Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Finished baby! The bushes were also broken but that's by the by. Next stop train to Moscow then Hector is flying home and I move onto to Helsinki.
Govi-Altai, Mongolia
Problems with our car: Horn is broken, no rear view mirror, gear box has collapsed, both sump guard and fuel guard are broken, fuel tank is held in place by 1 bolt, handbrake cable is trailing along the floor, can only use 2nd and 4th gears, 1 headlight is out, dodgy Lada wheels that are hammered onto our car and don't spin straight, very suspect noise from back left wheel - mystery - probably broken suspension, no air conditioning, no towing eye, CD player doesn't work, roof rack is loose, boot has dent in it and bonnet is slightly crumpled but the FiBeasta carries on!
Khovd, Mongolia
Now entering our 3rd day in and around Khovd. It started with us getting a flat tyre in the desert and without any spares trying to drive onto Khovd which was 70km away. Needless to say our flat descended into an absolute wreck and our other tyre also became flat. We then called in for a pick up. We waited for 6 hours by which time our friends had left and we were on our own. Then the mechanic turned up with the wrong wheels so he went back and returned 3 hours later again with the wrong wheels which he then proceded to try and bodge onto our car. He failed. By now it was midnight and he promised to return at 3am with the right wheels. He didn't. The next morning after a lonely night in the desert we hitched a ride with the local goatherder into town to hunt for wheels ourselves. Unfortunately the search was fruitless and we had to rehire the mechanic to tow us into town where the whole day turned into a big search which finally after 12 hours turned up some Lada tyres that have been hammered on. The rally continues!
Semey, Kazakhstan
in daylight semey looks crap, but in the dark we had the maddest night of the rally so far. We have habit of meeting the real characters of the places we go, last night it was 50 cents kazakh brother from another mother, a self confessed P.I.M.P. As we moved around the town in search of a venue with more than 2 people in it, PIMP came out with some classic comments, 'hoes show me love' was the best as well as referring to everyone as his homeboi/girl. Who needs london riots when making molotov cocktails is standard practice, I don't think the locals were happy bunnys though as we seemed to get attacked, mostly by women!! Having said that a slap in the face could easily be a type of chatup method in semey. We will go back when PIMP's new club opens.@
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Just crossed back into Kazakhstan having done half the Pamirs getting from Osh to just before Murghab. Sadly the altitude killed me (Blaise) so we had to cut it a bit early but it gives us more time to tackle Mongolia hopefully! Moreover it was stunningly beautiful - got some wicked photos and also found time to jump into China and back!@
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
Arrived in time for supper - hate border crossings.
Almaty, Kazakhstan
Mad experience.... We thought the rollercoaster/sled run thing off the side of a cliff was fairly mental, the dodgems was a nice touch.. But... NOTHING comes close to a kazakh spa sesh. Weirdest experience of our lives, without doubt. There is nothing quite like being beaten by naked kazakh with a birch branch leafy paddle thing, in a ridiculously hot sauna where it felt like we were snorting boiling water when we breathed, then being shoved under a freezing cold plunge shower. Thank god we could recover at a hookah bar for the evening!
Aqtöbe, Kazakhstan
Just leaving Aktobe after 2 nights. Spent the whole of yesterday rebuilding the sump guard with a man who was possibly the richest Kazak in Aktobe and definitely the nicest. He also had a mercedes slr and a hummer which he gave us a drive in - going around Kazakhstan in a hummer is a dream fulfilled! He also gave us free water and use of his mechanic for free as well as taking us to a good cheap hotel and restaurant for meals. But now we push on through the better north Kazak roads to Astana.
Atyrau, Kazakhstan
Volgograd was amazing - unbelievably good looking women! Haha we then headed down to Astrakhan where we spent 3 days with various ralliers in the Park Inn hotel. The average temp. in the first 2 days was 46 so we got our tan on. We also met a crazy Russian called Vicktor who shared his hardline race views with us highlights including, 'maybe, just maybe, adolf hitler was right' and 'Finish women, ugly in the face, ugly in the head.' He also had an ex-KGB bodyguard who was an absolute unit. We have now hit Kazakhstan - really nice people so far...
Lesser Poland Voivodeship, Poland
Pouring rain so really tough driving conditions, just had our first crash stopping at a red light. Nick H-H skidded in the wet and right into our rear. Luckily it has only been aesthetic damage to each vehicle so we drive on to Ukraine.
Hector McCorquodale
Load Hector
Blaise Taylor
Load Blaise