Leg 2 Press Conference in Almaty

Our final day starts early, with us all traipsing into Andy & Joe's room to pick our washing ready for the press conference kindly organised by Mercur Auto. After a breakfast worthy of an up market European hotel, (Almaty is a very cosmopolitan city, especially after two weeks in the wilderness), we meet up with Bagdat from Mercur Autos and are ferried at speed through the city. Every Kazakh driver seems to be under the impression that this is an audition for Ronin, the film. The traffic reflects the evolving status of Almaty, every automotive brand is here from Lada to Lincoln, Morgan to Mayback. We pick up the Go60 vehicles and join the melee ourselves. Elanor and I end up stuck behind an army truck, we seem to be a big hit, the guys in the back demonstrate their affection for us by gesturing enthusiastically with their AK47s, things are different in Kazakhstan, even in its biggest city.

We make our way up to Kok-Tobe, a big hill above the city. We were told that most people get there by cable car, we have special permission to drive up, even the president of Kazakhstan had to use a golf cart, last time he visited so this is a real honour. When we reached the top, we were greeted by a big apple, the symbol of Almaty and worryingly, an even bigger PA system!

We park the cars and go for a stroll while they finish setting up for the press conference. When we return, it is a rather daunting sight, even after a bottle of the local pop, which is luminous green in colour, row after row of chairs and a long white table with our names in Cyrillic and a back drop worthy of formula 1.

After a bit of fraught milling around and a team huddle, where Ian made sure we were prepared, we sit down and straighten our Polo shirts so our logos are foremost, trying to look like we do this every week. The press conference begins and it's a slow process, Kazakh questions are translated into English and English answers are translated back into Kazakh, it's a strange experience. Jokes are made and two minutes later the audience laughs. The press conference lasts about half an hour covering Kazakh roads, hospitality and terrain response. As Engineering team leader it takes some time to describe the function of each of the 5 modes, "Normal", "Grass/Gravel/Snow", "Sand", "Mud and Ruts" and "Boulder Crawl", via our Kazakh translator. Fortunately for me, the Kazakh 4x4 user can utilise all 5 within a short journey from Almaty, making explanation easy. With the main conference over we retire for tea and biscuits and a bit of light chat with the journalists, accompanied by the music of the Beatles, it seems unbeknownst to us, Kazakhstan is the true home of the Beatles fan club. In fact later on, behind the cafe, we discover full size statues of the fabulous four.

After the press slowly dissipates, Mercur demonstrate their never ending hospitality by providing us with another table laden with Kazakh specialities. A notable addition to the menu were savoury filled crispy pancakes. As usual in Kazakhstan, the only thing on four legs we weren't eating was the table.

The team reassembled and dismantled the display of Go60 vehicles by driving them back down the hill. Mercur were keen to show us the sights of Almaty, our first stop on the guided tour was the ski resort of Chimbulak. Along the way we passed the banners of the recent Olympic torch procession. Medeu ice skating stadium is the major feature of the journey up and a major component of Almaty's bid to host the 2014 winter Olympics. We wish them all the best in their campaign, for one thing the athletes won't lack for hospitality whilst in Kazakhstan.

The Stadium is best viewed from the Medeu dam behind which there is no water. The dam exists to protect the city from mud slides when the winter snow melts. During the cold war when news seldom got out of the USSR, 1000s of people died in a mud slide before the dam and the barriers were installed. We carry on up the mountain as far as is sensible stopping when the road really begins to deteriorate. On our way down we pick up one last hitch hiker who by now is looking rather wet as it has started raining heavily. Ironically our last guest in the cars turns out to hail from Cheltenham; it's a small world and a lucky one for him as our photographer for the day offers him a floor for the night.

Back in the city centre we visit the war memorial a popular destination for Almaty brides and grooms and a fitting end to the Leg 2 story, having begun in Red Square a popular destination for Moscow brides and grooms.