The next day was driving from Munich to Klenova Castle, the site of the Czech-Out Party (also known as the Official Mongol Rally Launch Party). How we managed to fit all of our gear plus another two people and their bag into our car I’ll never know, but we managed it. After taking the ‘Scenic Route’ through eastern Germany and the Czech Republic (thanks Google Maps!), we ended up at the camp site for the party in mid-afternoon. Along the way we had out first car-related problem when we stopped at a gas station and noticed that the roof rack had partially collapsed. The metal support bar had cleaved the foam roof mount in hal and all of the weight on that section was scraping against the roof. I got out some rope and duct tape and fixed it as best as I could.
We immediately broke into a few drinks and joined the other 450 or so teams in the partying. I had an interview to do with an American reporter based in Prague named Kristin that had come down for the occasion. We chatted about the rally and the causes we are supporting, inluding our Rotary (West Bloomfield, MI. & BayanZurkh 100, UB clubs) project to assist in providing materials to build a kindergarten in Mongolia. It will be a radio interview to be broadcast in Central Asia, and I hope to post a clip of it here in the near future.
The party was a great success, with great (free!) food, plenty of drinks, live musical performances (the ska band from New York was great), and even a magic show. I got into a wee bit of trouble when I climbed to the top of the castle wall (I tend to climb things a lot) and was met with cheering by everyone below. This attracted the attention of the organizer, Tom, who came up and politely asked if I could get down as he wouldn’t want any drunk people mimicing me and ending up falling to their deaths. I agreed with the logic and promptly got down.
The party went on until 4:30AM or so, but we ending up crashing a bit before 2:00AM. It was another fitful sleep, as we were surrounded by those who apparently didn’t need to rest at all.
We woke up to the sweltering sun and left the campgrounds in search of food. After lunch at a local Czech Restaurant in the nearby town of Klatovy we proceeded north to Prague.
Pictures have been posted in the gallery.
