Scotland

We drove to the original Great Wall of China

(Have you read that before? This time it was real.)

The original Great Wall of China refers to its earliest fortifications, which date back to the 7th century BC—long before the Qin dynasty unified China. These early walls were built from packed earth, mud, and straw. The Great Wall most commonly known and visited today, with its distinctive stone towers and brick fortifications, was built much later during the Ming dynasty (1368–1644 AD).

Ha!

Another very cold day. Nigel had important business matters that required him to reach our destination early, so he went solo. Hugo joined Chris in the half-empty Rolls (who was Joe, anyway?).

It was an eight-layer day. Let me repeat that: eight layers—a new record. The headgear on display would have made a royal courtier blush. Anyway, it was all conducted in Scotland. We drove through the Cairngorms, complete with heather.

Two epic passes were summited, both over 3,800 metres. Once again, the Vauxhall showed up a vulnerability. Having climbed heroically, she began to misfire on the down slope of the second pass. Techniques such as retarding the ignition (Paddy on the Help Desk is available to answer your questions), blipping the throttle in neutral to burn off unburnt fuel, coasting when the gradient allowed, and racing the engine once on the flat all proved insufficient. A quick pit stop revealed one spark plug had given up. It was discarded for a new one, points checked, and off we went for the last several miles into this vast metropolis we’ve now arrived in.

Xining looked so innocent on the map when we were planning the route, but it sits among mountains, and a ribbon development of classic high-rise buildings has sprung up along the only road in and out of town. It houses two and a half million people.

On arrival, we found a fresh-looking Arthur, who had flown in to be the official Rolls-Royce co-driver. He has negotiated a month away, which will take him to Bangkok, we hope. 

Chris discovered that his spare tyre had slipped its mooring, and the exhaust gases had burnt a hole in it. Not terribly useful, so it was discarded. Poor tyre—it has travelled with us for two-thirds of the journey (I know, can you believe that? Two-thirds in!) and was never called upon to enter service. It now lies useless somewhere, adding to landfill—or whatever happens to tyres here.

I have counted (and saluted) more magpies than I have ever seen before. These are Oriental magpies, which, to the untrained eye, look identical to the ones we see at home.