Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
FINISH LINE!! We made it!
Bayanhongor, Mongolia
Two days drive away from the finish line. So much anxiety amongst all teams, as cars are dropping like flies. One in our convoy died last night, but we have managed to pack the two men and their stuff amongst our three. Our car is a sight to behold - part of rear suspension held together by a bolt and steel twine (beautifully fashioned by a mongolian macguyver truck driver who stopped to help us), and no rear windshield after a rock went sailing thru. A story for another time. We are all hanging in there though. Full of anxiety, but excited. The end is so near... but so far.
Altai Republic, Russia
The home stretch to the Mongolian border! We are about 100 km away on an absolutely stunning mountain stretch. Enormous snow capped peaks around. Hoping to cross today as long as paperwork goes smoothly, as we are importing a car. Fingers crossed!
Semey, Kazakhstan
Booked it across Eastern Kazakstan over the past two days. Record today of furthest distance in one day on the rally (for us at least): 800 km. Mostly smooth sailing except last 150 km to Semey, where the road is all torn apart. Russian border tomorrow, should reach Mongolia 2-3 days later. Almost there!
Chuyskaya, Kyrgyzstan
Just finished the most spectacular drive of our trip yet! Ascended to 3500 meters- followed small river through grasslands past horses and sheep grazing in shadows cast by the Kyrgyz Alatau mountain chain. I would like to live here in my own squat white yurt. @
Samarkand, Uzbekistan
We love the people of Uzbekistan, but the rest is starting to wear us down - no gas, no way to with draw cash, bed bugs, food poisoning. All these problems have consumed a lot of our time here, which is a damm shame. We have met some incredible people here, who have helped so much, especially the two Aziz's we met in Burkara when we got our first flat! "Young" Aziz came aross us on the side of the road at around midnight, took us to his shop to get one of our spares put on the wheel, then took us to the tire bazaar to get a few more spares the next day. Also took us to get good gas, which is a rare commodity here. All is well tho, heading to kyrgyzstan, hope to cross tomorrow. We hear there is eagle hunting and ATMs there. Starting to run into teams coming up from the southern route, all raving about Iran...@
Khorazm, Uzbekistan
Alls wells in kiva, uzbekisan. Finally had a day off driving. Did a short tour of the city after errands were done. Went to the very bizarre museum of music, then to a performance of korzem traditional song and play. Heading to burkara today. We hear the road is torn to shreds because they are rebuilding it for trucks transporting goods to the war in afghanistan. We see the monstrous trucks all the time, traveling in convoy. Willie Benz is the company.
Qaraqalpaqstan Respublikasi, Uzbekistan
Its just us and the camels now! We are in the western Uzbek desert, hundreds of miles from the nearest city. Crossed the border last nite, finally thru around 11 pm, found a spot to pitch tents and get a little sleep before sunrise. Last 100 km in kazakstan was dirt and rock, a rather bumpy 2 hour ride. Uzbek roads are good. Crusing along, hopefully to khiva tonite!
Atyrau, Kazakhstan
We are in glorious nation kazakstan! Very nice! As soon as we crossed the border we were definitely entered another world - vast landscape, camels (!), asian faces, bad roads. We had a great camp with 3 other teams the first night, spent most of next day in atyrau running errands, then stayed in a guesthouse in the small town of Dossor. Today we head to uzbek border. Teams ahead say its a slow one...@
Elista, Russia
About 300 km from kazak border, stopped off in Elista, the capital of Kalmykia, the only Buddhist region on the European continent. The people are descendants of western Mongolians who embraced buddhism in the 17th centry then set off to the west and ended up in the Volga region. Seems like some interesting history between then and now. It was an interesting stop - we spun a prayer wheel, watched a chess game, bought some local music, grabbed a pizza, then hit the road again. We will meet up with another team or two in Astrakhan, then cross into Kazakstan tonite or ** some text is missing **
