The Finish Line

We arrived in Ulan Bataar on Friday August 20 midday to the cheers of hundreds of Mongol Rally fans.  OK, maybe not, but we did beeline wight for my friend Lubo's Czech restaurant for an excellent meal and then went and registered our arrival at the finish line.  All you Douglas Adams fans out there will be sure to appreciate that we were Team #42 to arrive.

 

The Mongolian "roads" have been hard on the rally vehicles. Of the 55 or so teams registered before the first arrival party on Saturday the 21st, only about 30-35 were driven in under their own power. The others were towed or basically destroyed in other parts of the country.  Even our little Toyota that could had its issues.  The clutch is failing, the battery is now dead, we broke shocks, helper springs, parts of the exhaust system and the electric doors (which led to having to take a hammer to one of the small windows to get into the truck).

The finish line party, which featured Mongolian throat singing, a contortionist and performances by the CNCF kids, was a fantastic time and was followed by a night of debauchery at the River Sound Club.  Everyone looked to be having a great time and the group from our Mongolian caravan definitely enjoyed the evening.  Lots of pics to be gone through resized, edited for appropriateness and posted. lol

 

Mongolia

So much for timely blogging....  Unfortunately we have been without any internet access for the past week.  It has been a crazy time with more than a couple marathon driving sessions. Between the 925km day on bad roads in Kazakhstan racing for the border because we forgot to register our visas and preferred to avoid arrest, enduring sub-freezing temps camping out at the Russian/Mongolian border after it closed 5 minutes before we got there, destroying shocks, rear helper springs, a window, etc etc we are ready for the relative comfort of UB in a few short days.  

Last evening we were racing to get away from a sandstorm when we were flagged down by a Mongolian family who had broken down - we were literally the ONLY vehicles on this path.  We stopped and helped them out, which then left us in the northern Gobi desert at sunset.  I made a comment to Elisa that if it wasn't for her being in the car, it would have been the most alone I have ever felt.  It is hard to explain the complete reliance you have on your vehicle here, with nothing but plains, desert and mountains in site for as far as the eye can see in every direction.

We kept on driving, navigating mainly by our $2.35 suction cup compass stuck on the windshield.  The sandstorm caught up with us in the now pitch black night and the road suddenly came to an end near some gers and a body of water.  We thought it best to double back and did for a bit, when two trucks appeared and started down the same "road" we had been on.  We followed them as they crossed the water, thus ending up making our third river crossing at near midnight.  As our English friends would say, "Epic!".  The truckers were very friendly, confirmed our direction and let us follow them for a while until visibility went to near zero.  We spent a cold night in the truck, riding out the sandstorm off to the side of the road.  This morning we continued on and arrived safely in Bayanhongor, Mongolia.  Today it's off to some hot springs and a ger camp NE of here for a much needed and deserved rest and then it will be on to the finish line in Ulan Bator.  

Khanopies Over Kiev

Arrived in the Kiev area late last night after a relatively straightforward border crossing from Hungary.  Gorgeous countryside for much of the trip.  Camped out by the DZ here and jumping today.  Any other teams in the area should come and join us!  More plus pics a bit later today.

Klatovy

Arrived this evening at the dropzone in Klatovy, Czech.  Should only be about 20 minutes from here to the castle and Czech-Out party. 

Last night after the Eurotunnel we minimized our time in France, drove through Belgium, slept at a truck stop and this morning continued on to Luxembourg and had a relaxing break there.  Not to mention filling up with the cheapest gas of the trip so far, a mere 1.15Euro per LITRE - works out to about $5.50 per gallon.  And as I said, that's been the CHEAPEST gas of the trip so far.

We managed to make our way across Germany with a couple of intended detours to see some really great little villages and then it was on into Czech Republic and a quick shot down to Klatovy. Now it's time to catch up on some sleep before getting some jumping in tomorrow morning, fixing some brake issues with the truck and heading over to Klenova Castle for Czech-out.

First issues

### Adventure begins when the unforeseen creeps in exactly when it shouldn't.

 Truck started pulling to the left during braking. Found the cause - shipping company tied down the truck in the wrong place and nicked the upper ball joint boot.  Grease is spattering onto the brake disc rendering the right front brake, well, not all that effective.

It's now 10 hours to launch. And so it starts. Will have to get some brake parts cleaner first thing along with at the very least creating an overboot to prevent more grease spatter. Then will have to at very least clean and sand disc and then get everything back together to head out. 

Where it all Stands

Monday found things improving as both Windy City Wanderers and I were able to collect our vehicles from the Southampton/Liverpool port thugs.  The weekend in Southampton was actually really great and I have a mental list of clubs to visit the next time I'm there on a Friday night!

Managed to make a couple of minor vehicle mods before heading to Heathrow to collect a shipment of supplies which Connaught brought over for us and now hangin' with friends west of London trying to figure out where to put all this stuff so as to be able to fit my teammate into the truck...  Might be time to start thinking about whether I really need some of this stuff.

Elisa arrives Thursday and we launch in FOUR days.  Might be about time to look at a map and figure out how to get to this castle in the Czech Republic they spoke about...

UK Contact Info

Well, I discovered something else that our friends here on the NE side of the pond do quite well - Cell Phone Service.  Rates are fairly cheap, good coverage, etc.  I've popped a UK SIM card into my worldphone and voila, cheap cell phone.  If anyone wants to get in touch, try me on 011 44 (0) 7733402220.  If calling from the states, just leave off the zero in parentheses.  Brilliant!

Now internet on the other hand....  things are much more secure here than back home. But, found a cafe with good coffee and free net access so time to get caught up on blogs, bills and plans.

Truck couldn't be picked up yesterday as planned due to port thugs wanting to make a bit more money, so hopefully Monday will find me collecting our steed in time to perform some additional work and have it ready for next Saturday's launch. 

Hello UK

### Arrived in UK yesterday and nothing has yet gone quite as planned so the adventure has officially begun. Hopefully will have a truck to drive on Monday... Until then, we'll see what Southampton has to offer.

T-Minus 30 Days and Counting

Things are now very real as today marks one month to the start of the rally.  Passports should start coming back tomorrow with the final visas in place, we received confirmation that our truck is on the way and should arrive on schedule in the UK and our new team shirts arrived and look FANTASTIC!  For the past two days, I've been spending evenings on the beach enjoying the sounds of the ocean to which I'll soon be bidding farewell for a while...  I'll also be enjoying all the vegetarian food I can for now, because pretty soon it'll be all boiled mutton from here on out!    

Cruisin'

Well, our trusty little Yota is now officially on it's way across the pond, bound for the start line.  The shakedown drive from Florida to New Jersey (about 1200 miles) went well and the couple of little issues which did manifest should be (relatively) easily resolved. For the most part it was a smooth ride.  The weather was GORGEOUS, the heat and sound insulation did its job better than expected and I never got pulled over.  Stopped in NYC for a decent slice of pizza before flying home last night.   Now it's on to Russian visa paperwork.