Signing Off With a BANG!

This will probably be my last post of this trip. We have had quite an adventure, with lots of stories to tell over many many pints of beer. You guys are gonna have to pay to hear the things we have to tell.

We are at the last few days of our stay in UB, but they have been anything but uneventful. Have you ever wanted to blow things up, for real, not on some lame computer game? How about getting a ride on a Russian tank? Or even driving one yourself?

Well, yesterday was the day to do these things. I never thought I would get the chance to do so, but I was able to shoot an RPG! **A MUTHA FUCKING RPG!** And I hit the target! I have some great videos of the action. The sheer power of that weapon is amazing. If you stand anywhere beside the thing there is a chance that you'll blow your ear drums out. (Didn't happen, but it could, so they tell you to keep your mouth open when you shoot). The shock wave that ensues, the rocket plumming as it breaks the sound barrier... Simply amazing. I suggest that everyone get a chance to do it at least once.

Next, we were off to shoot AK-47s. That was a ton of fun as well, and it lasts quite a bit longer... you know, 30 shots instead of 1. Everyone we went with had a go at the guns, more videos and photos from that as well. Probably keep those on the camera for now because it does a lot better than my computer of slowing the action right down to be able to see bullets flying, and grenades being propelled buy rockets. I think Imay have found my new facebook profile photo :)

Lastly, 6 guys from our crew pitched in to drive a Russian tank. Everyone was able to sit on the tank as we drove around, but the 6 people who actually drove it came away with a very large smile. We even broke the thing to. Hopefully no one else wanted to drive a tank that day :)

Hopefully, tomorrow, I'll be able to drop off the toys that I've been hauling since Ireland to the Christina Nobel Children's Foundation work here in UB. I'll get shots if  I do, but I here that you can't just drive there, which is lame. I really want to drop off these things at the camp, but I'll settle for a few photo shoots with the rep here in UB.

I've spent too much time in my room now. I should really get out there and see what's to see, and find out where my car is, and pack up, and a million tiny other things too.I should probably shower first. Tomorrow is a dry day in UB. No clubs, no bars, and no slhops sell alcohol... what will I ever do?!?!

See most of you on the flip side of the pacific.

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

Yes, that is correct! We have arrived in Ulaanbaatar!

The road has been long and hard, and at times... downright confusing. Covered in dust which is more invasive than Burning Man playa dust (seriously, no joke), needing showers and baths and scrubbing and showers, we have arrived safely with no major issues to either us or the car. When I get out of here, I'm going to soak in water for an hour, maybe more.

So now I'm trying to change my flight details. Turns out it is really hard when you are 16 hours ahead of the people who can make the change, and when your cell phone doesn't want to connect to the cell networks.

Anywho, it is really late/early here, so i should really try to get to bed before the sun comes up. I'll see everyone soon.

Arvaikheer, Mongolia

yesterday was quite challenging. A car in our convoy had problems and needed to be towed... rsquared to the rescue. More to come.

Bayankhongor

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It's been a pretty amazing couple of days.  We've been caravaning with 4 other teams from Great Britan, the Netherlands, and Belgium.  We reached Bayankhongor this afternoon, and all 5 cars had to stop to get tires fixed.  :-)  We go through almost as many tires as we do liters of water.  For some reason, the Hyundai refuses to close it's air vents to the outside, so after 5 days without a shower we were as dusty as it's possible for two people to get.  Luckily, last night we hit a river which we had to ford, (because we were on the wrong road) and after getting all the cars across, we stopped to wash up in the river.  You have never seen 13 happier men in your life.  We've got about 200km more to drive today before it gets dark, and when we get up tomorrow, about 400km to drive to UlaanBaatar on paved roads.  Love you all, and we'll talk to you later.

Altay, Mongolia

just spent $65 on a patched tire and new rubber. Fucking rip off. Don't like this place. Most likely not staying for long. At this rate we'll be done far earlier than expected. Probably get to SF by the 30th.

Trophy Unlocked: Slow Car Becomes Rally Car

*(It has been a while since I've been able to make an update, and I probably won't have much time until we finish to keep everyone up to date. I'm sure you'll understand.)*

There are 1,000km of paved roads in Mongolia, and as soon as you come across the border, you are not on one of these roads. Not by a long shot, or for many many miles. They are usually only in and around the major cities. But the paved parts are worse than the unpaved parts. Mostly.

Our car has weathered this challenge like a champ and we are doing very well. We've definitely have had our bits of "OH SHIT!" moments and our rock collection is growing daily. And by rock collection, I mean the large unavoidable rocks that litter the "roads" in this country. We've even had a few stream crossings, one of which sorta drenched our air intake. Damn, I should pull that out to dry....

Fortunate for us, we have a GPS tracking program which allows us to compare with the map our current location to make sure we are on the right path. I'm trying not to use the word road.

One of the best parts about driving in Mongolia is, if you don't like the road that you are on, then someone else has probably made another road right next to it that is in much better quality... or you just make one of your own. Just watch out for one of those rocks that I mentioned earlier. The best part so far was seeing a road go over a crest of a hill, but we couldn't discover where it joined up, so we just drove right across the grass until we found where we wanted to be.

I must say that we are happy to finally be out of Russia. Western and central Russia are a blight on the eye in the cities and vast expanses of fields in between. It wasn't until we got to western siberia that we really started to enjoy Russia. Not only were we out of the smoke from the Moscow fires, but we were in some spectacular mountains. When I have a chance, and wi-fi, I'll upload the photos that I've taken. There are some really good ones. SO MANY STARS!

Not sure how much farther we'll be able to make it today. It is already late in the day and you definitely do not want to be driving in the dark. I can already see how that would go, and it would probably mean that the car would have some major issue. So we are not going to be doing that.

Many more miles await, and we have crossed the 8000 mile mark. Not much more to go. 

Khovd

Just reached the town of Khovd.  Sleeping in a Ger tonight, had a great meal.  Lots of driving to do tomorrow, going to sleep well tonight.  Have been hanging out with lots of other teams, and it has been a blast.  Much better than Russia.  Internet access is still quite sparse, but will try to update whenever possible.

  

Olgii, Mongolia

Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know that we've finally entered Mongolia!  As we expected, cell phone signal here is very sparse, and apparently we can't receive text messaes, so we can be very hard to reach.  We spent almost 48 hours trying to get across the Russian-Mongolian border, and we had to camp with about 20 other teams in the "customs corral" on the Mongolian side.  We then caravaned with them to the town of Olgii, where we spent the night last night, and where I'm typing this from.  Ryan and I are trying to set up a two-day whitewater rafting trip somewhere here in Western Mongolia, and after that we'll start slowly making our way to UB.  Love you all, and we'll talk to you soon.

 

Ryan

Province of Tomsk, Russian Federation

Cows! Just found a butcher behind our campsite, and bought 3 fresh pieces of backstrap for tonight. ;-) mmmmmmmmmmm

Biysk, Russian Federation

roadside cafe roulette... Shatford: 1, Cottle: 0 (he ordered deep fried tongue)