“When Prince Borghese drove into this town back in 1907, he
was greeted with wild crowds, with most never having seen a motor-car before.
The idea of racing across the greatest land-mass between two Capital Cities
made him an overnight celebrity – it was as if the first astronaut to walk on
the Moon had just landed.
Tonight, big crowds again lined the river of Omsk to watch
the arrival of the Peking to Paris. Hundreds of excited children and locals
mingled with several TV crews and reporters all eager to catch sight of the
first driver – cheers went up all down the river as each car turned into the
car-park and pushed gently passed vulnerable feet. Omsk has turned out the
biggest crowd so far.
It has been a long day down the bumpy, lumpy rippled tarmac
that goes on and on, between forests of silver-birch trees. The camera-team
took time out to turn off the main highway and visit villages of old wooden
shacks, that look very much like the kind of road-side homes Prince Borghese
would have passed by – painted window frames looking chipped and faded, shy
faces peering behind net curtains.
Omsk is different – run down from its Soviet past, we drove
down busy streets between concrete blocks of decaying indifferent design, as if
dropped from the central planning department of a previous age, now looking
much the worse for wear.
The rally has been divided into two neighbouring hotels for
the night and tonight’s meal has seen a decent spread with an excellent salad,
spaghetti, vegetable stew, as well as fish and meat courses on offer.”
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Peking to Paris Rally Report
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