We woke up at Zsofi's apartment, a little the worse for wear after an exuberant evening, and immediately dared the midday sun to pick up two of the Trabbis and the Mercedes that will be acting as our 'support vehicle'.
Despite my physical condition I was filled with hope at the prospect of seeing the cars we'll be spending the rest of the year in.
On arrival things seemed bad –
The lock was jammed on one Trabbi, so Carlos had to break in through the boot. He smashed off the parcel shelf and slid his scrawny Spanish ass over the backseat, only to find the little tyke had a flat battery.
There was no trouble getting into the other Trabbie, although it too had a dead battery, and once we jumped it and tried to drive off we found the rear wheel had completely seized and we could only drag it along the road.
There was a brief interlude where it seemed things had truly fallen apart. Dehydrated and sweating in the heat, we cursed and considered the possibility that Trabant Trek might amount to little more than a four foot skid mark made by that jammed rear tyre. Apparently a man known only as the Bear has been working on the cars withour mechanic, Gabor, and he claims the wheel seizure is no biggy – the car has just been sitting still too long. "These are Trabants, these things happen."
We had little choice but to leave the Trabbi for the Bear.
After a brief pit stop at the petrol station for fuel, a little air, and a very professional window wash, we took our trophies home.
On further inspection by team mechanic Tony P, the prognosis was heightened to 'good'. It seems the Merc has a fairly new engine, and new wiring, and the Trabbi runs fine. TP fixed the broken door and later that night we found a couple of headrests in a pile of discarded junk.
"This car will get us to Cambodia, I have no doubt" was TP's analysis. Time will tell.
It was also the wee man's birthday, 23 he claims, though that statistic doesn't bear close scrutiny.
We went to Zsofi's folk's house for a party. I made a fool of myself during a brief altercation with a mosquito net, but other than that we came through the event unscathed.
Tomorrow OJ arrives to join the fun.
ends
mrdanmurdoch@gmail.com
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