The first day of a rally is often rather odd before everything settles down but this first day was in a league of its own.

We had to get out of a city of 16 million people for a start and then we climbed to our first pass that was an oxygen depleting 4500 metres before dropping down to 2500 to our hotel.

It rained. Not just any old rain, but a torrential, blinding, road flooding downpour that went on for 5 hours. Of course, we were fine in the Landie, but for the crews in old cars with only a canopy, or in the case of the Silver Ghost, nothing, it was a nightmare. Not only were they getting drenched, it’s also very problematic for the cars. Myriad problems there were, too.

I hardly know where to start. Xavier’s Studebaker had difficulties almost from the off. He and Ines broke down in one of the endless and often very long tunnels we went through, had a fix and then broke down again. They arrived at the hotel last night minus car, which was deemed unfit to carry on.

As we climbed, many cars had issues around the lack of oxygen, which affects engines as well as people. Modern cars automatically adjust, but not the olds. A quick list of cars that broke down: the blue Alvis, the black and red Rolls, the blue Jag, an XK150, the Range Rover, the Nash, the afore mentioned Studebaker, the yellow Rolls and Chris and Marks Silver Ghost.

The climb up to the first big pass was long and hard for the old cars and very tough on us. Most people felt it. We had the wobbles when walking and a feeling that we could topple over at any minute. We walked slowly with legs slightly apart for balance taking deep breaths to try to compensate for the lack of oxygen. Most of us are taking drugs to try to mitigate the effects. Your extremities tingle and you pee a lot. That’s a bit problematic for us women. There are no handy trees or bushes and the one loo I did go to in a village was beyond disgusting. Three holes in a row with two planks to stand on in a doorless communal loo. I tried to hold my breath, which was impossible, for the duration. Plus, I was wearing a boiler suit. Not a smart move. A man came in and starting shitting beside me. I left, traumatised.

Rudi, in one of the other Defenders towed Lloyd and Treacy, in the Nash, to the top of the pass. Rudi loves to help and fix things and they managed to get going again. Having three Defenders on this rally will prove to be very helpful, I think. Not just for towing, but for carrying peoples stuff. We did Peking to Paris in an 80 year old two seater car so know what it’s like. It is essential that spares and camping equipment get first dibs of the space, leaving little room for personal items. We’re carrying about a dozen blankets, two suitcases for Pads, oxygen cylinders for the doc and other sundry items.

We came across Chris and Mark, in the Ghost, on the side of the road with bonnet up, tools out. Their magneto had failed but they had other difficulties too. We started the breakdown fruitcake I had made. Eventually, they thought they were sorted but we were going to follow them, just in case. They had only gone about 500 metres, when it was obvious all was far from well. We decided to tow them. Unfortunately, they hadn’t got a fixing for our rigid tow bar (something to be rectified in Lhasa) so it had to be a rope. Not ideal. It’s a very heavy car, but, in low ratio, our Defender was definitely up to the job.

We were climbing, which was fine, but we knew there was a long descent to get to our night halt. We reached the summit and stopped to make a plan. They decided to free wheel down the mountain with us following. I found it terrifying as I was so scared that their brakes would not hold. The excellent road, quite a feat of engineering, was very steep, full of loops and twists and went on for ever and ever. I could hardly breathe. Old brakes fade and I expected catastrophe at any moment.

After what felt like an eternity, we were on level ground again before the steep, but fairly short climb to our hotel. Towing a huge Rolls, in the dark, through a busy Tibetan town packed full of curious people who want to surround you is a bit of a tricky business. But we made it! Our 400 Kms journey had taken 12 hours….

After a quick dinner, many cars were being worked on late into the night ready to fight another day.