Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
We made it! Drinking our nice cold beers catching up with teams we haven't seen for ages and looking forward to our finish line party tonight!@
Ovorkhangai, Mongolia
Tarmac!
Bayankhongor, Mongolia
Louise- another rollercoaster ride yesterday in more ways than one. Following dangerous Dave in the windscreenless micra we took the wrong track and ended up somewhere well off the main road. We kept going as we were headed in vaguely the right direction, then our fuel troubles started up again. Maybe the filter was not the problem. We limped along for a bit and managed to get back on to a busier road, where amazingly we bumped into the Aussie team we've also been travelling with and their gps. Discovered that we were not on the main road but headed the right way. After some scratching of heads we figured out that the car seemed to run better in the mornings, when it also had a full tank of petrol. Jerry can duly came out and we now seem to be running ok. We caught up with Dave and Jim and The Aussies at a big river crossing, decided to go for the sensible option and get a tractor to tow us this time. Worrying that we'd lost time after our diversion we pushed on till dark, and as we rounded a corner just after sundown we spied some lights on a small hill by the road - another miracle, it was the other three teams we have been travelling with, camped up for the night! Found the main road again this morning and we are now back on track.
Govi-Altai, Mongolia
After a flying start this morning the poor micra started to cut out on us again, about 40km short of Altai. Something was choked up and with the help of the other teams we are with we figured something might be wrong with the fuel supply. Luckily for us team Evil Khanevil are driving something much more sensible than a Nissan micra and so were able to tow us to a mechanic in Altai. I was a bit concerned after seeing the rally car graveyard at the back of the mechanics but fortunately they quickly had the problem sorted and we now have a new fuel filter, along with two mended tyres (punctured another today). Ed's beard is coming along well!@
Khovd, Mongolia
Ed - Been a slow paced day again today. Set off this morning in the wrong direction, once we had back racked we had to cross a river, the micra made it though, big splash, water over the bonnet, but it survived. The micra with us that had crashed onto it's roof got a tow due to lack of windscreen. Other cars in our convoy broke down as well today, one cracked sump, now fixed, one cracked radiator, nearly fixed and our car has had a puncture and conked out at the top of a hill then started up again, it was it telling us not to drive so fast on the corrugated road, we hope!! Tomorrow we are in for some deep sand driving.
Khovd, Mongolia
Why do Mongolian towns have ridiculously similar names? Back in Mankhan after driving for an hour towards Tsetseg when we wanted Tsereg. Only way back to the right side of the mountain is the way that we came. Damn!
Khovd, Mongolia
Louise- Made it across the mountains, with no problems for us yet although we lost our number plate on a rock! Went swimming in a lake on the way and met a guy who showed us his eagle. We gave him one of our bottles of whisky! Lovely reception for us here in Khovd, we're drinking tea in a ger with some other teams and planning for the long haul to the next town - 450km with a big river to cross and a long stretch of deep sand. Fingers crossed!@
Bayan Olgii, Mongolia
Ed - WE ARE IN MONGOLIA:-) :-) After a 6 hour border crossing in which us and 5 other teams were herded into a separate compound, we were in. What an amazing country this is, no roads of course but that is all part of the fun:). It's been great to start off our final leg of the trip with so many other teams as well. The scenery is spectacular and we can't wait to see more. We entered the first big town, Olgii, at about 7.30pm, it was like a Mongol Rally cavalcade entering the town, everyone was waving at us. We are all staying in a traditional Mongolian Ger camp tonight and it's fantastic, 15 of us are here and all 6 cars will be heading off into the wilderness together tomorrow, lets hope our cars stand up to it.
Altai Republic, Russia
We are at the Mongolian border! Well done little micra, we hope you can keep going for us.
Biysk, Russia
Louise- After our fastest ever border crossing we are now on the final leg into the Altai mountains on our way to the Mongolian border. The micra has done us proud so far, but our biggest challenge is still ahead: we have to cross a huge chunk of mongolian wilderness to get from the border to the capital, Ulaan Baatar, and it's definitely not going to be easy! Thanks so much to everyone that has sponsored us, we really appreciate how generous you've all been. Updating the blog might be more difficult in Mongolia but we will try to keep it going.
Ed Fowler
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I am a Customer Services Assistant Operations Manager and am a proper petrolhead although I haven't owned an Alfa yet!!!
Driving is one of my biggest passions and a 10,000 mile road trip to Mongolia is one of the best adventures a boy like me could have:-)
Louise Fowler
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I'm an archaeologist working in London and married to Ed. When I can I spend my days knitting, growing veg on the allotment, walking the dog, drinking wine, coffee and G+T (not all at once) and of course planning my next big adventure!