William Shatford

William Shatford
Of rSquared
On the The Mongol Rally 2010
HIGHLIGHT ON MAP
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Signing Off With a BANG!

This will probably be my last post of this trip. We have had quite an adventure, with lots of stories to tell over many many pints of beer. You guys are gonna have to pay to hear the things we have to tell.

We are at the last few days of our stay in UB, but they have been anything but uneventful. Have you ever wanted to blow things up, for real, not on some lame computer game? How about getting a ride on a Russian tank? Or even driving one yourself?

Well, yesterday was the day to do these things. I never thought I would get the chance to do so, but I was able to shoot an RPG! **A MUTHA FUCKING RPG!** And I hit the target! I have some great videos of the action. The sheer power of that weapon is amazing. If you stand anywhere beside the thing there is a chance that you'll blow your ear drums out. (Didn't happen, but it could, so they tell you to keep your mouth open when you shoot). The shock wave that ensues, the rocket plumming as it breaks the sound barrier... Simply amazing. I suggest that everyone get a chance to do it at least once.

Next, we were off to shoot AK-47s. That was a ton of fun as well, and it lasts quite a bit longer... you know, 30 shots instead of 1. Everyone we went with had a go at the guns, more videos and photos from that as well. Probably keep those on the camera for now because it does a lot better than my computer of slowing the action right down to be able to see bullets flying, and grenades being propelled buy rockets. I think Imay have found my new facebook profile photo :)

Lastly, 6 guys from our crew pitched in to drive a Russian tank. Everyone was able to sit on the tank as we drove around, but the 6 people who actually drove it came away with a very large smile. We even broke the thing to. Hopefully no one else wanted to drive a tank that day :)

Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll be able to drop off the toys that I've been hauling since Ireland to the Christina Nobel Children's Foundation work here in UB. I'll get shots if  I do, but I here that you can't just drive there, which is lame. I really want to drop off these things at the camp, but I'll settle for a few photo shoots with the rep here in UB.

I've spent too much time in my room now. I should really get out there and see what's to see, and find out where my car is, and pack up, and a million tiny other things too.I should probably shower first. Tomorrow is a dry day in UB. No clubs, no bars, and no slhops sell alcohol... what will I ever do?!?!

See most of you on the flip side of the pacific.

William Shatford
Of rSquared
On the The Mongol Rally 2010
HIGHLIGHT ON MAP
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WE HAVE ARRIVED!

Yes, that is correct! We have arrived in Ulaanbaatar!

The road has been long and hard, and at times... downright confusing. Covered in dust which is more invasive than Burning Man playa dust (seriously, no joke), needing showers and baths and scrubbing and showers, we have arrived safely with no major issues to either us or the car. When I get out of here, I'm going to soak in water for an hour, maybe more.

So now I'm trying to change my flight details. Turns out it is really hard when you are 16 hours ahead of the people who can make the change, and when your cell phone doesn't want to connect to the cell networks.

Anywho, it is really late/early here, so i should really try to get to bed before the sun comes up. I'll see everyone soon.

William Shatford
Of rSquared
On the The Mongol Rally 2010
HIGHLIGHT ON MAP
MORE FROM

Trophy Unlocked: Slow Car Becomes Rally Car

*(It has been a while since I've been able to make an update, and I probably won't have much time until we finish to keep everyone up to date. I'm sure you'll understand.)*

There are 1,000km of paved roads in Mongolia, and as soon as you come across the border, you are not on one of these roads. Not by a long shot, or for many many miles. They are usually only in and around the major cities. But the paved parts are worse than the unpaved parts. Mostly.

Our car has weathered this challenge like a champ and we are doing very well. We've definitely have had our bits of "OH SHIT!" moments and our rock collection is growing daily. And by rock collection, I mean the large unavoidable rocks that litter the "roads" in this country. We've even had a few stream crossings, one of which sorta drenched our air intake. Damn, I should pull that out to dry....

Fortunate for us, we have a GPS tracking program which allows us to compare with the map our current location to make sure we are on the right path. I'm trying not to use the word road.

One of the best parts about driving in Mongolia is, if you don't like the road that you are on, then someone else has probably made another road right next to it that is in much better quality... or you just make one of your own. Just watch out for one of those rocks that I mentioned earlier. The best part so far was seeing a road go over a crest of a hill, but we couldn't discover where it joined up, so we just drove right across the grass until we found where we wanted to be.

I must say that we are happy to finally be out of Russia. Western and central Russia are a blight on the eye in the cities and vast expanses of fields in between. It wasn't until we got to western siberia that we really started to enjoy Russia. Not only were we out of the smoke from the Moscow fires, but we were in some spectacular mountains. When I have a chance, and wi-fi, I'll upload the photos that I've taken. There are some really good ones. SO MANY STARS!

Not sure how much farther we'll be able to make it today. It is already late in the day and you definitely do not want to be driving in the dark. I can already see how that would go, and it would probably mean that the car would have some major issue. So we are not going to be doing that.

Many more miles await, and we have crossed the 8000 mile mark. Not much more to go.Â