Still Under Kazakh Skies...

So, its been a week but Team Ironsides is still in Kazakhstan.  I am honestly not sure there are words to describe the events that have unfolded just in the last few days, much less since I last blogged.  Given I dont have four hours to spare I will attempt to keep this brief.  After our convoy turned into five cars in Volgograd, Russia we managed to make it to the Kazakh border, only to find out that the ferry to the actual border was closed (seeing as how it was about 2 a.m).  We camped out right next to the ferry and were awakened by the border guards yelling at us to get up and catch the first ferry at about 5:45.  About three hours later we all made it through the border and headed towards the city of Atirau.  24 hours later we left with a convoy now of four cars, plus a random rallier named Ali who was hitching a ride until Astana.  This four team convoy has basically become our staple group consisting still of the two Kiwis, Chris and Ross (Team Wingit Racers), and then two amazing guys from Wales, Tim and Fudge (Team Endo) and finally three guys from Manchester UK, Muzzy, Himi and Dibs (Team Dzogchen).  The next two days were essentially spent driving and camping on the side of the road.  The second of the two days involved us realizing that the suspension on the left hand side of Diana had rusted through into our trunk.  It was then that we also hit the worst roads that I have ever seen in my life.  Im sorry, did I say roads?  I meant a series of ditches.  Which is exactly what they were.  We spent about 5 - 6 hours driving maybe 20 miles an hour over these "roads."  The first hour was fun, driving on dusty, dirty rough roads with our buffs over our faces, the kiwis and the welsh guys hanging out the sides of their Suzuki Jeeps, filming and generally having a great time while I attemtped to navigate my low-riding Fiat with no suspension over non-existent roads, with Tommy hanging out the side window trying to help direct me.  A few hours later in the dark it was less fun.  We rolled into our destination town at about 4 a.m exhausted and every single one of us convered in a thin layer of dust.  We honestly looked like we had each just crawled out of our own graves.  After a slight incident with some intoxicated and ornery Kazakh men at a gas station we drove about 100 km before sleeping in our cars on the side of the road.  We pushed on the rest of that day so as not to lose too much time and then camped again on the side of the road.  The next day we had driven for only a few hours when it became clear that Diana was not doing well.  Those non-roads (series of ditches, Im telling you) had really done a number on her.  We found a mechanic in the nearest town and all waited around there in the sun for several hours.  My favorite moment was definitely when I was sitting on the ground around our cars with ten other guys and these two women come out of the mechanic shop, take me by the hand, lead me inside and point towards a faucet and hand me a bar of soap.  I guess they felt sorry for me!  Anyway, the mechanic finally arrived and basically said that our car was 'caput' unless we completely replaced the engine.  So, we decided to check in to a hotel and find another mechanic for a second opinion.  The next morning Tommy and I took Diana back to another place and got more or less the same response.  As a group we decided we would drive Diana as far as she would go and then when she died we would pile in with the two Suzuki Jeeps belonging to Teams Endo and Wingit Racers.  About 2 miles out of this town, on our glorious way to Astana, Team Endo's SJ started sparking from her exhaust pipe.  Long story short, we decided to send one car ahead to Astana as Himi and Alex both needed to deal with Russian Visa complications, while the rest of us stayed behind and tried to fix our cars.  After yet another day in this small, kazakh town (which we had now named Cocknob...) and several hours of the Kiwis dealing with both the Welsh SJ and Diana (in fact, they spent about 2 hours under Diana on a ramp on the side of the highway while Tim from Team Endo made us all tea...), only to get about 10 miles out of Cocknob before Diana really died.  The accelerator just ceased functioning.  So, once again, we were pulled over, the two SJ's and Diana, in the parking lot of what appeared to be a restaurant.  Tommy and I decided we would try to sell Diana to anyone who would take her in the nearest vacinity, so, while the two other teams emtpied out the SJs to make room for us and our stuff, I marched into the restaurant armed with about 3 Russian words: Car, sell, buy and a note with 500 Tengue written on it, which is about $4.  After the women behind the counter laughed at me, a crazy Kazakh guy started to seemingly engage me and Tommy about the car.  Finally, we realized he was in fact interested in paying us for her, thrusted me the money, filled out the form, climbed in and drove off.  Well, he drove about 10 feet, Diana died, and then after a few anxious moments for me and Tommy, she started again and the crazy kazakh disappeared with our car.  It all happened so fast, we didnt even really get to say good bye.  We then spent the next hour repacking the remaining two vehicles and giving stuff away to three other kazakh guys, who gave us 2 bottles of Russian Vodka.  After eating what we had for food on the side of the road, we finally set off, five of us packed into the Kiwi's SJ and all of our stuff on the top of the other SJ.  That night we slept in our cars and we arrived in Astana this afternoon.  All of it honestly has been surreal.  As I am writing this there is so much more I could saybut this is already turning into a novel.  OH!  I forgot to mention that I then took the 500 tengue that we made for the car, went into the restaurant and bought 7 candy bars.  I managed to communicate to the girls in there that I was spending the money I had just made for the car.  On chocolate.  They definitely thought I was insane.  Anyway, we are now all in Astana together, and have checked into a hotel for the night.  Things are not looking good for Alex's Russian Visa, so he is deciding now whether to continue waiting for it here and then take a train and meet us at a specific town in Russia, or sadly, to just fly home from here.  Tommy and I plan on pushing on with the other three teams as there has proved to be enough space...so, basically, Team Ironsides has suffered some serious losses the past 24 hours, but we arent giving up yet!  The plan is to get to Ulan Bataar around the 19th, hopefully, as that is when the huge end-of-rally-bash is, but it all depends on how things go from here.  Its been an absolutely insane week and I cant wait to share the myriad o? photos we have taken.  I really need to rap this up but do stay tuned as I assume it will only get better.  I apologize for the length and poor writing quality of this entry but I dont have much time and as usual am running on little sleep, little food and way too much testosterone!  I will write again when I can, who knows when that will be.  Wish us luck and say a little prayer for Diana who is now somewhere in a small town in Kazakhstan with a crazy Kazakh who probably thinks he got the deal of a lifetime...