Done

It’s done.

After 42 days, 13 countries, 3 mountain ranges, a couple of deserts, a bout of dysentery, 8500km, 800 litres of diesel, countless beers and a good few vodkas, 3 breakdowns, 2 recoveries, no punctures, no crashes but a few accidents, a plethora of sausages, more changes of plan than we ever thought possible and a frightening amount of low quality humour, Bernard has been delivered to SWORDE-Teppa in good working order and full of the potential to really make a difference.

Mission Accomplished.

Where to begin the thanks? Firstly, to all our corporate sponsors – CfBT, Ring Automotive, Really Useful Boxes, Signs Express, Guardian Fire, CS Components, Ribena – it would not have possible (or at least considerably more expensive) without you. Secondly to those who have made donations through our justgiving sites or directly to the Team, you are helping to keep Bernard running and working to help the people of Tajikistan. Thirdly, to everyone else who has supported us in whatever way, whether putting up with incessant talk in the lead up, allowing us to go in the first place, supporting the mad idea right from the beginning, etc; however you have helped, thank you. Finally, to all the family, friends and other supporters, it’s been fun knowing that we have had an audience to play to, and this also helped us attract the sponsors so you have also contributed, unwittingly or not.

A summary of the last week of the trip: having gone to Dushanbe unnecessarily (if information is valuable; correct information must be priceless) we had some fun, made plans and headed back out to the mountains. As you probably know, Tajikistan has quite a few to choose from. However, having only limited time and already being way over budget, we decided to spend a couple of days in the Fan Mountains, as these were close and we had been told of a great trek that was within the capabilities of any well-equipped reasonably fit person. Hmmm. It turns out that 6 weeks of sitting behind (or next to) a steering wheel is actually not the best preparation for serious trekking. It doesn’t help when you don’t have the right equipment and everything you need is improvised, adapted or borrowed.

The map indicated that the start of the trek was about 30km from the main road, showing 10km of road and 20km of track. Needless to say they could not be told apart. The going was extremely tough and my limited 4x4 driving skills were severely tested. It was also a serious test for Bernard, given that he had just driven whoknowshowmany kilometres and was still fully laden. He coped admirably with everything thrown at him: the rough roads, river crossings, fields, tiny tracks clinging to the side of mountains, terrifying bridges and the various wildlife we met on the way. (This is probably not the time to mention the calf whose footing was not as sure as Bernard’s so I won’t.) But everything else went like a dream. And when the shiny new Japanese 4x4 turned up, Bernard kept the side up very well indeed.

The mountains themselves were stunning. Higher than anything in Europe, and relatively undiscovered, it made the long journey and hard trekking thoroughly worthwhile. Admittedly our first night’s camping did not bring much sleep due to the nocturnal antics of the donkeys that we named – for obvious reasons – Stampy, Farty and Honkey. But it did mean that we were up very early the next day and reached our destination before the day got properly hot. The vistas were amazing; the mountains jagged, snowy and awe-inspiring, the valleys deep, the lakes crystal clear and the sky mostly blue. Excellent trekking, I will be going back there (when I am a bit fitter).

The trek done, we returned to Dushanbe for a last night of craziness, a last day of not doing very much and a fairly subdued last supper; then Ed was sent home to prepare for a holiday to recover from the trip. The plan was that Bernard and I would do the last stage on our own, but as hitchhiking is the norm in Tajikistan, and as we hadn’t picked up any all trip, it seemed now or never. So I agreed to give Obid a lift from Dushanbe to Kurgan-Tyube. He seemed very nice, but as he spoke no English and I spoke no Tajik, Russian or Uzbek, the conversation dried up quite rapidly. I did understand when he wanted to stop to chat to a friend at the side of the road and he understood when my destination was sooner than his. He was grateful though and that was clear.

Having arrived at SWORDE-Teppa, the hand-over was swift and enthusiastic. Umed, one of the directors of ST and a proper car fanatic, was overjoyed and immediately began the cleaning process – something that would ultimately take two days to complete! Paul, the other director was equally pleased. They had both been following the progress via the website and, probably like many of us, had had their concerns at times.

Now, although the Tajik registration process is ongoing, Bernard is part of SWORDE-Teppa and has already been put to use driving various people to various places. This will continue extensively over the next few years, gradually increasing in distance as ST now have the capability to expand their sphere of operations.

I will keep you updated on his progress, and as promised, I will get more pictures up the website soon, as well as various other things including stats and other geeky matters.

The final thing I wanted to mention is the CD competition. Although the number of entrants was slightly disappointing, the quality was (mostly) very high. Special mention needs to go to Grant for the sheer number of CDs he made us – it was life-saving at times to have a real choice of real music. Also, a special prize needs to go to Lewis and Claudia, merely for the introduction on their combined effort: the line from Back to the Future, “Roads? Where we’re going, we don’t need roads...” However, there can only be one winner. And the way I ultimately decided that was which CD I wanted to listen to most on the final leg as I made my way from Dushanbe to Kurgan-Tyube. So, ignoring any cries of favouritism, I have to say the CD that got the last listen on Bernard’s Big Trip was made by Lewis. Good work, your prize is on its way (just don’t hold your breath.)

Thanks again to everyone, and one more beg for donations from anyone who has not donated: www.justgiving.com/bernardsbigtrip. You will really be making a difference.

Cheers.


G.