Robert Kingscote

Robert Kingscote
Of The Lost Boys
On the The Mongol Rally 2010
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Tales from the first 10 days on the road.

First attempts at Blog failed due to power cut...and the second attempt. Hopefully we will succeed this time. Day 1 to 10 summary. Having only just tracked down an internet cafe we thought we would take a bit fo time to tell you all about our adventures in some more detail. 2,793 miles down, this is to let all you lovely people back home know what we have been up to so far. Having already got lost in Worthing we made our ferry and arrived at Bruge for our first night on the rally. We had teamed up with 6 other teams in a petrol station along the way. Finding no space at the camp we took the first turnging off the road that didnt look like someones drive and pitched our tent for the night. The next morning we woke to discover that we had decided to sleep in a childrens adventure playground. We set of with 6 other teams to Frankfert via the Nurbergring. We decided against punishing 'Speedy DD' on the first day so just watched from the sidelines. We spent the night in a distinctly average campsite in the suburbs of Frankfert. The following night was the night of the 'Czechout' party in Klenova, Czech Republic, a massive party organised for the 450 rally teams in an old castle. We all got slightly carried away in a supermarket due to the exceptionally good exchange and some cheap local liquor. A great night was had by all with some very funny stories to pass on when we return!! The next day started slowly and was all going to plan until Ollie was abducted by the 'Beer Bongolians' and a 450 euro pig at a petrol station with a fully functioning selection of beer taps. We left ollie with few personal possesions - the next time we found him he didnt even have any shoes! Ed and Rob made it safe and sound to Prague with Red Racer and Shitty Corsa two teams that we had been convoying with since our first night in Bruges. Staying on an island in the middle of the river. Going into the city for supper we found ourselves in amongst a huge festival in the centre. The main stage was also found floating on the river just down from the Charles Bridge. Reunited with Ollie we set off for Budapest with a quick stop over at the 'Church Of Bones'- a church decorated with the bones of 30,000 plague victims. Arriving in Budapest after a longs day driving we found a campsite on the outscirts of the city, sadly it was mainly made of stones and Ollies deflating roll mat did him no favours. We thought we had hit gold with free breakfast and free showers so we decided we would stay an extra day, say goodbye to the other teams and go into the city to explore. After a quick stop over to a tattoo parlour (Lost Boys for life!!) we wondered around the city amongst hundreds of japanese tourists and took in the sites, we were especially impressed by the parlaiment building and the views from the old town of Buda. Onwards to Romania and the land of poor roads and gypsies. Camping mainly on farmland for two nights and taking a tour of the Transfagarasan road ('best driving road in the world') which was conviently found in the beautiful region of Transylvania. No sign of The Count but some stunning views and some lovely driving. Sadly it was quite a detour but well worth the extra miles. Next our route took us through Moldova, after having to pay our first bribe on the boarder for a 'green card' that we're still not sure exists! We were in and out of Moldova quite quickly we found the lack of road marking quite dangerous, especially on the 6 lane motorway that ran stright through the capital. Some steady headed driving from ed and his famous U turn got us through unscathed! After being sent round the military zone and another bribe on the Ukraninan boarder, we eventually arrived in Odesa. Entering Odesa at night team moral was low as we had no idea of anywhere to stay or how to go about finding anything with this strange new alphabet. Luckily we bumped into two other teams in the same situation as us so we took on the roll of followers and were absolved of any responsibility, happy to take up the position at the back of the convoy. Finally arriving at a hotel after hours of trawling round the city which was equipped with two pools, a tennis court, and most importantly our first bed in 8 days! After a well deserved lie-in we convoyed to north of the Crimean Penisula before splitting from the other teams (Thanks Team Ireland and Team Divorsed Eggs for saving us from the perils of Odesa!) and heading to Feodesiia in the south. We powered through the night with our fingers crossed that we would find a place to stay, and for once lady luck was on our side and we found a place as we pulled off the main road into the city. A day ahead of schedual we decided to check out the 'Millionaire Russian Playground'sadly it was most comparable to a cross between the Full Moon Party in Thailand and Butlins in MINEhead. After a huge feast last night chosen by the waiter as we couldnt read the menu we set off for Kerch and on to Russia tomorrow, hopefully we will have more luck at the boarder than some of the other teams. Bribes at the ready. We have lots of ground to cover and we will keep you as updated as we can, many fun stories to tell already and im sure many more to come! Hope everyone at home is well and enjoying our updates, and for now remember dont eat yellow snow. Lots of love from The (not so) Lost Boys. xxx