Best bath ever.....

After a few busy days searching out sand ladders (not an easy task in Budapest let me tell you), loading maps of Africa onto the GPS, press conferences, stuffing ourselves with goulash and discussing various red wine smuggling options with fellow travellers we were both stoked to discover the thermal baths. Even with sub zero air temps the outdoor Szechenyi gyogyfurdo baths are maintained at a sensational 38 deg C thanks to the plentiful, underground thermal springs. Even the ducks on the nearby lake were looking pretty pleased that a little of the hot water was leaking their way. Not only could you lay back an enjoy the sensational mineral bath surrounded by period architecture but you can can also sip on a cool beer at the same time - very civilised!



We checked the Disco in at the start line this afternoon and took a few pics with the sponsors -Martin & Mickael flew in from Doha last night to attend the send off festivities. Tonite we'll attend a function for all the foreign teams participating in this years B2B and look forward meeting a more of the colourful characters that this event attracts. Tomorrow morning we roll out of town enroute for Italy and the rally will be underway - game on!



Public Warning - Anyone visiting WorldGate GPS in Budapest should exercise extreme caution when asking owner "Zoltan" about his home brewed prickly pear liquor. Pete made the fatal mistake earlier today and was only saved when a Dutch team rolled into the store and opened the door long enough for him to duck out! Here's a sample of the SMS I received whilst Pete was under siege "Dude this is way beyond Giddy up, this is spank em hard. A Dutch team has arrived and they are ceremoniously getting greeted by Zultan". Zultan's wife warned Pete too late that Zultan's friends run for cover fast when he reaches for the bottle.

Journey to the other side of the Duna...

Today we ventured across to the otherside of the Duna river (the icey river that separates the two halves of the city) to get maps of Africa loaded on to our GPS. The folks at WorldGate GPS were fantastic they took care of our navigation needs, lined up a garage to wash the car ahead of it's appointment with the press tomorrow am, organised some sand ladders at a fair price, made us a cup of coffee and took care of any translation needs. Speaking of which although not knowing any Hungarian isn't too much of a barrier most of the time not all of the locals understand English. Pete is doing his best to build bridges through, and it was with the best intent that he asked one of the girls behind the bar last night "where could we do our laundry" unfortunately she thought he said "could you do our Laundry for us" and we found it very difficult to get a drink for the rest of the evening!

We can definitely recommend a bar call the "Old Man" if you're ever passing through Budapest. It's a cosy bar with live blues music, relaxed crowd and good atmosphere - even on a freezing Tuesday night the place was jumping.

We're in Budapest!

After a huge team effort (thanks MB) Phase 1 is complete and Pete & I are in Budapest. With the assistance of our coveted Garmin we located our hotel which is walking distance to the start line - which is handy cos there is a SMOG warning in place in Budapest whereby depending on if your number plate ends in an even or odd number you'll actually be able to drive out of Budapest on Saturday?? Lucky for us we have an arabic number plate and will most likely be making some new friends by offering them a tow to the outskirts of the city!

News of Pete's epic journey (Peter of Arabia) has leaked and the international media are after him. Media Manager (Brendan) is carefully scheduling his time such that we can still check out the traditional bath houses around town and some of the subterranean Labyrinths below the streets of Budapest.

Todays Bizarre Moment - We got a bit excited today when we passed a shop which had what we presumed to be masks of Star Wars characters (just what we need for the Stars wars party at "Planet Tatooine" on Day 6 of the rally). On closer inspection they turned out to be kids school bags that were decorations in the store and not actually for sale. Never mind we'll keep searching for that elusive darth vader costume!

10.33am

Brendan writes "We're in Hungary! Very warm welcome at the border. The customs guy wants to do the rally next year so all he wanted was some tips on ho to set up his car. Spirits are high - lunch will be in Buda or Pest!"

4.12pm

Brendan writes "We're in Serbia and I'm eating pork!!"

10.50am

Brendan writes "It took us 50km to revive the heater in the car which had given up, probably frozen. Climbing up towards Sofia after no dramas at Turkey/Bulgaria border."

10.21am

Brendan writes "Just crossed into Bulgaria and it has warmed up to -10!"

Visit to ANZAC cove

What better way for an Aussie and a New Zealander to begin their journey across 3 continents than by paying tribute to there fallen country men at Galipoli.

The detour added ~ 500 km to the trip but was well worth it. Being the middle of winter the coast at ANZAC cove was desserted and as Pete and I stood on the beach where the first soldiers landed at 04:30 on 25th April 1915 you got a real feeling of the isolation they must have experienced. One of the things that struck us both was the extremely small area in which so much blood was spilt. Over 100,000 lives were lost in the 9 month campaign which suceeded in taking hardly enough terra firma for a decent game of beach cricket. The landing at ANZAC cove, cemetaries, battle monuments and general information is extremely well presented and maintained and well worth a look. RIP

4.11pm

Brendan writes "Just departed Galipoli en route to Turkey-Bulgarian border. It was great to pay respect to our fallen countrymen at ANZAC Cove and visit the battlegrounds."

9.31am

Brendan writes "En route to Galipoli - feels really good to be on the road."

10 Jan - Istanbul

The team of 3 (Pete, Brendan and Manoj) are still eating their way through Istanbul. After an epic seafood meal last night (Balik quvec - seafood casserole) Manoj and Brendan have to sneak white bread and sweets cos Pete insists they are just fillers and of no nutritional value! Our tactic today when we passed a Baklava store was for Manoj to distract Pete whilst Brendan ran in and did the deed. The Turkish delight was to die for and in the end even Pete weakened.

After breakfast we headed to Aya Sofya which was only a 5 min walk up the cobbled streets of "old town" from our hotel. Manoj had promised to light a candle for Jim's wife so we split up and covered every inch of the massive buidling in search of a candle. The huge spans of vaulted ceilings, 36m diameter dome in the center and acres of slab marble floors was impressive to say the least. When we finally regrouped we came to the realisation that since converting the premises to Islamic faith perhaps it was no longer possible to light a candle. Pete suggested we could set fire to something but after close scutiny from the security guards we decided against it! Sorry Jimbo we tried!

After our confession session we jumped on the red double decker for a look around the city. Note to self - when it is sub-zero and you're sitting on the top of an opened air bus don't forget some warm clothes - we all needed to be chipped off the seats when the tour finished 2 hours later. However the skies were clear and we got a good look around including the bridge that links the continents of Asia and Europe, the remains of the walls that once protected the ancient city and the many fisherman trying their luck on the Bosphorous.

After the bus tour we defrosted with a coffee and headed to another seafood restaurant this time under a Galata bridge. We enjoyed a lazy lunch as the ferries raced back and forth in front of us. We then legged it back to the hotel in time for Manoj to grab a cab to the airport - he returns to his family in Doha tonight. Big thanks for Manoj for his efforts in getting the team this far with a smooth trip through the borders of Saudi, Jordan, Syria and Turkey. Appreciate it mate. From Pete: Manoj smoothed the way in many potentially difficult situations. He fits in everywhere and speaking Arabic saved our behinds from being shamefully abused, many times. Sans castrol oil. You're a legend.

Tomorrow both Pete and Brendan are looking forward to getting on the road - enough of this hotel / restaurant lifestyle - we're ready to rough it! Our next stop will be a very fitting one for the Kiwi and Aussie as we'll be stopping at Galipoli to pay a little respect. We may be out of internet range for a while as we head up through Bulgaria and Serbia but hope to be in Budapest in 2 days time.

10am

Brendan writes "Just had a big breakfast, going to light a candle for Jim at the Aya Sofya, drop MB at airport and head to Galipoli."

The team members are all in Istanbul!

Brendan writes "In Turkey. Taxi driver is driving like it's still a race but the lads are already drinking beer at the hotel!"

Looking back... Day 3, 4, 5 from Manoj's journal

Day 3 started off a little later at the Meridien Hotel, Lattakia with a short drive through the beautifully green Kassab area of Syria. Then across the border, past Antakya, Adana, Tarsus and Ankara. We ran out of fuel & daylight & slept in the car. Minus 4 deg C with snow outside. 1100 km covered, highest point 1600m.

Ancient site of Ugarit, just north of Lattakia.

More of the site at Ugarit, where the oldest cunieform writing has been found.

Syrian / Turkish border.


The most delicious cake in the world - packed by Samantha. It lasted 3 days because Pete kept it hidden from Manoj. (Editor's note: thanks to Jack for sharing it at the Apache office and Susan for sharing the recipe!)



A lake in Kassab, Syria.

The night spent in the Landy. Someone was snoring.

Days 4 & 5: Pete & Manoj got to Istanbul a just few mintues before Brendan, completing 4000 km by road. After a few beers, and then some more beers we tried to find the Greek Orthodox shed next to the Aya Sofia to light candles for Jim, Marina & world peace. We did not find it, but got a good discount on some postcards - sorry Jim they'll have to do. Good luck Brendan & Pete for the rest of the trip!

Crossing the Bospherous from Asia to Europe. Pete was filming whilst driving. "Take it easy, Pete."

The hotel Acropol, where we stayed. 5 minutes walk from Aya Sofia & the Blue Mosque not to mention countless bars & eateries.

Brendan hits the sack early. He woke up in the bathroom as someone was snoring.

Pete & Manoj outside the Blue Mosque.

The Turks are huge fans of Giri - his name was everywhere. (Editor's note: Manoj's son's name is Giri.)

Entrance to Aya Sofia.

Aya Sofia - still can't find those candles. Maybe it has something to do with the place becoming a mosque a few centuries ago.

Bus tour of Istanbul - all 3 of us were frozen to the core.

Fishermen across the bride over the Golden Horn.

Crustaceans!

One of the old wooden houses of Istanbul.

Fish restaurant below the bridge where the guys were fishing. Welcome! Welcome! (Editor's note: Pick the newbie...)

Pete contemplating the miles ahead.

2.25pm

The boys are cruising through Turkey - Adana, Capadocia, Ankara, Istanbul over two days.

Brendan flies out tomorrow morning to meet them in Istanbul. All packed and ready to roll.

They made it to Turkey!

At 1.31pm today, the team got themselves to Turkey.

9am

Pete writes "Just having what could loosely be described as swine slop complete with swine bits as breakfast at our minus 5 star hotel. We do have a Med view however and there is a reef break. Shower pressure was good."

6am

Pete writes "In Latakia on the Med (Syria close to border with Turkey)."

Manoj says "Price of fuel is increasing as we travel towards Europe - should have bought a tanker trailer of diesel in Saudi!"

From Manoj's Journal

Manoj is safely back in Doha, and shares some of his photographic diary...

Day one of getting the Land Rover Discovery from Doha to Budapest.

Sir Peter Theisinger & Sir Manoj Fiennes took off at 03:55 on 6/01/09 with the objective of meeting up with Sir Brendan Shakleton in Istanbul, 4000 km by road in Istanbul on 9/01/09.

Pete in Green Village compound at 03:30, fully loaded.

Cockpit of the Discovery with no less than 3 different GPS devices.

KSA, Hufhuf

Small town past Hufhuf, where we saw one of the best desert camping shops. Everything you could want and cheap as chips.

Crossing a railway line.

Cooking Pete's egg sandwich.

Pete washing down the sandwich with some tea. Filling up the car was sweet - 40 litres of diesel came to 8 Saudi Riyals or 1.60 GB Pounds.

Saudi is not all desert. There were loads of oases and some freshwater lakes as it rained recently.

Hotel in Turayf, KSA. Outside temperature: -2 Celsius. Price for a twin room for 2 persons 200 Saudi Riyals, which is about 40 GB Pounds.

One of the desert pools of freshwater.

Looking back... Day 2 from Manoj's journal

Day two began at 5:30 am in Turayf, KSA. Then across the border to Jordan, past Amman to the Dead Sea for a dip, back past Aman to Syria near Daraa. Then a drive through Damascus via Homs to Lattakia close to the Turkish border. Total 800 km by road up to 1500 m elevation near Homs.

GPS showing an elevation of minus 345 m as we descend towards the Dead Sea coast.

Dead Sea coast. Just managed to get rid of one of the guys out of the Chemical Brothers music video by giving him a slice of the Bloke's Cake. Much to Manoj's dismay.


Pete in the middle of the Dead Sea - he tried to swim to the other side - but was put off by the guns.

Marriott Hotel, Dead Sea - salmon & cream cheese bagels with tomato pastries washed down with some ice cold orange juice (know what I mean Taz).

The morning after. We didn't manage to take any photos of the drive between Damascus & Homs, which was done in the dark, through a thunderstorm with psychotic Syrian drivers trying to trail us like heat seeking missiles.

Pete applying some TLC to the Landy. We lost some oil in the 2600 km covered so far.