The Last Blog (sob!).

Dumball '08 is over, we have exceeded our fund raising target of £5,000 (currently £5,070) so it's time to say goodbye to everybody from the Blog.

We have had a great time doing the Dumball and sharing our adventures on the blog. We know that a lot of people from around the world have followed our travels across Europe on a daily basis, and we hope that you will all be there to support us next year. We raised so much money and had so much fun that we promise there will be another "InternationalMenofMystery" team next year (in fact I think we may already have the car!).

The Justgiving site will stay live until 24th July 2008 so there is still time to make a last minute donation if you feel the need (or never quite got round to it). Leukaemia Research will make good use of any money you can spare.

Here are a few last photos taken at the Barbecue that we had with the Muppets last weekend. The main picture shows us (The International Men of Mystery) with Charlotte. She was the reason why we got into this in the first place and it's good to know that the money that people like you have paid to Leukaemia Research played an important part in ensuring that she is now well and getting stronger every day. Proof (if we need it) that our money goes to help very deserving causes like Charlotte and her family.

You will still be able to contact us by email at IMOM@internationalmenofmystery.co.uk.

Thanks again for all of your support and money. See you next year.

Rob (the blog) and The InternationalMenofMystery.           (Sponsor us now)

Woo-Hoo we have reached our target.

Fantastic news - We have now raised our target of £5,000 for Leukaemia Research.

There were times when we thought that we had set it far too high and would never be able to achieve it but we underestimated the level of support we would get from all of our friends, families, colleagues, customers and suppliers. Everybody has done a fantastic job and all of the money raised (which is an incredible amount) will go to help the work that Leukaemia Research is doing.

Thanks also to all of the people who supported us in various ways during our travels. You know who you are and we are really grateful.

Tomorrow we are being visited by the Muppets for a barbecue (and maybe a beer or two). We'll take some more photos and make another post soon afterwards so keep watching this space.

The InternationalMenofMystery.           (Sponsor us now)

Dumball - Could this be the last IMOM Dumball Blog? I don't think so!

Hi everybody and my apologies for not blogging sooner. We arrived back in the UK just after midnight on Sunday and it's been chaos ever since. We are all happy to be back but a little sad that it's over. It really was the best fun ever despite the heat, crap hotels and long drives. The Dumball spirit now lives in us and the other 93 Dumballers who took part.

The amount of money raised is still to be determined and we'll be sure to let everybody know when it has. Our own sponsorship has topped £4,000 and today stands at a magnificent £4,120.27. We still think that there may be a bit more money to be squeezed out from somewhere but we realise we may not quite meet our very ambitious target of £5,000. It is still a huge amount of money and definitely one of the highest amounts raised by any team so (and I know I keep saying this) THANK YOU to everybody who sponsored us.

Here is a quick summary of our journey. Click on thumbnails for larger images.

	Friday 23rd May 2008 - Total Miles 266/266 Passfield, Hampshire, UK to Brussels, Belgium
	Saturday 24th May 2008 - Total Miles 326/592 Brussels, Belgium to Mulhouse, Alsace, France
	Sunday 25th May 2008 - Total Miles 618/1,210 Mulhouse, France to Zagreb, Croatia
	Monday 26th May 2008 - Total Miles 232/1,442 Zagreb, Croatia to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
	Tuesday 27th May 2008 - Total Miles 135/1,577 Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina to Dubrovnik, Croatia
	Wednesday 28th May 2008 - Total Miles 146/1,723 Dubrovnik, Croatia to Shkodër, Albania
	Thursday 29th May 2008 - Total Miles 194/1,917 Shkodër, Albania to Bitola, Macedonia
	Friday 30th May 2008 - Total Miles 182/2,099 Bitola, Macedonia to Corfu, Greece
	Saturday 31st May 2008 - Total Miles (Well not that many actually) Relax and Party in Corfu
	Sunday 1st June 2008 Site seeing and disposal of Shaguar (Sob!)
	Monday 2nd June 2008 Home again and still friends. Total miles covered is about 2,400

Please keep visiting us as we have more news to post about the fund raising and probably I'll find some more photos of mountains just to keep the dose going, and remember, there's still time to sponsor us if you haven't already (or again if you want, we don't mind).

PS - The guy we spoke to in Albania on Day 6 seems to have sponsored us for £25.00. Just proves that they are really nice people and once they get their roads sorted out we should all visit.

The InternationalMenofMystery.           (Sponsor us now)

Dumball - Day 9 - We're coming home.

After a very long and dusty journey we decided that the Shaguar deserved a dip in the ocean (see below). Following a very late night at the awards dinner (followed by a dodgy Greek nightclub) we had a slow start to the day, with a late breakfast and check out a mid-day. We then travelled back towards Paleokastritsa and stopped off at the top of a mountain at Angelokastro where a very nice Taverna beckoned with stunning view of an ancient castle perched perilously on top of the cliffs.

We then met up with the Muppets for lunch courtesy of Craig at the Hotel Apollon who is now the proud owner of a Shaguar!! We then visited the Monastry on the hill which is beautiful followed by a few more beers to round the day off.

Our taxi picked us up from Paleokastritsa and we delivered to the airport in style in a Mercedes E-Class (air conditioned luxury!!). So now we sit, waiting for our business class seats (we wish!), on the Easyjet flight to Gatwick back to Blighty.

We will continue to blog for a few more days as memories start to return so keep logging in.

The InternationalMenofMystery.           (Sponsor us now)

It's not a Race.

The whole Dumball crew were collected by coach and taken to a tavern in the footholds of the mountain. The award ceremony was great fun. There were awards for different things that happened during the rally. The main award 'The Spirit of Dumball Monkey' was awarded to Colin whose son Adam died of Leukaemia last year (All of the cars were carrying a sticker in his memory). The Taxi drivers got an award for the slowest ever Dumballers. Their Taxi plodded along all the way, setting off first every day and usually arriving last. Well done to them. The International Men of Mystery won the award for collecting points en-route. One of the main reasons for this was our detour into Germany and the other was our collection of 2 Albanians which we took 10K to the nearest town. We would never have done this without the 'Muppets on Tour' team. They were a close second only beaten by us for the Albanians which they told us about as they passed them. So a really big THANK YOU to them. The prize was 300€ which we have donated to the War Child Charity.

Dumball Day 8 - Nowhere to go, just chill.

It seemed weird not having to rush breakfast and check out of the hotel to spend the day on the road but it was really good to just chill out and relax. There were still a few last minute overnight pranks including the shrink wrapping of the London Taxi (see below). Managed to get the all important "Corfu" pictures and then went across to Paleokastritsa. After a dip in the sea we went to a beach side bar for lunch. The lunch was really great and the English guy running the place enjoyed talking about the Dumball Rally. If you're ever round that way you should visit the Hotel Apollon, Paleocastritsa, Corfu. See next blog (coming soon) for the Dumball awards.

The InternationalMenofMystery.           (Sponsor us now)

Dumball - Day 7 Last Stage - Bitola to Corfu

The last stage of the Dumball Rally is Macedonia to Greece. Firstly a warning to drivers everywhere, never leave your car unattended outside a hotel full of Dumballers (The pink car wasn't pink yesterday). The journey to the border was very short and the border patrols did not delay us for too long. From there we travelled through various towns and across endless mountain ranges towards Igoumenitsa. Generally the roads were good and we made quick progress. The mountains are gradually getting motorways carved through them but there are still a lot of areas where you need to climb up one side of the mountain and down the other. Main incident was when Tom (Superman)driving in another car was being tailgated by a blue van. It was trying to get past so he offered 'the finger of friendship'. Unfortunately it turned out to be a police van and the driver (a rather large policeman carrying a gun) was a bit upset. He pulled him over and although he apologised the policeman slapped him around the face and gave him a load of abuse. This all happened just outside of the tavern where we were having lunch so we had an excellent view. It seems a bit harsh but was a lot simpler than tickets and courts etc. When we arrived at the port we had 5 minutes to buy tickets and get on the ferry before it was sailing to Corfu. Managed Ok and headed for the bar for refreshments where we proceeded to drink it dry! The crossing was 2 hours and we arrived in Corfu at 21:30 local time (19:30 UK) in the dark (Normal for us now). However thanks to Black team leader Rick and the Hearse Today team the 15 minute journey from the port to the hotel took just over 45 minutes (how hard is it to get @turn left out the port and stay on the road to the hotel'? Hotel restaurant was closed so ended up driving to a local bar and getting some traditional greek food which was really good. The Hotel is a typical all inclusive beach hotel. Rooms are in small villas spread around the large grounds. Not fantastic but it will do.

Tonight we have the final Dumball Party and prize giving (More later).

The InternationalMenofMystery.           (Sponsor us now)

Dumball - Day 6 - Across the border between Albania and Macedonia.

Biggest problem today was getting out of the hotel. It seemed like total chaos as everybody tried to book out and settle their bills ready for a 10:30 start. The receptionists coped remarkably well but it still took until about 11:3o before everybody had departed.

Travelled across Albania and through Tirane. The roads each side of which were quite good and we made good time, but through Tirane itself they didn't seem to have finished any. We were driving on dust and stone all the way through. We did have a conversation with a yellow van driver as we were driving through. He was very friendly and spoke good English. He was  really interested in what we were doing so I gave him an IMOM business card (So if that was you then thanks for the chat and please get in touch with us). Arrived at the border just after 17:00 and we were through as a whole squadron in less than an hour which was great. Arrived at the hotel before it got dark and ahead of all the other Dumball squadrons - Result!. The hotel is a ski lodge situated on a snow capped mountain outside of Bitola. They were really friendly and well organised. We have had a superb meal and excellent service. Definitely one to be recommended (unlike yesterday). The hotel have laid on a band for the evening so it should be a good night. We just learned that the Daisy Dukes somehow managed to run their car off the road and into a field. They were Ok and only lost part of their rear bumper. 

The bottom picture is of some 'muppet' walking across a newly painted central reservation in Dubrovnik, check out the road behind him! I just got it and had to include it.

Tomorrow we're off to CORFU only 2 cars down.

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Dumball Day 5 - Dubrovnik to Albania

After the small delays getting away from Dubrovnik (see below) we finally set out at around lunch time. Headed through the town of Dubrovnik and up the hill out of town. Had to stop at the top as the 'Hearse Today, Gone Tomorrow' car was overheating. Seems they have a problem with their fan. Decided it was Ok to continue a fix later. Drove south along the coast using some of the worst roads so far. Pot holes, no tarmac and unmarked roadwork's (including holes in the road) seem normal. Had to stop to jettison some of the Hearse today's contents. It was hitting on every bump in the road and threatening to loose its exhaust. The coffin bar complete with optics had to go. Held a 1 minute clap (instead of silence) to mourn the passing of the bar.

Passed over the border into Montenegro without too much trouble and headed off to Albania again. Got stopped when we came across a landslide which had blocked the road and had to wait until a bull-dozer could clear it. Some of the teams used the opportunity to take a dip in the sea. We missed the road that would have taken us across to a border crossing and decided to continue as there was another crossing slightly further south. We were getting a bit concerned as the GPS didn't seem to know where we were and the scale of maps we had didn't show enough detail. The muppets discovered a tourist map of Montenegro in their car (eventually) and noticed that the road we were on seemed to end before the border and there was no crossing point! We stopped to ask a local for directions and ended up doubling back and rejoining the road that we should have been on originally. By this time it was getting dark. 

Eventually crossed the border into Albania in the dark. We had heard that the roads would be poor, they were right. In the dark we were coming across all manor of obstructions including cows, children, bicycles, tractors, goats. Dangerous stuff but luckily we didn't hit anything. Arrived in Shkodra at around 9:30. It's obviously a very poor area of the country with children piling around the cars begging as we were driving through. The guys in the escort cabriolet actually had children getting into the car (while they were moving) and trying to steal anything they could lay their hands on. The Hotel (Europa Grand Hotel) looked the business but on closer inspection wasn't. Plumbing was atrocious and the restaurant service practically none existent. We arrived in the restaurant at 10:00 and didn't get any food 'till gone midnight. When it came it was either the wrong thing or cold. Shan't be recommending this one I'm afraid.

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Its day 5 and we've covered 0 (zero) miles and the '1976 Bulgarian Yellow Snow Cone Eating Champions' are dead (or at least their car is). Their car wouldn't start and there was nothing that the mechanics could do to persuade it otherwise. It has now been towed away for scrap. See below

Bye Bye Siera!

The International Men of Mystery

We got here (including the Muppets)

What a day! apart form the problems with the Muppets the day was really good. We stopped over at Mostar to look at the bridge between the old and new parts of the town. It was bombed out during the war and got rebuilt to its original state. The mountains leading down to the coast were magnificent. Just a short blog today as we need to get on the road. We are off to Shkodra in Albania today. Just a short hop of about 150 miles so should be there before it gets dark (It will be a first for us if we do).

Please go online and sponsor us if you haven't done so already. Also remember that you can post comments on this blog using the links below.

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Dumball Day 4 - Sarajevo to Dubrovnik - Emergency Update w

We're on the way to Dubrovnik but have stopped because the Muppets on Tour have acquired a leak in their coolant system. The Policia arrived and have escorted us to a Mechanic who is looking at the car. He thinks maybe a hose has split.

The mechanic discovered a hole in the inlet manifold. He has glued it up with some instant metal stuff and it looks like we're going to be good to go.

We're back on the road and heading for Dubrovnik - Woo Hoo!

The International Men of Mystery

Dumball Day 4 - Sarajevo to Dubrovnik - Emergency Update

We're on the way to Dubrovnik but have stopped because the Muppets on Tour have acquired a leak in their coolant system. The Policia arrived and have escorted us to a Mechanic who is looking at the car. He thinks maybe a hose has split.

The mechanic discovered a hole in the inlet manifold. He has glued it up with some instant metal stuff and it looks like we're going to be good to go.

We're back on the road and heading for Dubrovnik - Woo Hoo!

The International Men of Mystery

Dumball Day 3 - Zagreb to Sarajevo

The main thing we noticed today was the profound change of mood once we crossed the border into Croatia. Before we crossed everybody was dicking around as normal (see motorway photos) but once we went across and started to see the bombed out bullet ridden deserted houses everybody went very quiet and sensible.  I think that suddenly everybody realised just why we were doing this and why War Child need as much money as possible.

They say a picture says a thousand words, so here are a few thousand (click on them to see a bigger version).

More tomorrow - (actually today) from Dubrovnik

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Dumball Day 2 - 6 Countries in 12 Hours!

We have been through Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, GERMANY, Slovenia and Croatia. It's been a long drive today, over 600 miles! We are still travelling with the 'Muppets on Tour' and managed to meet up with some of the other cars at some services in Switzerland (don't ask me where). Stopped at a small village in Liechtenstein which was absolutely beautiful, and then headed off to sneak over the German border. Travelled through Austria towards the most south easterly corner of Germany, slipped over the border and  scored one for Dumball.  See the photo of the border below. We needed to gather some items for 'Dumball points' so we got a German menu and a beer mat. We also get points for souvenirs collected from countries we pass through and we don't think anybody else went through Germany at all so that must push us up the leader board a bit. I'm currently doing the blog in the car. It's 8pm and we've got 2 hours to go. I thought it would be a good idea to get it done now so the night is clear for beer when we arrive.

More blogging tomorrow - Day 3 - Zagreb to Sarejevo (only 250 miles!)

Dumball - Day one - Must be Munich? Er actually No!

Well here we are at the end of day one. It didn't start too well as we learnt that Germany had decided not to let us cross their borders. As we were supposed to be staying in Munich tonight that seemed to be a problem. The route was re-planned to avoid Germany and we headed south towards Luxembourg. We started out as nicely organised 'Squadrons' of six cars but very quickly got split into 2 groups of 3 cars when half of the squadron left the motorway and half didn't. After about 4 hundred miles we arrived at Mulhouse in France. The hotel is really great seeing as they only had a few hours notice of our arrival. They opened their restaurant to us and really made us feel welcome so if you're ever looking for a hotel in Illzach, Mulhouse look up the Kyriad, we can definitely recommend it.

During the day there were a number of casualties. The Coffin dodgers hearse shuffled off it's mortal coil and was abandoned in a lay-by somewhere. The Mystery machine was first to get a puncture after only a couple of miles from the start and the Muppets car, which was painted with emulsion paint, unfortunately, got wet! (See below). Apart from that it looks like everybody made it. The next stage to Zagreb should be really difficult from here and I don't think anybody is really looking forward to it. Have a look in your atlas to see what I mean.

Bye for now and remember to tell your friends about the site. More tomorrow.

The InternationalMenofMystery.           (Sponsor us now)