Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
The finish line. Mixed feelings as we're missing our fourth team member but we're all so glad we made it. It's been challenging emotionally and physically. We've seen amazing things and met amazing people... At the time of writing this, under half of the 440 teams have registered at the finish line, apparently the road conditions have been worse this year due to harsh winter and hot summer so we did well! Now I think we're all looking forward to proper clean clothes, a decent shower and fish & chips!
Arvaikheer, Mongolia
Well we just said our goodbyes to Roo, sadly she didn't make it to Ulaanbaatar... It's a very sad day but we have a taxi and we're heading straight to the orphanage with medical supplies and toys. The rear axle had completely given in, both leaf springs had broken and fiat parts are hard to come by in this town. We have confirmed that she will be carried to UB and fixed up for the charity so all is not lost as we got her this far across Mongolia. Our journey with her has ended but she will live on! Who knew you could become so attached to a machine?! Goodbye Roo, you did us proud!
Bayanhongor, Mongolia
Doh! After making good progress yesterday we somehow managed to break our other leaf spring last night... We've limped to Bayankhongor at 10mph again and we're now sat at a garage hoping to get more repairs... We will get to Ulaanbaatar, one day!
Altai, Mongolia
Back on the road with some dodgy repairs... Another delay but hey, it's good to be moving again! Suspension isn't perfect but we can do twice the speed we were doing before which is a bonus. All much perkier today, just another 600miles and we're done... Woohoo!
Altai, Mongolia
Been an emotional 24 hours. Stopped off yesterday to help out another team who's rear axle had broken. Helped them lift their car onto a "recovery" truck and took two with us destination Altay. About an hour into the journey one of the rear leaf springs broke in half and an air suspension bag burst. We were limping to Altai at around 10mph... Drove into the night but got lost in the desert so camped up in a gale. Woke up this morning, drove for about an hour then got stuck in sand, two hours of digging and pushing with no joy in blistering heat. Luckily James found a local camp a few km away and a guy with a 4x4... Back on the road and 30mins later we sprung a diesel leak, pipe from pump had jumped off on rough terrain. It's taken us all day to do about 80miles. We're now at a garage with around 12 other teams getting repairs... Hope this goes well, morale is low and time is slipping away. Any morale boosts from you guys would be more than welcome!
Khovd, Mongolia
Well, after disconnecting and reconnecting a bunch of cables, emptying the fuel filter, praying and a bit of luck, Roo is back up and running! Forgot to mention the dust, it's absolutely everywhere, we are properly caked in it!@
Khovd, Mongolia
We're about 70k east of Khovd on the outskirts of the Gobi. I'll try and paint a picture... We're in a massive flat basin surrounded by fantastic mountains, some of the higher ones have snow on top. During the day temperature is around or above 30, at night we go to sleep cold and wake up to frost. The land is pretty baron, a few clumps of pretty sharp grass and the odd lake here and there. Around every corner is another ger camp and cattle, goats, horses and camels roam the ever changing landscape. Mongolia is by far the most beautiful place I have ever been to but boy, she is harsh, challenging and relentless. The roads are rocky, uneven ridged tracks and taking your eyes off them to admire the scenery or a passing eagle whilst driving for a second more often than not means missing a randomly placed sharp rock or pot hole. Damage report: Air suspension broke and has been bodged with super glue. Offside rear leaf spring is only attached to the chassis one end. Both front shocks have gone. The sump has taken several hard knocks but still intact. About an hour ago we lost power and now the engine starts but stalls almost immediately, we're now camped up waiting until light so we can try and work out what's wrong... Cross your fingers guys!@
Bayan Olgii, Mongolia
Wooohoooo we're in Mongolia baby! After waiting around all day in a compound on the Mongolian side of the border with around ten other teams we finally all made it through thanks to some staff staying behind late to process our vehicles... Obviously this cost us all more dollars but it was worth it so we didn't have to stay there until Monday. So far, Mongolia is absolutely amazing, the views are out of this world and the people really friendly. One down side, the roads are absolutely shit, pretty much just dirt and pot holes! This is where the adventure starts... Ooooh yeah!@
Republic of Altai, Russian Federation
At the Russian/Mongolian border. We've just been told it's now closed so looks like we're camping here for the night. The scenery coming through from Biysk has been getting more and more stunning with every corner we turn. Last night we camped out by a fast flowing river in a fantastic valley, it's getting colder and colder so we sat huddled round a fire but were able to enjoy river chilled beers which was a nice and very welcome change! Today we've seen our first snow capped mountains and quite a few gers...
Biysk, Russian Federation
We are so tired! We've literally driven since about 10am after our 10 hour wait at the border... It's been good convoying but we had to leave our Astana friends earlier as they all managed to sleep throughout the day and were planning on driving through the night. The road down to Mongolian border is full of rally teams and we're now camped up with 8 other teams! The scenery is really changing, lots of hills now and forests all around. It's getting colder too, temperature outside tonight is about 10 degrees. Off to bed bow for much neede sleep and setting off early in the morning to get to the border and hopefully catch up with our friends...
