meal .

Schumacher

The cops in Bulgaria are such sweet hearts; late last night, right after the Bulgarian border, Osama is speeding on the road when a cop pulls us over and goes with a heavy accent: this is not a rally, you think you are Schumacher? He tells us to be careful and abide by the speed limit and sends us off on our merry way; a couple of hours later, while I am driving, another cop pulls us over because I was speeding; I thought we are screwed this time, given the earlier incident; the cop tells us that we need to abide by the speed limit and sends us off in our merry; we had many laughs about the cops stopping us for a third time, this time with Nadim driving, and this timing arresting him, since it would be the third time, while Osama and I pretend to be sleeping. Honga Bonga (use your imagination).

Team Crisis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OK! I can no longer keep this bottled in: so Osama and Nadim hit it off and initially I was pleased with that, but it is becoming a little annoying; examples are abound: one of them sneezes and the other goes “bless you”, “are you ok?”, “oh the allergies, must be hard”, “sa77a” while when I sneeze my lungs out, the conversation goes on as if nothing happened, well, one of them may have to repeat his last sentence with an irritated tone for the rude interruption by my sneeze. I first noticed this, when while driving the stick shift car, eating peanuts, drinking coke and trying to take some pictures (I have to do everything on this trip), I choke on a peanut; naturally, no one notices, and the conversation goes on, while I had to perform the Heimlich maneuver on myself, and continue to eat peanuts, switch gears, take pictures ..etc. To top it off, 10 minutes after the peanut incident, while I am driving on a beautiful road in Serbia heading to the Bulgarian border, we notice the beauty of the valley; next I am parked on the side of this single lane heavily trafficked road, my life on the line, while they are pausing for each other (see pictures). And finally, we drive into a tunnel and I literally can’t see anything because the headlights are so dim, a few hours later at night while Osama is driving, Nadim starts revealing certain buttons in the car that tremendously enhances the situation. Why this was not revealed when I almost ran into a semi inside the tunnel is beyond me. Oh Roy,
where art thou?

Rebuttal: Pure paranoia! Of course this can only come from someone who can only shift a stick and nothing else. The responsibility for keeping the route is with others because Jamal cannot read a map or read road signs, including those indicating the maximum speed. Can anybody be surprised if a “Heimlich maneuver” is necessary when you eat peanuts, drink coke, snap pictures and drive at the same time??!! Actually you don’t need the fog light when you enter a 15 inch tunnel in broad day light and forget that you are wearing sunglasses. I hope the point is clear?

Zrenjanin - Third Day

We had our wonderful guided tour through the city. This is a picture of our heroes Banu and Zoran in front of the statute of the local hero of the city of Zrenjanin.

Third day task completed.

Zrenjanin welcomes Petra Odyssey

Our fabulous hosts the Pavlovs: Branislava, Zoran ,Igor and Ivan along with their friend Misa warmly welcomed us and prepared a feast in our honour! Tomorrow we will be escorted around Zrenjanin.

On the way in Serbia

Heavy rain cannot stop a determined team from pursuing their destination!

Budapest

Budapest. Rain but spirits still high. Lunch at the citadel.

On the way

Near Bad Tötz. Bavaria

Vienna

Arrived safely in Vienna. 18 degrees and a bit windy.
Had a very enjoyable evening with friends and family living in Vienna.
Sending photos via mobile phone from Vienna is exorbitant and will be posting photos as soon as:
a) we find a suitable USB cable (So we forgot to bring one!)
b) a computer that takes our chip card.
c) It's no longer Sunday and we can buy the necessary equipment.

Next station is Budapest.
(Here are the pictures after solving the technical problems)

Answer or swim!

The instructions for the next task are on an island in the middle of the Alpsee (lake). If you know how big the lake is, you get a boat to the island. If you get the answer wrong you have to swim!

Luckily Mazen is either very knowledgeable or a good guesser and was able to row to the island and get the info.

A stone by other name would not be as sweet...

Why a stone? Because there's a hill in Jordan which is not high enough to be a mountain so the teams havee to bring enough stones from a river to make it reach the size of a mountain.

The stone must be stamped by a rally organizer for it to be accepted. Each stone submitting team gets a can of paint and a template of a cow which they must spray on this stone.

Now Jamal el fasee7 doesn't think that their car is colourful enough and suggested adding some colour with the remainder of the paint.

This beauty is now going to make its way to Vienna.

that was easy!

We're good! OK, ready for the next task.

Es geht loooos!

The waiting is over. We got our instructions: Find a river and bring back a stone from that river to get instructions for the next task.

Here we gooooooooooooooo!

While we wait.....

We are now giving a live interview on Hadaf radio on 88FM.

Waiting for instructions

Day one: The sun is shining, the birds are singing. Waiting for the travel instructions. Spirits are very high but soon to be dampened!