Ovorhangay, Mongolia

Have reached the tarmack road are speeding towards UB with only 200miles to go! We were a little sad to see end of the graded tracks as it feels like much of the adventure is already over. But with another car in the convoy running on a broken wheel bearing, snapped rear spring and no boot or window latches it will be a relief to make it to the finish all in one piece.

Bayanhongor, Mongolia

Having lost 2 cars we are continuing towards UB with the remaining 3 including ours. We got a small puncture which was patched up in 20 min. Crossing along the top of the Gobi has been great fun on sand tracks - like a real rally but a bit slower. We had a big river crossing that submerged the wheels. Quite fast flowing water so a scary moment. Carried fuel for an irish microlight pilot while he flew above us on the way to the finish. We should make it in 2-3 days! @

Altay, China

Having a good time crossing enormous empty plains lined with snow capped mountains. Tracks aren't too bad just very bumpy. All sumps pretty dented and our muffler is in the boot. Now we sound like a proper rally car! Held up alot while other cars get fixed. One car is too damaged to go on so we will have some passengers! Our Toyota is doing great and locals want to buy it. One team crashed into sudden river and was stuck for 2 days. We r making good time for getting 2 the finish.

Ukraine!

We crossed the boarder late last night into Ukraine after a scenic drive on windy roads through the Polish countryside. The boarder crossing was OK at two hours with no cost, but from what we heard from another driver it was straight foward compared to what we will face in Russia. 

Into Ukraine and the atmosphere changed.  No street lights at all, still figures looming from the gloom on the sides of the single straight road which we travelled on.  Old Larda police cars parked up and pulling people over.  All there was to see was dense forest, with the odd slightly run-down house. 

We went into a field to spend the night.  On to a dirt track just of the crumbling main road and the car lost grip, its wheels covered in wet mud.  We decided to leave it till morning and so spent another night in the car, not knowing what was around us.  In the morning we put down grass off the field and the car managed top pull itself out - I (Tim) got nicly sprayed with mud while Andrew skillfully handled the driving! 

Today we have come to the nearest city L'viv and enjoyed wondering round looking at some sights. It is a nice place, a little less alien than the country side, where also today, many people can be seen standing by the road, staring blankly as we drive by.  Some sit or stand next to cows or goats.  We guess many people are waiting for buses, not that we saw many of them.  The city is like a European one, but a little more run-down.  There's a greater difference between here and previously visited countries.

Next we plan to cross this country over the following three days, before entering the Russian border.  It's warmed up compared to Poland and we expect the drive should be pretty nice, with the hope that the roads stay OK.

Car

This week we've collected our car!

It's a Toyota Corolla  and in really good working order (at the moment).

On the trip home it proved to be very smooth but a tap of the accelerator lets the sporty 1.4 push the car into a roaring oblivion.  Apart from central locking everything seems to work well.  A touch of luxury is provided by air conditioning, electric windows and mirrors and a pretty good cassette sound system. 

The car needs a few small modifications to be made, which will be done during the week before the rally. 

It is ready for the dirt tracks of the Far East due to four brand new Michelin reinforced tyres, which have been imported from Turkey.

 It's also been serviced by Inchcape Toyota Guildford.  We thank them for very generously donating the vehicle to us and hope that it will go to a good charity when it arrives in Mongolia.

A worry...

Two impulsive, foolish and perhaps a little naive young men set out with the idea of traversing a third of the way around the globe.  Little do they know of the arduous mountain ranges, deserts, sea crossings and long, long roads that they will encounter.  Not to mention the undesirable characters that they will inevitably attract...  Thousands of miles of unpaved, barren, uninhabited desert will absorb them, just a passing streak through a pitch black sky.  There will be nothing for them but the deserted dirt tracks that pass for roads and their increasingly darkening pensive thoughts.

 (hopefully it will stay a little more cheerful than this).