2009/01/18

Hot Wine, Start, Hangover

The day before the start we parked the bus at the start position at around 5PM. We were not really in a very spectecular spot, but we weren't unhappy, only those were who couldn't find us and missed the party.

Bus Number 7, the catering bus threw a farewell party that night for friends, sponsors, and anyone visited us and was interested about our project.

Karcsi made 40 liters of hot wine (really delicious!) we had hot dog sausages, mustard and everything else we needed to soak up the booze. I also remember drinking some hard liquor then some Cuba Libres and who knows what else.

There was always a small crowd around, but we got even more attention when we installed and switched on the disco sphere and put the party speakers on the sun deck and started to play Tiken Jah Fakoly, the reggea king of Mali. Cold didn't matter anymore.

All in all, we managed to close the bus at around 3AM and got home somehow. I don't want to talk aout the wake-up in the morning...

The start ceremony was OK just like the previous years, but the process was obviously slower due to the huge number of vehicles. 90% of the teams set off with a more or less prepared 4WD cars and only a couple of crazy people left who chose a totally unsuitable vehicle for the journey. What a pity. Respect for the minority!

Before the start we were giving away our special edition retro Bus Number 7 calendar. People didn't really understand the concept of it but they appreciated the idea. The headline is" Marry Christmas and Happy New Year!"

There was another bus parking in front of us. We knew them since they contacted us months ago. I hope we helped them and answered all their questions. A funny and good-tempered crowd and they are crazy enough to fill the short Ikarus with 19 (!) people!! Well, that's an achievment! We'cheer for them too.

Some of us who stayed home were on the bus when she rolled under the start gate but we were quite sad to unboard a hundred meters later.

I was still sipping my beer with my ice cold fingers when the bus disappeared in the distance...

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