I met with Pam and Charlie on the eighth day of their journey. When they arrived in Istanbul, they were extremely fatigued. After a quick meeting, I left them alone with a real bed and a hot shower in the hotel.

The next day, we went to the Turkmenistani Consulate to get their visas. Charlie had done the application a month ago, so there were no problems there. Pam’s, on the other hand, was rejected because she did not have Kazakhistanian visa. She had made an application to receive that at the border in Baku and the officer told us that he is not able to give us a visa for Turkmenistan without it. I tried to reason with him, but he informed us that there was nothing he could do. Pam did have an Uzbekistani visa, so I just told him that they would travel separately and he accepted, granting us a visa.

After having a quick lunch, we met with Aydil Durgun from Milliyet, a major newspaper in Turkey. We saw her in Yildiz Parc, which is a historical urban park in the Besiktas district of Istanbul. It is one of the largest public parks in Istanbul. She did an interview with them, and after one last cup of Turkish coffee, they continued on with their journey…

It was so exciting to see the “Mongol Rally” cars parading around Istanbul. Charlie told me that she had already exhausted all the music on her iPod a quarter way through the trip. They were aware that the hardest part of the journey would come after crossing the borders of Turkey into the East. I hope that when they arrive in Mongolia, their car will sell at the highest price (That money is then given to a charity for Mongolian children).

What is truly inspiring is that amongst the three hundred teams, there are only four female participants. Orta Blu is very proud of them and more than happy to sponsor the only team consisting only of women. Charlie and Pam will continue to send us updates of their journey. Some of them will focus on the environmental challenges along the way.