Sleeper train

Now sitting at a bar in Kiev. The sleeper train was lots of fun but impossible to sleep on. The train was built in 1962. Lots of wood panels and Persian carpets and also hot water on tap for tea finally.

Our cabin was a million degrees and too noisy for much sleep so we arrived at a relatively dodgy Kiev train station at seven in the morning looking like a load of Zombies with too many bags.

The plane home is later today so we are going to look at a 'charming' street in keiv then get a taxi to the station.

It's been a real adventure and I'm looking forward to getting home and sleeping for as long as physically possible. Then I'm going to the doctors to sort out the weird rash on my back, my gamy knee and the extensive exposure to asbestos my lungs have sustained.

Party

Now sitting on a very sunny beach with a very small hangover.

Last night was the dumball award ceramony for 2012. In true dumball style this involved an unnecessary hour and a half coach ride, and one again the coach driver got lost. The venue was terrible, not sure why we had to travel so far to go to somewhere worse then where we started from but nevermind. After eating we all got drunk it was fun after that. Lester dressed as the queen for the jubilee and the rest of us went as bees, some more sucsessfully then others.

Apparently the coach ride back was mental with broken glass and bottles rolling all over but I was asleep so missed it. We returned to the hotel as the sun was rising and it magic. Some of the guys went to the beach to watch it and I got the picture below from our room

Five star

The dumball is over. All that's left now is the big arse party tonight. At this exact moment I'm sitting on the beach looking out at the black sea. I am the only person on the beach and it's baking. We got to the hotel late, the coach driver got lost, we've been lost for the better part of last week so couldn't complain to much.

Before the coach we had to scrap the car. It was very sad. Before we scrapped the car we had to find the scrap yard. It was a bit bumper cars on the way to the scrapyard. Given that forty people knew that their cars only had to last another five miles there were a fair view shunts and side swipes. We didn't fair to badly but nearly got taken out by a lada. A sad way to go. It was emotionally giving the car up. The car had been our home for many hours. It was made easier when another team let off a fire extinguisher in our back seat.

Victory lap

We just about made it! We all woke up late and hungover excellent conditioning for driving in Moldova.

There was one iron rule for today: do not take the road to Bender. Bender lies in a disputed breakaway state with poor human rights records. There is no diplomatic contact with anywhere and therefore no embassy to help you if you get into trouble.

We took the road to Bender. In a rare stroke of luck our navigator realised their mistake and we turned around. Red squadron didn't turn round but were stopped at the border to bender. They said there were lots of guns on show.

Slight detour over we got to the Ukraine border to meet our police escort for our victory lap of Odessa.

we had one police car to halt rush hour odessa traffic for us, it was carnage. We came within about 5cm of wiping out the team in frount at one point. Driving in a convoy with all of the cars for the first time looked amazing. Eventually we made it to the town square for a cutting of a red tape. Not really sure why but it was fun.

Fire

Moldovian nightclubs are mental. We have just had a sub edible meal at the hotel and are now at a moldovian bar and nightclub called decadence. We have so far payed for no drinks and I'm very drunk. The barmen keep setting light to the bar then making us drink multicoloured things. Moldova doesn't seem too bad so far, not really living up to all the hype. The people seem friendly and the roads are only half deadly.

Horse, pig, cow, child, tram, goblin

We have all had a proper sleep! The hotel we finally got to at midnight was dead posh. The rooms even had kettles amazing.

Currently we are bombing along the worst excuses for roads. We are skirting Moldova and staying in Romania as long as possible because the roads are supposed to be better. Lots of horse and cart and people in ye oldy clothes.

The bee car is looking a bit tired and is molting somewhat but is mechanically sound with only one day to go.

The title are all the things we have had to dodge today.

Our lead car is a Christmas car and we have been giving presents to children in the village.

Commie

Today has been epic. We have been to the most amazing derelict communist monument in Bulgaria. The building was on the top of a mountain and vast. We explored as much as we could in the dark with a tiny head torch but we went too deep underground in the dark and had to turn back.

We are currently stuck in our first traffic jam of the entire trip with 2000 miles done already that's not bad going. The jam is leading up to the Romanian border and is on the bridge over the Danube so its pretty cool.

We are ridiculously behind schedule but no worries iv forgotten what proper sleep feels like now.