Google Navigation Challenge III: from Cape to Cape

[Nessafox]

Narration later

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Tolip+H ... &entry=ttu

[Aislabie]

PREVIOUSLY: DAY ZERO () | DAY ONE (, 1) | DAY TWO ( , 2) | DAY THREE ( , 3) | DAY FOUR () | DAY FIVE ()
DAY SIX ( , 5) | DAY SEVEN () | DAY EIGHT ( , 6) | DAY NINE ( , 7) | DAY TEN ( , 8) | DAY ELEVEN ( , 9)
DAY TWELVE ( , 10) | DAY THIRTEEN ( , 12) | DAY FOURTEEN ( , 13) | DAY FIFTEEN () | DAY SIXTEEN ( , 15)
DAY SEVENTEEN ( , 16) | DAY EIGHTEEN ( , 17) | DAY NINETEEN ( , 19) | DAY TWENTY ( , 20)

Day Twenty-One (21 countries)

Here is Peter and Hanse's route today:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/XfcTn4LFbZ86Vvs48

Another full 10-hour day, this time stretching to 870 km. And if we're counting Western Sahara, that's my 21st country.

[Shadaza]

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/3562%2B ... &entry=ttu

The easiest full-day route i've had to plan yet, follow the highway, reach the hotel, time limit. Piece of piss.

I don't have much witty remarks to say, so I'll just share this amazing place, my home for the night.

[Klon]

The kidnappers, kind enough to get themselves arrested, claim my modified Mercedes-Benz is their property so they can take it once they are out of jail. The bathplug? At least they are "kind" enough to let me keep all the assorted nonsense I bought and the police is kind enough to get a gentleman to drive me to a nearby car dealership. Though it could be worse, a silver fifth-generation Mitsubishi L200 with a 2.5 L 4D56 turbo I4 is not the worst car to continue my journey with.


The first stop is the purchase of aforementioned car, the other stops are for drinks.

Time stamp: 2024-06-11 16:45:57

[Nuppiz]

Leg 21: Seyhan, Adana Province, Türkiye -> Cerkezköy, Tekirdag Province, Türkiye

1024 km in 10 h 3 min without traffic

3 minutes overtime = 15 minutes penalty

[Pinkd56]

START: Mansa Wally John, FCCW+562, Trans-Gambia Hwy, Pakalinding, Gambia

FINISH: Appt Chahama I, Quartier Mscir à 100m Tiguent, Tiguent, Mauritania

TIME ELAPSED (TODAY): 9h45m
TIME ELAPSED (TOTAL): 178h16M



DISTANCE (TODAY): 549km
DISTANCE (TOTAL): 10615km

COUNTRIES VISITED: 20

[tommykl]

April 28th

The finishing stretch! From this point on, it was smooth sailing - or rather driving - across eastern Europe to Norway. Making it through Sudan and Syria almost unscathed was a difficult experience nonetheless, but as other competitors had played it safe or been caught in even more perilous situations, Tom and Yulia had been rewarded with an undeniable lead. All they had to do was not screw it up.

For the first time since Tanzania, the weather wasn't unbearably hot either, allowing for a smooth drive forwards, with the exception of petrol stops (which were allowed to be discounted from driven time). The motorway in fact took them up through the very centre of Turkey, well past a thousand metres of elevation and towards the Anatolian heartland. Nigde was the first large city they came across.



The next big city, about 250km into the day, was Aksaray. They didn't do much crossing of it, but the pictures advertising it from the side of the motorway were enough for them to note it down on the long list of places to re-visit under less stressful circumstances. Even if just for the umbrella street.



Ultimately though, they couldn't check on every single city. The fact is the Turkish motorways were so much faster than what they'd driven this whole time (including in places like South Africa and Egypt) that they were hauling major arse and - with traffic being removed as a factor - were on track to easily beat their personal best for a day's distance. The O-21 merged into the O-20 in the general vicinity of Ankara, but strayed so far outside of the Turkish capital that even they wouldn't dare to imply they'd visited the city.

Continuing north, the E89 twisted on its way back up the Anatolian plateau ad towards the city of Bolu. Off in the distance near Gerede, they could see the tell-tale signs of cut-down trees on the mountainside, indicating ski resorts in the winter.



The road then dropped down through the valley to Düzce, past the halfway mark of the journey for the day. From this point on, it's a straight shoot until the sea of Marmara. Adapazari, then Izmit, and finally, a few kilometres off to the left, Istanbul. The biggest city in Europe, by some metrics and some definitions of Europe. Traffic in the centre was, of course, unbelievably and legendarily awful. Yulia had foreseen this and had very little pushback from Tom when she suggested a slight detour to the north. The clearest bridge across the Bosphorus was the Yavuz Sultan Selim crossing nearest to the Black Sea.

And just like that, they were back in Europe.



From this point on, there was little else to note. The E80 would do all the work for them, forging on west. The 1000km mark was crossed for the first time of the race just outside the small town of Hamitabat. A little bit later, they reached the last place to be added to their 'must visit' list of the day. Edirne, formerly Adrianople, which sometimes brands itself as the most disputed spot on Earth.



Greece came within only a couple hundred metres, but a new country could still be added to the list as they soon crossed over the border into Bulgaria. Svilengrad went past, then with just a couple of minutes remaining on the schedule (once traffic had been factored out), Lyubimets was spotted, with a truck stop just off the motorway. That was all they needed to count as accommodation, and from the simultaneous stop of the Finns still in Turkey, they could tell that as long as nothing more broke down, it was a simple drive north.

Taspinar Butik Otel, Pozanti (Türkiye) to Hatayli Gazi Park, Lyubimets (Bulgaria)

9h57 without traffic (184h09 total)
1118km (13290km total)
435 Bulgarian leva (£2961 total)

[NickyDustyOwl]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/pJvYH4HZMQRMsoNx7

Timestamp: 4:57PM EST

[Nessafox]

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit? ... 529424&z=5


With Digitdan7 failing to post today, this throws the contest ... well the very opposite of open, TommyKL and Nuppiz are escaping at enourmous velocity as both of them have finally reached the European continent.

Lowest Mileage

3042 Rob Dylan (DNF)
4827 Kinnikuniverse (DNF)
5145 Ducktanian (DNF)
6786 pasta_maldonado (DNF)
8201 Loadsamoney (DNF)
9396 Frogfoot9013
9980 NickyDustyOwl
10512 Shadaza
11181 Nessafox
11614 Pinkd56
11871 DigitDan7
11949 Forti
12103 Klon
12212 Girry
12845 Aislabie
13279 TommyKl
13680 Nuppiz

Only 2 people remained under 10000 km, but it's unlikely frogfoot will win this still.


Most countries

21 Aislabie
19 Pinkd56
18 Klon
17 Forti
17 TommyKl
14 Frogfoot9013
12 DigitDan7
12 Nuppiz
11 NickyDustyOwl
11 Nessafox
10 Girry
9 Shadaza
8 Loadsamoney (DNF)
6 pasta_maldonado (DNF)
5 Kinnikuniverse (DNF)
5 Ducktanian (DNF)
3 Rob Dylan (DNF)


The guys here on top will likely stay on top until we reach the balkans.


Stage points
25 TommyKl 1118
18 Nuppiz 1024
15 Aislabie 870
12 Nessafox 756
10 Shadaza 736
8 Girry 729
6 NickyDustyOwl 720
4 Frogfoot9013 642
2 Forti 641
1 Pinkd56 549
0 Klon 546
0 DigitDan7 0


Tommykl broke an all-time distance record, previously held by girry on leg 2! We got an average distance covered today of 694 km's, which is the best we've seen since leg 3 and the fourth best overall.



Championship

194 Nuppiz
193 Aislabie
185 TommyKl
157 Girry
155 DigitDan7
148 Forti
147 Shadaza
134 Klon
130 NickyDustyOwl
130 Nessafox
128 Pinkd56
121 Loadsamoney (DNF)
120 Ducktanian (DNF)
73 Frogfoot9013
42 pasta_maldonado (DNF)
33 Kinnikuniverse (DNF)
32 Rob Dylan (DNF)

And Nuppiz has taken back the lead.

Daily random object generator:
7, forti! Piece of gum.



Penalties
Frogfoot 9013, 550 (110 mins overtime)
shadaza: 16 (4 mins overtime)
Nuppiz 12 (3 mins overtime)

Bans
Shadaza is banned from entering Russia, as he's suspected of pro-Ukraine sentiment.
Frogfoot9013 is banned from entering Ukraine, as she's suspected of pro-Russian sentiment

Country rng's



Chad

Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 45¨C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 20%

50

Sudan
Weather (% rain) 1%, more than 40*C
68
chance of something going wrong,
General: up to 50%
18, you get kidnapped, they then think you're actually a kid and are all like 'yeah sorry can't do that mate' and leave you alone after 2 hours lost
Darfur: up to 100%
they're tired of your western decadence, go to mekka.


Senegal
Weather (% rain) 1%
42
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
30

Gambia
Weather (% rain) 1% more than 30*C
69
chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
84

Mauretania
Weather (% rain) 1% more than 30*C
85
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
58
Egypt
Weather (% rain) 2%, more than 40%
24
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
71

Libya
Weather (% rain) 0% more than 35*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 50%
40, i'll rng it when you decide to go there

Tunisia
Weather (% rain) 24%
83
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
28

Algeria
Weather (% rain) 6%
16
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
93

Western Sahara
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
31

Morocco
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
29

Spanish exclaves (Ceuta, Mellila, etc)
Weather (% rain) 1%
64
chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
94

Saudi-Arabia
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 20%
12, haram! go work on the NEOM line for a day.

UK (Gibraltar)
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
57

Malta
Weather (% rain) 20%
56
Chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
5 you get an overdose of civil rights, you turn every letter of the LGBTQ+

Jordan
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 20%
18 someone tears of your car door, somehow, find a car shop

Palestine
Weather (% rain) 5%, more than 30*C
13 it might be raining bombs, but at least it's dry
chance of something going wrong
Gaza: minimum 100%
West Bank up to 100%
82, hospitalised for 3 days. The circumstances as to how and why are fairly unclear, but it seems to involve the Americans.

Israel
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 50%
31, difficult safety procedures, lose 3 hours time.

Syria
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 50%
1 you hit a goat.

libanon
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 20%
86

Iraq
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 50%
47, i'll think of something when you decide to actually go there

Turkey
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 20%
46

Cyprus
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
59

Georgia
Weather (% rain) 60%, more than 30°C
82
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
84

Armenia
Weather (% rain) 46%
65
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
41

Azerbaijan
Weather (% rain) 30, more than 30°C
71
General: chance of something going wrong up to 20%
82
Nagorno-Karabach: chance of something going wrong up to 50%
21, i'll think of something when you go there

Greece
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35°C
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
30


Bulgaria
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30°C
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
61

Romania

Weather (% rain) 38%
39
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
36

Moldova

Weather (% rain) 32%
38
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
67

Ukraine

Weather (% rain) 2%
98
chance of something going wrong
regular ukraine: up to 50%
100
warzone: up to 100%
75, you get hit, spend 4 days in a hospital

North-Macedonia
Weather (% rain) 6%
88
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
71



Albania

Weather (% rain) 15%
58
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
36


Kosovo

Weather (% rain) 61%
19 light rain, lose 15 mins
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
50


Montenegro

Weather (% rain) 46%
99
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
83


Serbia

Weather (% rain) 9%
29
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
43


Bosnia-Herzegovina

Weather (% rain) 74%
37, lose half an hour with rain
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
11


Croatia
Weather (% rain) 2%
62
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
25


Slovenia
Weather (% rain) 3%
48
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
60


Italy
Weather (% rain) 2%
27
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
15


Order of Malta

Weather (% rain) 2%
76
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
57


Vatican City
Weather (% rain) 2%
57
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
43


San Marino
Weather (% rain) 2%
26
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
10


Spain
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
49


Portugal
Weather (% rain) 2%
69, you'll get wet, but it isn't rain
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
90


Andorra
Weather (% rain) 1%
94
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
54

Leg 22 is open now, next deadline is monday 17th of june, 2024, 23;59 GMT+1

After that, there will be a summer break until the 4th of july, as admin goes to some metal festivals and will likely be starting up a professional training. Please take that available time to catch up with your narration.

[Nessafox]

Narration later, Admin reaches Turkiye


https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Opal+Ho ... &entry=ttu

[Aislabie]

PREVIOUSLY: DAY ZERO () | DAY ONE (, 1) | DAY TWO ( , 2) | DAY THREE ( , 3) | DAY FOUR () | DAY FIVE ()
DAY SIX ( , 5) | DAY SEVEN () | DAY EIGHT ( , 6) | DAY NINE ( , 7) | DAY TEN ( , 8) | DAY ELEVEN ( , 9)
DAY TWELVE ( , 10) | DAY THIRTEEN ( , 12) | DAY FOURTEEN ( , 13) | DAY FIFTEEN () | DAY SIXTEEN ( , 15)
DAY SEVENTEEN ( , 16) | DAY EIGHTEEN ( , 17) | DAY NINETEEN ( , 19) | DAY TWENTY ( , 20)
DAY TWENTY-ONE ( , 21)

Day Twenty-Two (22 countries)

Here is Peter and Hanse's route today:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/xkzSRTgV3c9ksJUR7

For the first time in a while, Peter and Hanse take a little bit of a penalty into tomorrow: even after a miraculously traffic-free run, they still arrive at their hotel after 10 hr 3 min of driving - this will result in a 15 minute penalty on Day 23.

[Shadaza]

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/HVXG%2B ... &entry=ttu

I'm out of the Sahara, LETS GO!



I'm in Saida the last stretch now.

[Nuppiz]

Leg 22: Cerkezköy, Tekirdag Province, Türkiye -> Šajkaš, Vojvodina, Serbia

950 km in 9 h 45 min without traffic

Three drink stops and two gas stops.

[DigitDan7]

Day 22

Let's just say the Volvo broke down (I curse thee, Honkai brainrot!).

ROUTE



Start: GAMA Full Catering, Hassi R'Mel, Algeria
End: Hotel Four Seasons 34WQ+78J, Ghazaouet, Algeria
Distance: 804km
Time: 9h 18min

[Klon]

Let's just say the Volvo broke down (I curse thee, Honkai brainrot!).

Shoulda made a choice to go fight against your fate and just done your task



Time stamp: 2024-06-15 08:26:59

[Pinkd56]

START: Appt Chahama I, Quartier Mscir à 100m Tiguent, Tiguent, Mauritania

FINISH: Hotel Noujoum Mhariz mhariz bir Gundouz 73003 (W SAHARA)

TIME ELAPSED (TODAY): 9h45m
TIME ELAPSED (TOTAL): 186h20M



DISTANCE (TODAY): 634km
DISTANCE (TOTAL): 11249km

COUNTRIES VISITED: 21

[NickyDustyOwl]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/apbYquwzyt3yskPg9

Timestamp: 4:07PM EST

[tommykl]

April 29th

Oh dear god, was it this hot the day before? The thermometer in the car indicated 32 degrees when Yulia and Tom left the truck stop in the morning, and with the Land Rover's air conditioning being... shall we say 'limited', some more drinks stops would be required. For now though, it was time to carry forward towards the northwest, following the past of least resistance towards Mitteleuropa. First, they crossed through the ancient region of Thrace, spread out over Greece, Turkey and Bulgaria, passing by the remains of the tomb at Aleksandrovo.



The A4 merged into the A1 (or the E80 as far as the rest of Europe was concerned), followed shortly thereafter by the first rest stop, the Happy Bar and Grill next to a petrol station just outside Plovdiv. They filled up more than enough, but still sopped again at the Go Grill a bit further west outside Pazardzhik. They hadn't planned for rest stops before the morning and did not want to get caught out later on by missing some. 250km into the drive, they passed Sofia. Yulia's already well-worn navigation skills were complemented by her advantage in the region of being Slavic, but this turned out to have limitations as it turned out Ukrainian and Bulgarian were not as mutually intelligible as she'd hoped for.



They left the motorway shortly thereafter to properly continue the drive through the Balkan mountains, stopping at a roadside Turkish restaurant for one last supply raid and the store next to it for a refill of entertainment material: magazines, puzzle books, party games, etc. The border with Serbia was fast approaching, whereupon they rejoined the E80 towards Nis in a country neither of them had visited before. Yulia had been to Turkey and Tom to Bulgaria, so this was the first such place since Syria!



Past Lapovo, they found that at some point, the road was now the E75 instead of the E80. This was their first encounter with the road they would largely follow all the way to Nordkapp, although, not quite the whole way. This road soon began to twist and turn, doing its best to avoid even breathing at the floodplain of the river Danube, which passes through the Serbian capital of Belgrade. Trying their best not to - under any circumstances - hand it to the Serbs, they performed one of their tried and tested manoeuvres and circumvented the city by following the ring road the whole way before continuing north again past Novi Sad.

Signs announcing Subotica as the next city soon started to also announce the Hungarian border, which, judging from the Finnish team having not yet reached Bulgaria the previous day, would guarantee they'd again have a country's lead over them. The crossing was almost trouble-free - aside from heavy rains overnight causing heavier traffic than anticipated - and they passed Szeged to their right with over 850km under their belts.



The surprisingly large city of Kecskemet was the last notable landmark passed on an ultimately pretty uneventful day. Budapest was almost within their grasp, but they had to settle for falling 15 minutes or so short, leaving the motorway for a convention centre just off of it. A four-star experience with restaurants and a fitness centre, it was a definite upgrade on the Bulgarian truck stop!



Hatayli Gazi Park, Lyubimets (Bulgaria) to Flow Hotel and Conference, Inarcs (Hungary)

9h54 plus 5 minutes of weather delay (194h08 total)
1008km (14298km total)
153 euro (£3090 total)

[Nessafox]

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit? ... 337978&z=4


Least Mileage

3042 Rob Dylan*
4827 Kinnikuniverse*
5145 Ducktanian*
6786 pasta_maldonado *
8201 Loadsamoney*
9396 Frogfoot9013
10725 NickyDustyOwl
11333 Shadaza
11966 Nessafox
12248 Pinkd56
12634 Forti
12675 DigitDan7
12946 Klon
13060 Girry
13721 Aislabie
14287 TommyKl
14630 Nuppiz

*Retired

Most Countries

22 Aislabie
20 Pinkd56
19 TommyKl
18 Klon
18 Forti
14 Frogfoot9013
14 Nuppiz
12 DigitDan7
12 Nessafox
12 Girry
11 NickyDustyOwl
9 Shadaza
8 Loadsamoney*
6 pasta_maldonado*
5 Kinnikuniverse*
5 Ducktanian*
3 Rob Dylan*

*Retired

Stage Points

25 TommyKl 1008
18 Nuppiz 950
15 Aislabie 876
12 Girry 848
10 Klon 843
8 Shadaza 821
6 DigitDan7 804
4 Nessafox 785
2 NickyDustyOwl 745
0 Pinkd56 634
0 Frogfoot 0


Championship
212 Nuppiz
210 TommyKl
208 Aislabie
169 Girry
161 DigitDan7
155 Shadaza
149 Forti
144 Klon
134 Nessafox
132 NickyDustyOwl
128 Pinkd56
121 Loadsamoney*
120 Ducktanian*
73 Frogfoot9013
42 pasta_maldonado*
33 Kinnikuniverse*
32 Rob Dylan*

*Retired

Daily random object generator:
15, its Nuppiz!
Shark. Well i guess to the Ikea it is.




Penalties
Aislabie 15 (3 mins overtime)
shadaza: 60 (12 mins overtime)
Klon 5 (1 minutes overtime)
Girry 40 (8 Minutes overtime)

Bans
Shadaza is banned from entering Russia and Belarus, as he's suspected of pro-Ukraine sentiment.
Frogfoot9013 is banned from entering Ukraine, as she's suspected of pro-Russian sentiment
TommyKl's co-driver is 'sort of' banned from Russia and Belarus because of Ukrainian nationality



Chad

Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 45¨C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 20%

97

Sudan
Weather (% rain) 1%, more than 40*C
6
chance of something going wrong,
General: up to 50%
6, you get a metal allergy, visit a pharmacy
Darfur: up to 100%
62
they're tired of your western decadence, go to mekka.


Mauretania
Weather (% rain) 1% more than 30*C
23
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
35

Egypt
Weather (% rain) 2%, more than 40%
35
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
84

Libya
Weather (% rain) 0% more than 35*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 50%
5 the angry goat from Tunisia has inspired other goats, you lose 10 mins.

Tunisia
Weather (% rain) 24%
18, it... actually rains in, lose 15 mins.
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
50

Algeria
Weather (% rain) 6%
52
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
4 A big fan of Zinedine Zidane gives you a headbutt. Get a bandage in a pharmacy.

Western Sahara
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
99

Morocco
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
41

Spanish exclaves (Ceuta, Mellila, etc)
Weather (% rain) 1%
9
chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
92

Saudi-Arabia
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 20%
51

UK (Gibraltar)
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
23

Malta
Weather (% rain) 20%
18, lose 15 mins
Chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
13

Jordan
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 20%
17, it's Michael Jordan, he tells you to retire. You try to ignore him but locals want to call with him since they don't have that much great news in the Middle East, lose an hour.

Palestine
Weather (% rain) 5%, more than 30*C
31
chance of something going wrong
Gaza: minimum 100%
West Bank up to 100%
82, hospitalised for 3 days. The circumstances as to how and why are fairly unclear, but it seems to involve the Americans. (same rng roll as yesterday)

Israel
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 50%
54

Syria
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 50%
79

libanon
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 20%
9, The Hezbollah guarantee your safety but how much is it worth? Lose 30 mins.

Iraq
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 50%
88

Turkey
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 20%
41

Cyprus
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
15

Georgia
Weather (% rain) 60%, more than 30°C
68
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
65

Armenia
Weather (% rain) 46%
98
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
11

Azerbaijan
Weather (% rain) 30, more than 30°C
51
General: chance of something going wrong up to 20%
89
Nagorno-Karabach: chance of something going wrong up to 50%
66

Greece
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35°C
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
13

Mount Athos

Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35°C
chance of something going wrong up to 100%
37, yeah, the problem is, they don't allow anyone in that easy, so it takes you 3 hours of negotiating before you can enter. Another problem, you can't enter by car so you have to do it by foot.


Bulgaria
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30°C
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
73

Romania

Weather (% rain) 38%
76
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
45

Moldova

Weather (% rain) 32%
11, drizzle, lose 5 minutes.
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
42

Ukraine

Weather (% rain) 2%
90
chance of something going wrong
regular ukraine: up to 50%
94
warzone: up to 100%
40, you get hit, spend 2 days in a hospital

North-Macedonia
Weather (% rain) 6%
2, barely enough rain to fill a cup, but it's a free drink nevertheless.
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
31



Albania

Weather (% rain) 15%
79
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
78


Kosovo

Weather (% rain) 61%
68
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
39


Montenegro

Weather (% rain) 46%
14, drizzle, you lose 15 mins
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
78


Serbia

Weather (% rain) 9%
2, drizzle, you lose no time
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
97


Bosnia-Herzegovina

Weather (% rain) 74%
7, drizzle, you lose 5 minutes
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
93


Croatia (There's no going back, whoa-hoooa)
Weather (% rain) 2%
82
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
67


Slovenia
Weather (% rain) 3%
95
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
81


Italy
Weather (% rain) 2%
29
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
25


Order of Malta

Weather (% rain) 2%
50
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
32


Vatican City
Weather (% rain) 2%
90
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
15n they frown upon your arrival but don't act upon it.


San Marino
Weather (% rain) 2%
96
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
82


Spain
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
96


Portugal
Weather (% rain) 2%
39
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
9, Angry Miguel noises can be heared, it doesn't affect your race though.

Andorra
Weather (% rain) 1%
70
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
42
France
Weather (% rain) 1%
51

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
84

Switzerland
Weather (% rain) 4%
97

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
76

Liechtenstein
Weather (% rain) 2%
65

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
66

Austria
Weather (% rain) 1%
98

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
80

Hungary
Weather (% rain) 1%
97

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
12

Slovakia
Weather (% rain) 1¨%
10

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
72

Czechia
Weather (% rain) 3%
27

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
66

Poland
Weather (% rain) 1%
39

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
94

Belarus

Weather (% rain) 2%
83

chance of something going wrong up to 10% (but...)
46

Estonia
Weather (% rain) 20%
96

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
48

Latvia
Weather (% rain) 2%
78

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
71

Lithuania
Weather (% rain) 2%
42

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
69 OwO

Germany
Weather (% rain) 2%
29

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
40

Luxembourg
Weather (% rain) 55%
38, lose half an hour

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
73

Belgium
Weather (% rain) 2%
19

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
27

Netherlands
Weather (% rain) 2%
45
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
4, you get accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a collegue, it's unfounded, but you lose 15 mins talking to the police.

Denmark
Weather (% rain) 2%
45

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
17

Russia
Weather (% rain)
Sochi 2%
74
Rostov 2%
51
Voronezh 3%
17
Moscow 75%
51, lose an hour
Sint Petersburg 68%
88
Kaliningrad 17%
20

chance of something going wrong up to 20%
11, . They search your stuff to make sure there's no western decadence. You lose an hour.

England (UK)
Weather (% rain) 1% (but it is England so take this rng with a grain of salt)
72, then again, what is a prediction in English weather?

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
77


Leg 26 is open now, next deadline is the 4th of july, 2024, 23;59 GMT+1

[Nessafox]

NArration later, i arrive at the Black Sea

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Kale,+A ... &entry=ttu

[Aislabie]

PREVIOUSLY: DAY ZERO () | DAY ONE (, 1) | DAY TWO ( , 2) | DAY THREE ( , 3) | DAY FOUR () | DAY FIVE ()
DAY SIX ( , 5) | DAY SEVEN () | DAY EIGHT ( , 6) | DAY NINE ( , 7) | DAY TEN ( , 8) | DAY ELEVEN ( , 9)
DAY TWELVE ( , 10) | DAY THIRTEEN ( , 12) | DAY FOURTEEN ( , 13) | DAY FIFTEEN () | DAY SIXTEEN ( , 15)
DAY SEVENTEEN ( , 16) | DAY EIGHTEEN ( , 17) | DAY NINETEEN ( , 19) | DAY TWENTY ( , 20)
DAY TWENTY-ONE ( , 21) | DAY TWENTY-TWO ( , 22)

Day Twenty-Three (24 countries)

Here is Peter and Hanse's route today:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/qnbpa2XmRe8VdmWu8

The boys are in Europe! Thanks to the wonders of no traffic whatsoever, we reach Marbella in 9 hr 58 and things are looking up!

[Nuppiz]

Leg 23: Šajkaš, Vojvodina, Serbia -> Piotrkow Trybunalski, Lodz Voivodeship, Poland

1 032 km in 10 h without traffic

Two gas stops and one Blåhaj stop.

[Pinkd56]

After several days with laptop issues, I manage to finally get my words down! I awake in the Hotel Noujoum Mhariz in bir Gundouz, Western Sahara.

As per several other similar places I've stayed in the continent, this is a bit spartan but it does the job.
Today won't be a day where I will see pretty sights, it's just sand as far as you can see. I have a couple of stops on the way up to the disputed border with Morocco. First is the Caffe Busola in Lagouira, a popular roadside café for people doing the same trip I am. Quite literally an oasis in the middle of the desert.

I stop later for some further refreshment in crypto food & coffee in Boudjour, which is one of the bigger towns I've passed through in recent days.

Boudjour

After a relatively stress free crossing, I am now in Morocco. I continue north to the El Boura beach near Tarfaya, where I manage to wangle a beach hut on a popular fishing spot. It's absolutely roasting, so I can cope with a sea breeze.


I think I've got another day at least in Morocco, and it's good to finally be on roads which aren't absolutely garbage. Europe is in touching distance - which is encouraging. I've heard that two of the people who went via the Eastern route are doing a lot better than me. I think back to my scout friend from Togo.

"Hello, MŠK Púchov? I might have two players for you..."

I also drop an email through to the UK border force in Gibraltar, with a tip off about a modified Ford Pickup being used to import illicit materials...



START: Hotel Noujoum Mhariz mhariz bir Gundouz 73003 (W SAHARA)

FINISH: interminable rooms, X58H+74, Tarfaya, Morocco

TIME ELAPSED (TODAY): 9h38m
TIME ELAPSED (TOTAL): 195h58M



DISTANCE (TODAY): 846km
DISTANCE (TOTAL): 12095km

COUNTRIES VISITED: 22

Essential Oils distributed: 5/5!

[tommykl]

April 30th
Just a handful of days to go now. All European motorways, no unbearably hot weather, no warzones and - according to a quick check of the position of the competition - no more threats to Tom and Yulia's lead. Though part of them felt it would be tempting fate to speak it into the world, it was starting to feel like a victory lap, a celebratory road trip through central and northern Europe to shake off as much of the previous weeks' trauma as possible. The first waypoint on the day's drive would be Budapest.



No, wait, narrated too soon. Of course, like a dozen capital cities before it, they would only get to see the ring road around Budapest. Oh, did they miss the comforts of a large city. Even when the day finished near a metropolis, they were often too knackered to make an off-the-clock trip to it in the evening. The last such opportunity was... hell, Suez, then Juba before that.

Tata and Gyor came and went, all they saw of them being their names on road signs and exit ramps. Soon enough the border to yet another new country (for Tom if not for Yulia), Slovakia, was crossed. At least this time the motorway had the common courtesy to give them a quick view of Bratislava from it as they crossed the Danube.



It quickly made its way onto the ever-growing 'to-visit' list with the promises of a zoo and a Smurf-themed amusement park on the western side of the city. That was pretty much it for the country, as within a half-hour they'd come out the other side and into the Czech countryside, yet another new country. The first major city on the way in this case made Tom somewhat excited for motorsport reasons: Brno, home of the Masaryk Circuit... which was sadly on the complete other side of the city.



The road forked east, turning into the E462 motorway. Olomouc passed, then Ostrava, and shortly thereafter, the first country of the journey that both had been to before: Poland. Weaving and avoiding Gliwice, Chorzow and Katowice, the road was now the E75 and powered through the mainly agricultural plains of southern Poland. The old city of Czestochowa followed, then the smaller town of Radomsko. At Piotrkow Trybunalski, the road merged with the E67 and verged northeast. An hour or so later, their desire to drive through a capital was answered.



Well, it wasn't quite the centre of Warsaw, but the brand new Zachodnia train station counted for something in their minds. Completely starved for urban interaction, they continued to pray for another city that day, even a town would do. An hour later, they found it as it wound up being quicker to exit the E67 for a couple of kilometres to cut straight through the centre of the lovely town of Lomza (pronounced Wom-Zha).



Continuing another while longer, they figured that exits with small-town hotels would be plentiful, but as they ventured further into northeastern Poland, things started to get worrying. No exits were forthcoming. Finally, with just one minute left on the clock and the worries of penalties coming into play beginning to creep in, they could finally exit the motorway. Yulia used her Polish skills to blag a night in a holiday lodge one minute late. Most of Europe was crossed. What could go wrong?

Flow Hotel and Conference, Inarcs (Hungary) to Dabrowskiego 17, Nowa Wies Elcka (Poland)

10h01 without traffic (204h09 total)
1109km (15407km total)
589 Polish zlotych (£3206 total)

[Nessafox]

The deadline is extended with one week because health problems. See you later.

[Klon]

Time stamp: 2024-07-11, 21:58:56 CEST

[DigitDan7]

Day 23

¡YO SOY ESPAÑOL, ESPAÑOL, ESPAÑOL!

ROUTE



Start: Hotel Four Seasons 34WQ+78J, Ghazaouet, Algeria
End: Parador de Lorca, Castillo de Lorca, s/n, 30800 Lorca, Murcia
Distance: 364km (don't think that includes the ferry...)
Time: 9h 54min

[NickyDustyOwl]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/ZwctpjnHmzTCA6sE9

Timestamp: 5:50PM EST

[Nessafox]

Racing resumes!



The two leaders are now really too far ahead to say someone else than them will win, but anyone can still grab third place.


Lowest mileage

3042 Rob Dylan*
4827 Kinnikuniverse*
5145 Ducktanian*
6786 pasta_maldonado *
8201 Loadsamoney*
9396 Frogfoot9013
11333 Shadaza
11502 NickyDustyOwl
12668 Nessafox
13039 DigitDan7
13094 Pinkd56
13453 Forti
13713 Klon
13827 Girry
14604 Aislabie
15396 TommyKl
15662 Nuppiz

It's unlikely frogfoot will even get classified and Shadaza seems to have lost the will to continue, so let's see who wins this.


Most countries
24 Aislabie
22 TommyKl
21 Pinkd56
20 Klon
19 Forti
18 Nuppiz
14 Frogfoot9013
13 DigitDan7
13 Girry
12 Nessafox
12 NickyDustyOwl
9 Shadaza
8 Loadsamoney
6 pasta_maldonado
5 Kinnikuniverse
5 Ducktanian
3 Rob Dylan


Aislabie's running off but Pinkd56 and Forti are following a similar route, and once Klon enters Europe, things might get shaken up a bit as well. Since TommyKl and Nuppiz are almost there, they won't be adding a lot to their list.


Stage points
25 TommyKl 1109
18 Nuppiz 1032
15 Aislabie 883
12 Pinkd56 846
10 Forti 819
8 NickyDustyOwl 777
6 Klon 767
4 Girry 767
2 Nessafox 702
1 DigitDan7 364

A third TOM-NUP-AIS in a row

Championship
235 TommyKl
230 Nuppiz
223 Aislabie
173 Girry
162 DigitDan7
159 Forti
155 Shadaza
150 Klon
140 NickyDustyOwl
140 Pinkd56
136 Nessafox
121 Loadsamoney
120 Ducktanian
73 Frogfoot9013
42 pasta_maldonado
33 Kinnikuniverse
32 Rob Dylan

Aislabie already said he didn't want to win the championship because disagreement over the rules, but chances are high that he will anyway

Daily random object generator:
2, TommyKL
bottle of ink.
He seem to have writing ambitions.

Penalties
You're all free!

Bans
Shadaza is banned from entering Russia and Belarus, as he's suspected of pro-Ukraine sentiment.
Frogfoot9013 is banned from entering Ukraine, as she's suspected of pro-Russian sentiment
TommyKl's co-driver is 'sort of' banned from Russia and Belarus because of Ukrainian nationality

Country rng's


Sudan
Weather (% rain) 1%, more than 40*C
13
chance of something going wrong,
General: up to 50%
89
Darfur: up to 100%
77
they're tired of your western decadence, go to a sacred place of Islam worship


Egypt
Weather (% rain) 2%, more than 40%
45
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
5, as you enter an ancient tomb, some curse will fall upon you. Everyone you get in phyical contact with will die.

Libya
Weather (% rain) 0% more than 35*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 50%
94

Tunisia
Weather (% rain) 24%
37
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
93

Algeria
Weather (% rain) 6%
31
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
23

Morocco
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
16

Spanish exclaves (Ceuta, Mellila, etc)
Weather (% rain) 1%
83
chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
44

Saudi-Arabia
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 20%
46

UK (Gibraltar)
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
48

Malta
Weather (% rain) 20%
4, lose 5 mins
Chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
17

Jordan
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 20%
75

Palestine
Weather (% rain) 5%, more than 30*C
63
chance of something going wrong
Gaza: minimum 100%
West Bank up to 100%
33, you travel under severe security and lose 5 hours

Israel
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 50%
19, you travel under severe security and lose 3 hours

Syria
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 50%
7 are you syri-us? anyway you lose 1 hour with the border guards

libanon
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 20%
38

Iraq
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 50%
99

Turkey
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 20%
29

Cyprus
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
30

Georgia
Weather (% rain) 60%, more than 30°C
10, light rain, lose 10 mins
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
9,the mafia confiscate your car, get a new one

Armenia
Weather (% rain) 46%
27, lost 30 mins
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
19

Azerbaijan
Weather (% rain) 30, more than 30°C
75
General: chance of something going wrong up to 20%
34
Nagorno-Karabach: chance of something going wrong up to 50%
85

Greece
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35°C
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
99

Mount Athos

Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35°C
chance of something going wrong up to 100%
16, yeah, the problem is, they don't allow anyone in that easy, so it takes you 1 hours of negotiating before you can enter. Another problem, you can't enter by car so you have to do it by foot.


Bulgaria
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30°C
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
68

Romania

Weather (% rain) 38%
36, you lose half an hour
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
84

Moldova

Weather (% rain) 32%
92
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
13

Ukraine

Weather (% rain) 2%
53
chance of something going wrong
regular ukraine: up to 50%
17, your car gets hit in the crossfire, get a new window, visit a doctor just to be sure
warzone: up to 100%
14, your car gets hit in the crossfire, get a new window, visit a doctor just to be sure

North-Macedonia
Weather (% rain) 6%
50
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
55



Albania

Weather (% rain) 15%
80
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
57


Kosovo

Weather (% rain) 61%
79
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
90


Montenegro

Weather (% rain) 46%
63
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
13


Serbia

Weather (% rain) 9%
13
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
47


Bosnia-Herzegovina

Weather (% rain) 74%
61, you lose an hour in the rain
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
63


Croatia
Weather (% rain) 2%
73
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
86


Slovenia
Weather (% rain) 3%
74
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
86


Italy
Weather (% rain) 2%
70
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
10


Order of Malta

Weather (% rain) 2%
25
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
96


Vatican City
Weather (% rain) 2%
79
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
6, you're pushing your luck...


San Marino
Weather (% rain) 2%
20
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
67


Spain
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
62


Portugal
Weather (% rain) 2%
85
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
61

Andorra
Weather (% rain) 1%
29
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
82
France
Weather (% rain) 1%
20

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
67

Switzerland
Weather (% rain) 4%
19

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
74

Liechtenstein
Weather (% rain) 2%
8

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
85

Austria
Weather (% rain) 1%
54

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
74

Hungary
Weather (% rain) 1%
90

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
69

Slovakia
Weather (% rain) 1¨%
99

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
85

Czechia
Weather (% rain) 3%
2, barely felt drizzle

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
27

Poland
Weather (% rain) 1%
97

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
91

Belarus

Weather (% rain) 2%
19

chance of something going wrong up to 10% (but...)
19

Estonia
Weather (% rain) 20%
32

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
33

Latvia
Weather (% rain) 2%
13

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
93

Lithuania
Weather (% rain) 2%
92

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
63

Germany
Weather (% rain) 2%
46

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
17

Luxembourg
Weather (% rain) 55%
5, lose 5 mins

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
79

Belgium
Weather (% rain) 2%
85

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
35

Netherlands
Weather (% rain) 2%
78
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
59

Denmark
Weather (% rain) 2%
68

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
63

Russia
Weather (% rain)
Sochi 2%
55
Rostov 2%
7
Voronezh 3%
33
Moscow 75%
62 ose an hour
Sint Petersburg 68%
74
Kaliningrad 17%
54

chance of something going wrong up to 20%
71

England (UK)
Weather (% rain) 1% (but it is England so take this rng with a grain of salt)
4, it's as dry as your gin, which is a liquid

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
19


Finland
Weather (% rain) 11%
65

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
52

Sweden
Weather (% rain) 8%
39

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
65

Norway
Weather (% rain) 3%
24

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
47




Next deadline is thursday 18th of june 2024 23:59 GMT+1

[Aislabie]

PREVIOUSLY: DAY ZERO () | DAY ONE (, 1) | DAY TWO ( , 2) | DAY THREE ( , 3) | DAY FOUR () | DAY FIVE ()
DAY SIX ( , 5) | DAY SEVEN () | DAY EIGHT ( , 6) | DAY NINE ( , 7) | DAY TEN ( , 8) | DAY ELEVEN ( , 9)
DAY TWELVE ( , 10) | DAY THIRTEEN ( , 12) | DAY FOURTEEN ( , 13) | DAY FIFTEEN () | DAY SIXTEEN ( , 15)
DAY SEVENTEEN ( , 16) | DAY EIGHTEEN ( , 17) | DAY NINETEEN ( , 19) | DAY TWENTY ( , 20)
DAY TWENTY-ONE ( , 21) | DAY TWENTY-TWO ( , 22) | DAY TWENTY-THREE ( , 24)

Day Twenty-Four

Here is Peter and Hanse's route today:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/SiDdy6qS4usGncN1A

Time to head north. (For 1,089 km, which takes 9 hours 58. Rural Guinea this is not.)

[Nessafox]

So a nice holiday in Turkiye we had, we would now follow the path alongside the Black sea for a while. We ate one last time at a roadstop in Turkiye, which was nice enough. But problems arrived as soon as we entered Georgia, we were kindly asked to park at the Customs Office in Batumi. These guys didn't like like customs officers at all, but what do i know? I don't live here and i can't be prejudiced. Well i obliged. They then inspected my car and.. confiscated it. They told me 'i got off lucky because i wasn't the real police. Why'd they have problems with the police if they are just custom officers? Perhaps something more was to it. I decided to not put up a fight.







But now i had to get a new car. So i walked to this Horse racing track close by, surely they'd knew a guy. They, in fact, did. They said they had some great deal. A truly classy car. A Bentley 8. Now this seemed to me a bit old-fashioned, by why not... i am the admin after all, travelling in class would befit me. So i paid an early deposit of 1500 GEL (around 500€) i asked if they were sure that was enough. They said not to worry. So an hour or two later, some guys came, with what looked to be a bunch of Opels. So they gave me a key, saying 'this one's yours'. I said, you mean that Opel there? They said 'no it's a Bentley, check the papers. Best deal you can get'. I checked the papers and lo and behold... it was in Georgian, which i can't read at all... Anway they left me, with this 'Bentley'. Anyway a car is a car, and at least it worked. Somewhat. But finding spare parts should be do-able.



So we continued on a bit eastward, the landscape was, no pun intended, gorgeous, we then stopped somewhat after the Tkibuli reservoir to eat at what seems a quite nice restaurant. We'd gonna need that comfort as a dangerous trip was a ahead. The Russian border. But before that we'd have to pass trough a tiny part of South-Ossetia. This could go wrong as we were no longer driving with a South-African licence plate but a Georgian one...
It wen't surprisingly smooth. Apparently our 'Bentley Vectra' looked very inconspicuous and when they heared my 'Flemglish' they realised i wasn't actually Georgian. They did take a few notes though. he Caucasus mountains were a breathtaking sight and the Mamisomi pass was quite a challenging road.



Anyway up to the next part of our trip... North-Ossetia! Ah for fox sake... Thankfully the landscape remained amazing. The Zapovednik natural park was just as amazing a sight to behold.



We continued northward and as we arrived in a town called Ardon, we stopped at a hotel called 'Blossom'. It seemed to be mostly a popular winter holiday spot but we're glad that we arrived safely in... what country are we in again? Oh, right, Russia... What could possibly go wrong, right?



https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Civra+b ... &entry=ttu

[Nuppiz]

Leg 24: Piotrkow Trybunalski, Lodz Voivodeship, Poland -> Varzas, Limbaži Municipality, Latvia


857 km in 10 h 1 min without traffic

Two gas stops.

[Klon]

The first two stops are water stops, the last one is a dip into Lebanon.

Time stamp: 2024-07-18 20:35:46 CEST

[NickyDustyOwl]

https://maps.app.goo.gl/9YjXRJniGbYBbhzy7

timestamp: 4:59PM EST

[Pinkd56]

I'm still way behind - I don't think my plans have worked

START: interminable rooms, X58H+74, Tarfaya, Morocco

FINISH: The train station Hotel & Coffeshop, 62WR+6WV, Ben Guerir, Morocco

TIME ELAPSED (TODAY): 9h54m
TIME ELAPSED (TOTAL): 205h52M



DISTANCE (TODAY): 846km
DISTANCE (TOTAL): 12906km

COUNTRIES VISITED: 22

Essential Oils distributed: 5/5!

[tommykl]

May 1st

The exorbitant cleaning fee of the AirBnB aside, Tom and Yulia's stay in Poland was perfectly pleasant and almost all was well as they packed to leave towards the Baltic Sea. That is, until a ping came to them from the quest randomiser. Who even still buys bottles of ink? Anyway, more by luck than judgment, the small village where they'd spent the night was not too far from the town of Elk, which sported a Kaufland supermarket big enough to carry this sort of thing in its stationery department. After a detour to sort this out, they headed back to their motorway home and continued the journey north.



The E67 continued to be their conveyor belt to the northwest, and after bypassing Suwalki, they crossed the border into Lithuania and the Baltic states. However, when the village of Smalninkai came up, the supposed best route left the motorway. The goal was to go straight through the middle of Marijampole, and evidently there was enough traffic around the E67 to make it worthwhile, because shortly after that the route rejoined the motorway! No such excursion was to be found next time around, when the route reached Lithuania's second city, Kaunas.



The flat landscape of the Baltic states reminded Tom of his homeland, and it wasn't too different from Yulia's native western Ukraine in terms of sparseness. While it was great for the nostalgia factor for both of them, it didn't help with the boredom. Parlour games abounded, and they had long ago started to repeat themselves. At this point they'd begun to "spin the wheel" and discover obscure local music stations. Once in a while they fell upon a Russian-speaking station, which immediately sent Yulia into fits of rage. They'd certainly done well to slide between Russia and Belarus.

Panevezys was the last city before reaching Latvia. Ever since leaving Kaunas, the E67 was reduced to a single carriageway. When it came to the town of Bauska, the "motorway" even went straight through the centre of town! It wasn't until the outskirts of Riga that the road turned back into a conventional dual carriageway.



For a while later, the road went back to a single lane each way and approached the Baltic Sea (or rather the Gulf of Riga). They made absolutely sure to take it all in - after all, it was their first sight of open water since Turkey - because soon enough they crossed the border into Estonia, a country both had wanted to visit for a while. Pärnu was the first town they reached, and with it, they left the coastline once again. From that point on, there was nothing worth mentioning beyond the growing excitement of crossing the Estonian forests. The kilometres were counting down to Tallinn, the Gulf of Finland and the ferry that would finally take them to Fennoscandia, the last bunch of legs.

This would have to wait though. There was only about an hour left on the clock when they entered Tallinn, so obviously not enough time to get across the water. There was, however, plenty of time to find the exact best place to stay, and they settled on the Hestia hotel, just opposite the ferry terminal. The finish line was in metaphorical view. It was time to explore the city over the evening!



Dabrowskiego 17, Nowa Wies Elcka (Poland) to Hestia Hotel Seaport, Tallinn (Estonia)

9h37 without traffic (213h46 total)
755km (16162km total)
189 euro (£3381 total)

[DigitDan7]

Day 24: Race For The Podium

MATEO: Good morning, ladies!
ERIS: Someone's chipper today.
MATEO: Look, I'm in my home country after 3 bloody weeks crossing Africa, I get to feel good.
AMETH: Well, it's nice to see you happy after the Volvo debacle.
AMETH: So what's the game plan from now on?
MATEO: Simple. We cross Europe towards Nordkapp, pretty much as the crow flies. Today we'll stop in France.
ERIS: What are our hopes for the race?
MATEO: The good news is that Tom, Yulia & Anniina are way too far ahead at this point for anyone to catch them.
ERIS: …
ERIS: How is that good news?
MATEO: It means the breakdown didn't mean much in the grand scheme of things.
AMETH: OK, so 1st & 2nd are out of the question. But what about 3rd place?
MATEO: That's the best bit. We're in a fantastic position to take 3rd overall!
ERIS: All right, then let's go!
AMETH: To France!

ROUTE



Start: Parador de Lorca, Castillo de Lorca, s/n, 30800 Lorca, Murcia
End: Mas de la Pinède, 598 Montée des Frigoules, 222 Impasse de la Pinède, 84500 Bollène, France
Distance: 1096km
Time: 9h 56min

Locale of the Day: Circuito de Ricardo Tormo





AMETH: I have to ask, why have you brought us here?
MATEO: Look, we're not leaving Spain without taking you to a proper bar & having some tapas.
ERIS: What ARE tapas, actually?
MATEO: Honestly, it's less a type of meal & more a unit of measurement.
MATEO: A tapa is a small portion of a dish, with a ración being a full meal.
AMETH: Why would you order a tapa then?
MATEO: Tapas are a lot cheaper, so what you do is instead of ordering one big plate, you mix & match several smaller dishes, getting a more diverse meal at a reasonable price.
ERIS: Ooooh, now I get it.
AMETH: Speaking of food, what did you buy at the supermarket yesterday?
MATEO: Sugar-free food for the rest of the trip.
ERIS: Is this Hacendado brand a health brand of sorts?
MATEO: Nah, it's just Mercadona's own-brand products.
AMETH: They have own-brand sugar-free chocolate in Spain?
MATEO: Diabetics in Spain have it GOOD, but I've learnt we're the exception, not the rule. I'm not taking any chances.

At Bollène-Écluse:

MATEO: And that's another day down.
AMETH: Hopefully it'll be smooth sailing from here.
ERIS: That's likely, considering we're in Europe now.
ERIS: What are you checking, Mateo?
MATEO: Seeing how our competitors are doing.
MATEO: …
MATEO: Why the hell is Nessa in RUSSIA???
ERIS: Uuuuuuummmmmm okay...
AMETH: Oh right, the war's going on.
AMETH: Do you-
MATEO: I'm vetoing that subject for the rest of the trip, because I don't WANT to know nor do I CARE.

(Note: PriConne, the game where Ameth & Eris are from, takes place in 2033-2034)

[Nessafox]

It's very obvious that the win is between 2 people, but the battle for third is wide open. Admin went to Russia for tactival diversity, Digitdan, Aislabie and Girry going for a more conventional route. Digitdan is also the only one who pulled off a route trough the coup belt.
There's still a few people in North Africa and one in the Middle East

https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit? ... 448001&z=4


Least distance covered
3042 Rob Dylan (DNF)
4827 Kinnikuniverse (DNF)
5145 Ducktanian (DNF)
6786 pasta_maldonado (DNF)
8201 Loadsamoney (DNF)
9396 Frogfoot9013 (DNF)
11333 Shadaza (DNF)
11913 NickyDustyOwl
13246 Nessafox
13905 Pinkd56
14135 DigitDan7
14296 Forti
14418 Klon
14773 Girry
15688 Aislabie
16151 TommyKl
16537 Nuppiz

NickyDustyOwl is leading this one, but by being a few days behind, it's not sure he can win this, but not impossible either.


Most countries crossed

25 TommyKl
24 Aislabie
22 Klon
21 Pinkd56
20 Forti
20 Nuppiz
14 Frogfoot9013 (DNF)
14 DigitDan7
14 Girry
14 Nessafox
12 NickyDustyOwl
9 Shadaza (DNF)
8 Loadsamoney (DNF)
6 pasta_maldonado (DNF)
5 Kinnikuniverse (DNF)
5 Ducktanian (DNF)
3 Rob Dylan (DNF)


Tommy temporary takes over the lead, but since he's pretty much almost there, it's unlikely he will win or even end up on the podium.

Stage points

25 DigitDan7 1096
18 Aislabie 1084
15 Girry 946
12 Nuppiz 875
10 Forti 843
8 Pinkd56 811
6 TommyKl 755
4 Klon 705
2 Nessafox 578
1 NickyDustyOwl 411


Dan finally wins another stage, it's been since day 4. With now only 10 people still in the race, that guarantees everyone to score points. On two condition, 1) they must either actually post a route or 2) have already finished the race


Championship

242 Nuppiz
241 TommyKl
241 Aislabie
188 Girry
187 DigitDan7
169 Forti
155 Shadaza (DNF)
154 Klon
148 Pinkd56
141 NickyDustyOwl
138 Nessafox
121 Loadsamoney (DNF)
120 Ducktanian (DNF)
73 Frogfoot9013 (DNF)
42 pasta_maldonado (DNF)
33 Kinnikuniverse (DNF)
32 Rob Dylan (DNF)


Whilst Aislabie is still the favourite to win this, this is still super close, and i won't count out Girry or Dan yet either.


Daily random object generator:
7, Forti
Comb, Forti really needs to work on his fashion style.



Penalties
Nessafox: 5 mins (1 min overtime)
Nuppiz: 5 mins (1 min overtime)

Bans
Shadaza is banned from entering Russia and Belarus, as he's suspected of pro-Ukraine sentiment.
Frogfoot9013 is banned from entering Ukraine, as she's suspected of pro-Russian sentiment
TommyKl's co-driver is 'sort of' banned from Russia and Belarus because of Ukrainian nationality

Country rng's



Algeria
Weather (% rain) 6%
2, 2 drips, you lose 5 seconds wondering
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
11

Morocco
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 10%
98

Spanish exclaves (Ceuta, Mellila, etc)
Weather (% rain) 1%
24
chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
78

UK (Gibraltar)
Weather (% rain) 0%
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong, up to 5%
66



Syria
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30*C
no rng needed
chance of something going wrong up to 50%
12 more border shenanigans, you have to get some important documents from the embassy of your country before you can pass, if your country doesn't have an embassy there, go to the south-african one.

Turkiye
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 20%
74

Cyprus
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
48

Georgia
Weather (% rain) 60%, more than 30°C
29, lose 30 mins
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
49

Armenia
Weather (% rain) 46%
59
chance of something going wrong up to 10%
99

Azerbaijan
Weather (% rain) 30, more than 30°C
17, lose 15 mins
General: chance of something going wrong up to 20%
12, you encounter border problems, lose 1 hour
Nagorno-Karabach: chance of something going wrong up to 50%
40, you encounter border problems, lose a full day

Greece
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35°C
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
94

Mount Athos

Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 35°C
chance of something going wrong up to 100%
81, yeah, the problem is, they don't allow anyone in that easy, so it takes you 1 hours of negotiating before you can enter. Another problem, you can't enter by car so you have to do it by foot.


Bulgaria
Weather (% rain) 0%, more than 30°C
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
26

Romania

Weather (% rain) 38%
74
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
95

Moldova

Weather (% rain) 32%
76

chance of something going wrong up to 10%
4, well... there you have it. They steal your cellphone. Get a new one.

Ukraine

Weather (% rain) 2%
39
chance of something going wrong
regular ukraine: up to 50%
41, spend a day inthe hospital
warzone: up to 100%
90, spend a week in the hospital

North-Macedonia
Weather (% rain) 6%
27
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
14



Albania

Weather (% rain) 15%
48
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
95


Kosovo

Weather (% rain) 61%
43
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
66


Montenegro

Weather (% rain) 46%
98
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
80


Serbia

Weather (% rain) 9%
56
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
42


Bosnia-Herzegovina

Weather (% rain) 74%
58, you lose an hour in the rain
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
83


Croatia
Weather (% rain) 2%
37
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
55


Slovenia
Weather (% rain) 3%
8
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
20


Italy
Weather (% rain) 2%
59
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
68


Order of Malta

Weather (% rain) 2%
30
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
75


Vatican City
Weather (% rain) 2%
15
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
43


San Marino
Weather (% rain) 2%
71
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
24


Spain
Weather (% rain) 0%
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
68


Portugal
Weather (% rain) 2%
58
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
68

Andorra
Weather (% rain) 1%
26
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
40
France
Weather (% rain) 1%
23

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
92

Switzerland
Weather (% rain) 4%
55

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
1, you get investigated by the FIA for partaking in an illegal street race. You also get investigated by the FIFA if you're PinkD

Liechtenstein
Weather (% rain) 2%
47

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
39

Austria
Weather (% rain) 1%
4

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
5, The Alpine countries aren't happy about you today. Half an hour delay by a police search.

Hungary
Weather (% rain) 1%
71

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
42

Slovakia
Weather (% rain) 1¨%
6

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
19

Czechia
Weather (% rain) 3%
15

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
85

Poland
Weather (% rain) 1%
9

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
23

Belarus

Weather (% rain) 2%
20

chance of something going wrong up to 10% (but...)
96

Estonia
Weather (% rain) 20%
41

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
88

Latvia
Weather (% rain) 2%
100

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
42

Lithuania
Weather (% rain) 2%
69

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
75

Germany
Weather (% rain) 2%
100

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
27

Luxembourg
Weather (% rain) 55%
11, you lose 10 mins

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
88

Belgium
Weather (% rain) 2%
71

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
22

Netherlands
Weather (% rain) 2%
28
chance of something going wrong up to 5%
5, well then, that investigation about in appropriate behaviour is still hanging over you

Denmark
Weather (% rain) 2%
22

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
23

Russia
Weather (% rain)
Sochi 2%
67
Rostov 2%
4
Voronezh 3%
7
Moscow 75%
74, lost 1 hour and a half
Sint Petersburg 68%
7, lose 5 minutes
Kaliningrad 17%
78

chance of something going wrong up to 20%
98

England (UK)
Weather (% rain) 1% (but it is England so take this rng with a grain of salt)
88

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
38


Finland
Weather (% rain) 11%
8, you lose 5 minutes due to some small drops

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
81

Sweden
Weather (% rain) 8%
72

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
16

Norway
Weather (% rain) 3%
66

chance of something going wrong up to 5%
78

Next deadline is Thursday the 24th of July 2024, 23-59 GMT+1, leg 25 is now open

[Nessafox]

It's day 25 already. And i got to say, spending the night in Russia was not super comfortable, knowing their human rights records and all, but then again we survived similar places in Africa.

Honestly today's route wasn't super spectacular as it's mostly rural or forests, with the occasional town or city full of commie blocks. Fiarly boring route, not much to write about i'm afraid. The occasional river valley proving to be the only variation of landscape we were to see. The road was also mostly straight. Admin will also have to pretend to be straight for safety reasons. We stopped somewhere on the road to eat. As we got closer to Rostov and the Ukrainian border, you could cut the tension with a knife. Best not literally, My georgian plate on my Bentley Vectra also got a bit of weird looks. I do not exactly feel safe here. Boredom and fear, probably the worst combination. This was stressful. We ended our leg in a café-hotel in Kumshatskii, waaay too close to the Ukrainian conflict zone for comfort. From the locals we heard lot of horror stories. And that one tank nerd too. Talk about tank nerds it seems one of our competitors dissapeared in Sudan, fighting for the Russians...
For tomorrow our target is to reach Moscow. Hopefully things will be a bit less tense there. We won't be sleeping well tonight, i better hope it was worth it.



https://www.google.com/maps/dir/Blossom ... &entry=ttu

[Klon]

I presume the stops should be obvious, if not, feel free to ask.

Time stamp: 2024-07-19 15:07:23 CEST