DJ - Greetings to our family and friends to Carl's and Don's update and to our many new visitors from around the world to our web site and to our daily update. This is Don reporting to you from Katmandu, Nepal. Nepal is country of 20 million people, right at the base of the Himalayan Mountain Range. We want to correct the population report for the city of Katmandu, we've been given a number of figures and we've confirmed the correct and actual population of Katmandu is 1.2 million people, the equivalent of Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Denver, Kansas City. It is a very keen, active city, a lot of vociferous traffic, putt-putts of the three wheel rickshaw vehicles they're called, a lot of traffic congestion, considerable amounts of pollution. Katmandu is similar to Denver, a city in a valley at the base of the Himalayan Mountain Range. My perception of Katmandu, before coming here, was that it was sort of an outpost for mountaineering in the Himalayas and that is not correct. It is a very large active city that is the capital of Nepal and Mt. Everest is a two days drive from here and two hours by airplane into the Mt. Everest base camp region. What makes Katmandu the regional city that it is, is the international airport, which allows access to this part of the world on this side of the Himalayas. The weather at this time of the year is tropical, warm and generally cloudy because of the monsoon season. There are airplane and helicopter flights that can be taken to view the Himalayan Mountain chain, but this time of the year the flights are often cancelled because of the changeable weather conditions. The people of Nepal are very, very warm in their reception to the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge. They have a lot of signs and banners declaring Welcome. The local convention center is where all of the cars are being kept and a public display of the cars, as well as a public bazaar of local crafts are being held this day for the general public here in Katmandu. The newspaper is full of accounts of the visit of the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge and a headline declared that the participants arrived bruised and battered, referring both to the automobiles and the people. A much needed two day rest was planned in Katmandu.

Six of the cars in the Rally are having a change of crew members, mostly for personal reasons, but in the case of one car, having to do with political reasons. One of the drivers is a citizen of Israel and Israel declined to grant permission for its citizens to be a visitor in some of the countries that the Rally will now begin to enter, primarily Iran and Pakistan. So the Israel driver had to discontinue here at Katmandu and new crew members will take over in that car. About two dozen of the cars are undergoing major repairs. By major, I mean significant alterations to correct damage to the undercarriage of many cars, to the drive systems, to the braking systems, not so much to the motors, but to the bodies, steering mechanisms and the wheels. All as a result of the very harsh conditions that we experienced in the last several days leaving China. I would compare the last 48 hours, 500 kilometers of driving through the remote parts of Tibet to driving from Monterrey, Mexico to Mexico City and doing it on off-road conditions. There was a tremendous amount of gravel, mud, stones, landslides, waterways, every kind of conceivable condition, nothing like any sort of a paved public highway. Most of the drivers will now get a chance to compare notes and look back on the last 24 hours of driving down a mountain gorge from China into Nepal. Everyone's quite amazed how the group has persevered and gotten through that, when never in their lives have they experienced anything quite like what we went through in order to leave China. But, nonetheless, without incident, all the cars came through, but as the Katmandu newspaper says, bruised and battered.

It is possible for you to visit a web site of the Katmandu newspaper. It is online and should you be interested in having that experience, simply find the Katmandu newspaper and you can read about activities on a daily basis here in Nepal's capital. The Katmandu Post is the name of the newspaper. The government here is very pleased to have this kind of activity and has purchased an ad in the newspaper. In their ad they gave a hearty solicitation to the participants of the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge and as part of Nepal getting ready for a 1998 program to promote tourism and visiting Nepal in 1998, has encouraged and requested all concerned local representatives, school pupils, social service organizations, business people and the local public to accord a very warm welcome and farewell to the distinguished participants in the motor challenge while they pass through the many places that we have planned to travel over the next three days here in Nepal. The government, through the Ministry of Tourism, has actually purchased an ad in the newspaper calling public attention the movement by the motor challenge and to encourage citizens to give a good account of Nepal. It's interesting in talking to government officials, they realize that an activity like this from participants representing 22 nationalities is a very important word of mouth promotion for Nepal as word spreads around the world about this place and the people here. So the warmth and the cordiality just couldn't be any better.

Let's give you a report on the 1954 Packard which here in Katmandu is undergoing some much needed restoration. The steel plating underneath the car, the gas tank and the drive shaft have all had to be removed in order to get blocks of mud lodged underneath the plating cleaned out, as well as to straighten out some of the steel plating which was severely bent in our trip down the mountain from China. The brakes, the clutch, the timing and the carburetion of the car all had to be given attention and all in an effort to get it in good running order for the rigors of the next two weeks, which will take us through Nepal, India, Pakistan and Iran for an entire week and bring us to Istanbul.

Looking back on the trip thus far, a major miscalculation that we have made in preparing the Packard is our expectation that air for the tires and the suspension system would be readily available. That has not been the case. It is hard to explain, but air is not readily available and the way the Chinese do it is they remove the core from the valve stem of the tires and blow air into the tire and then restore the valve stem. In the case of the air suspension of the car, which was intended to elevate it to avoid rocks and stones, we have not been able to get an adequate amount of air into the suspension system to make it useful and that has to do with the fact that the interface devices for inputting air into the valve is not available. They have very crude air generation systems that are just rubber hoses and they force air into whatever air is needed. We were well prepared for fuel being a source of problems. That has not been a problem at all, in part due to the fact we have brought plenty of octane supplement and we've been able to get pretty decent petrol. Our major miscalculation and the one that has caused us the most grief so far is air for the tires and the suspension system. And in one instance, we even got a receipt when we got some air in our tires in China. They gave us a receipt for air. So we're getting the restoration accomplished for the Packard and preparing for what we understand will be continuing rough road travel as we leave Nepal and get into India. We're told that better roads are not until after Delhi and reaching into Pakistan and Iran. But we've gotten over the mountain and that's a major accomplishment and bruised and battered is an appropriate description by the Katmandu newspaper, not only the '54 Packard, but just about all of the cars in the competition. It's really a credit to all of the drivers and their perseverance that we've gotten this far. Ten cars actually did not come into Katmandu under their own power. We understand that repairs to six cars that were hauled here have been accomplished and that the total entries will bounce back up to 90, just under the original 94. The people in this event are not giving up and are determined to do whatever is necessary to participate in completing the course all the way to Paris and that brings out quite a bit of spirit and determination on the part of these participants here.

We want to thank our family members for their E-Mail messages. My thanks to my wife and partner, Terri, for her very nice greeting by E-Mail while visiting our daughter Mary in South Bend. Carl's family has sent a number of E-Mails and that's all been shared with Carl. And we want to report that the rested, fully bearded Carl is in good form and in good humor and last night the Nepal government held a reception and Carl put on a suit and tie and looked quite the gentleman. So Carl's doing just fine, taking responsibility for seeing that many of the improvements and necessary mechanical details to the car are accomplished by the Nepalese mechanics who are doing a good job of supporting us here. We think that we can get the car put back together that we'll be able to get where the car will shine the best and that's over long distances on good road surfaces.

Some reflections I promised you on China that want to be sure and share with you before they're forgotten and there are at least three at this time. We had the extraordinary experience in Inner Mongolia of having as many as 5,000 public safety officers help the motor challenge get through Inner Mongolia. What that means is that every 5 kilometers, or roughly 3 miles, there was a public safety officer stationed during the several hundred kilometers that we passed through Inner Mongolia. To describe what this was like, it would be as if you drove from Kansas City to Denver, similar terrain, similar distance and every 3 miles there was a police officer just standing there and in the case of Inner Mongolia, part of that is through the Gobi desert. As dumbfounding as it was it to us and as inconceivable as it might be to you, 5,000 public safety officers, or police as sometimes they're referred to, were positioned along the route in the province of Inner Mongolia. We inquired as to why that was done and what was the purpose of it and the answer we got was quite simple and it seems probable. The answer was that not very much happens in Inner Mongolia. The only thing of significance that recently happened was a major international sporting event and the visit by the Peking to Paris motor challenge gave local authorities the chance to get local people involved and so as many as 5,000 public safety officers were stationed along the route to help people find their way and be sure they didn't get off the prescribed route. It wasn't anything very sinister it was just the fact that in Inner Mongolia there isn't that much that happens and this was an occasion for public safety officials to show their strength. It's estimated that there are as many as 6 million public safety officials, about 5% of the total population and that the military also has an many as 6-8 million members. Those are staggering human resource numbers in China.

Then there was an incident in the city of Lanzhou, which is a regional business center that reminded us of Dallas, Houston of Denver in the go-go era, a lot of construction and a very up and coming city in the north central part of China. In the morning of one of our layover days there, there appeared to be what we thought was a parade with a lot sirens through the main streets of the city. Were it not for some of our Asian participants we would not have perceived and understood what was happening. The parade consisted of many police cars with sirens followed by a couple of trucks in which six people were standing in white coveralls. It was a parade with the police on loud speaker system announcing the names of criminals and of their criminal acts. The parade proceeded by a matter of minutes their execution. Shortly after the parade ended and the sirens were turned off one could hear the reverberation of gun fire and everyone was aware in the city that this public display and announcement of the execution of these criminals is part of the Chinese process of making the public aware of their justice system. There was a recent report that China has about 6,000 public executions a year and that is a number that exceeds the aggregate total of all other countries of the world for public executions. We have to be cautious about drawing any moral or public policy conclusions about that. China, with its 1.2 million population, has some extraordinary public policy issues to deal with and dealing with that massive humanity and population, but never had anyone witnessed such a blatant example of the harsh criminal system of China as to have the experience to see and hear this parade and the very life sobering implications of the Chinese justice system.

The third reflection we would have is the city of Golmund which is at the end of a 300 mile drive through a desert in which the road is as straight as an arrow for that distance. It also climbs and as you look out over the horizon you think you're going to be driving right off the face of the planet. There doesn't seem to be any end to it. When you reach Golmund you learn that it is nearby the origins of both the Yellow River and the Yangtze River, sort of like the Mississippi River has its origins in upper Minnesota. And what is unique about that region is that both desert and glaciers co-exist in the same location and the temperature is very chilly, cool, it's a very arid, dry area and you see camels herded around like cows. To see the combination of desert and glaciers is quite a remarkable phenomenon.

There are some birthdays taking place on the course of the event. Mike Summerfield who is from the UK/England is 56 and Nick the Flick, one of the German drivers is 53 and an E-Mail from his girlfriend, Bianca in Madrid has reached Felix, the co-driver of Nick the Flick and Bianca should be rest assured that her E-Mail has been received. A lot of communication is taking place, a lot of utilization of high technology. The Rally Association of the UK says that 13,000 visitor hits are occurring each day to the Peking to Paris Motor Challenge web site which gives daily updates on the progress of the motor challenge.

Well, that's a pretty lengthy account on a day of rest and restoration here in Katmandu. We're enjoying a very nice reception by the people here and getting ready to undertake yet more challenges. We're told that there are rivers to be crossed in the next few days, that monsoon rains have wiped out 20 bridges in Nepal and that diversion through the rivers and around the bridges are going to be necessary and many of the cars are being waterproofed and prepared for the eventuality of that challenge. So there's more to come. Stay tuned. As Lowell Thomas would say, so long until tomorrow from Katmandu, Nepal. Thanks for joining this update with Don and Carl. We're doing well and we're getting ready to proceed on our way with our goal to arrive in Paris. We thank everyone for their interest and their encouragement, it means a lot to us. So long until the next update.