Day 8: Jujuy Potosi (Bolivia) (631 km)
As we said, the real rally begins here ...
Crews who have had difficulties already should remember that we are only just beyond the prologue: there are still 47 days left of this great motoring challenge.
But spare a thought for the crew of one of our 4x4s, Bert Daiberl and Joerg Mautz. We heard yesterday that they had decided to abandon the event, without even leaving Rio. They had major problems: their Toyota Land Cruiser kept breaking down, and by the time it was fixed they felt it would be impossible to catch up with the event's schedule.
Our honeymoon couple, Simon Gaul and his new wife, Gae, have decided to take things easy for a couple of weeks and join up with us again at the beginning of November when we reach Marbella.
We've not seen or heard from Ruedi Mueller and Urban Faessler since they were towed into Campos do Jordao with cylinder head problems, though we hope they will find a way of rejoining us soon.
Today began with a Regularity section for the classic cars, a steepish climb to around 1,000m on a tempting twisty little gravel road around part of the Andean foothills. The route was devoid of Armco, the drops dizzying.
This was just for starters, though. The main road route after that used by all participants led disarmingly gently upwards, to some 3,200m above sea level. The air is thinner here: bodies and cars alike begin to complain if overexerted.
The crossing into Bolivia was straightforward enough. To ease our passage, Bolivian officials had set up a special immigration desk in the open air within the Argentine side of the border.
And then the real challenge of the day began: the 330km Sundance Trail Medal and Explorer section. This ran along a main road gravel throughout, some of it pretty rough in places through a succession of gorges and valleys, punctuated by dry (and one not-so-dry) river crossings, passing through a succession of truly remote small towns and villages: one of the toughest sections of the entire Inca Trail it how it was billed. And so it turned out.
We had ten Gold medallists at the beginning of the day. There were just six left by the end. We bade a sad farewell to Leo Schildkamp and Cees Willemse after they had a coming-together with a local car on the medal section. Both are fine, but the car was looking very sad after the experience. Anthony Ward was last seen in the middle of a small town, hoping to find someone to sort his Mercedes. In a cloud of dust, he failed to spot a 4x4 in front of him, and badly damaged the radiator as he ploughed into the back.
John Blanckley was unlucky, too. His A90's rear axle decided to part company with the springs on the medal section. They made a temporary repair on the spot, but lost their chance of Gold as a result.
There were plenty of other problems, too. A number of classic crews had problems with a river ford at a village where the bridge has been closed for safety. The 4x4s could make it through, but several classics drowned out. A bus dragged Paul and Mary Kane's Mustang out. Mary described it as 'my best ever moment in rallying when we tried it on the key after getting clear, and the engine ran OK.' So their Gold is intact for another day. Another ford victim was the Escort of John and Judi Catt. The inside of their car flooded completely, soaking the luggage. 'And our hotel room this morning looks just like a Chinese laundry!'
Rita Shelly and Mike Knox's MGC put paid to their medal chances when one of its rear spring hangers broke. They were lucky to be in a village where someone had welding equipment, but to bring welder and car together the locals had to physically manhandle the car over a locked gate. Then a makeshift ramp was constructed for the car and the break was triple-welded for strength. The bill at the end? Just 6 pounds.
Lady Pauline Harris and Ann Locks completely destroyed the suspension of their Porsche. They were near the end of the Medal Section, and managed to get a tow into Potosi. On Sunday morning, a garage opened up for them, and they were hopeful of being back on the road very soon.
David Liddell and Mark I'Anson had a similar story with their RS1600 Escort the previous day. They arrived in Corrientes with a broken leaf spring, but found a truck specialist who could weld extra leaves in for strength. They were back on the road for the Corrientes restart, and came through still on Gold. 'It's a fully prepared stage car,' said Mark, 'which is what we both really enjoy. The cooler weather in the Andes is better for it: our shoes have been melting on the floor up to now. It was a brilliant day.'
Paul Markland spent longer out there than he'd bargained for. His Buick had problems earlier in the day, so he was running in in the dark. The Buick's lights aren't too powerful, though, and he and son Paul agreed it would be dangerous to continue. Little does Paul know, but he missed out on the experience of a lifetime. After they told one of our sweeper cars that they were going camping, a local woman agreed to open her home to them both: bed, evening meal, the lot. The sweepers went off in search of the Marklands, but they'd already been swallowed up by the night.
The day was tough on tyres as well as suspension. The Toyota Hi-Lux of Greg Stanley, Chris Cooper and Tessa Bamford was unlucky enough to suffer from four punctures. At around 11.00pm, one of the sweeper crews came upon the vehicle, locked up by the side of the road, no-one on board, abandoned rather like the Marie Celeste. A note on the tail gate read: 'OK. Run out of tyres. Got a lift back to go and find more.'
Spare a though too for the Doreys. No sooner were they back with the rally, than they holed their Alfa's sump again not realising it had taken a knock until the oil warning light came on. After the towing eye was damaged when it was on the end of one of the HERO rescue crews' poles, they had to abandon the Alfa by the roadside and grab a lift into Potosi in the Mitsubishi course car. Now they're debating where they should aim to meet up with us again after the repair job is complete: probably Salta.
So, the tough day more than lived up to expectations. Many crews planned to give Sunday a miss and sort their cars or just relax a little in Potosi after their exertions, and join the Class A cars on their direct trip to La Paz the world's highest capital city - on Monday. For those who want to, there's a much gentler day in store, heading to the lovely old colonial town of Sucre, where the local motor club promise us a brilliant afternoon.
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