Well, something had to break eventually.
We set off from camp this morning headed to Altai. We will resupply and figure out how far we go from there.
But Ali has a sinus infection from the dust, Laura isn't well equipped to drive the roads...
And then the car lost all power.
After some tinkering (and a helpful mongolian man), we discovered that the vacuum hose from the alternator to the intake manifold had snapped entirely. Not from driving, but just from age.
The gasoline here isn't a high enough octane to run amazingly on, but we are seeming to manage.
Probably going to call it an early day here in Altai. One more day of nightmarish driving, then we apparently have asphalt from here on in.
We did it! Mongolia!
We made it, finally!
We are now part of a convoy with some other rally teams doing to Mongol charity rally! !
Google Translate: saving lives.
We pulled into Barnaul about eightish after being held at the Russian border for three hours for questioning. When I say questioning, I really mean shooting the shit (in german,the only language we had in common) with a border guard who just had never spoken to Americans in his life.
We found a cafe from Lonely Planet and the waitress was so damn excited to see and talk to us. But she was typing stuff into her phone for Google translate and reading it. It was great. It was hard to understand, but you can't blame the girl for trying.
When you're in Soviet places, sleep in Soviet places.
This is a highlight of the trip: we made it to the abandoned Chagan airbase outside Semey. We drive around the base for a bit, and found a piece of the approach to set out tents up and pass out. A pleasant little campfire, a late-night visit from some guys in a Lada... Off to the Russian border.
Living large.
So we decided to have ourselves a little layover in Almaty.
What a surprise, though. We ran into team Spain, team Germany, team Czech Republic, and Team USA for the Electric Round the World in 80 Days challenge. So many Teslas. Our car looked so shitty compared to theirs.
Sadly,they're headed in the opposite direction.
So there's a spa day on today's docket. That will be fun.
New friends and so much help.
We got a car wash, but the gentlemen who helped us did so.much more than that. We had a seized piston in the brakes, and the owners met us this morning to meet a mechanic and fixed it.
For ten bucks.
Anyway, we are in Shymkent in the Super swanky penthouse suite of this hotel. Life is good.
Local celebrities!
We pulled into Kyzylorda yesterday in search of dinner and a car wash. The car sure needed it.
We befriended the owners of the car wash. They're going to find us a mechanic for what we figure is a stuck piston on the right front brake assembly. An easy fix, but you need the tool.
We have been mobbed for photos, asked where we are from--not a lot of tourists in these parts.
I have not felt as welcome in any other country on the rally. I love Kazakhstan.
It's like driving across the bottom of the ocean.
Woke up in a field just outside of Aktobe. We only had one real mission for the day: get to Aralsk.
Type it into the Navi and the Navi says we have to drive 'that' way, no turns, no directional changes, for 7 hours.
It's nothing but sand and scrub and haze. The same haze that has been sitting on top of us since we crossed the Kazakh border. You just... Drive into this endless expanse.
Had horse borscht for breakfast and goat kebab for dinner. Working my way through the barnyard here.
As for the shits I will inevitably have?
My body isn't a temple; it's an amusement park.
I can't believe we made it.
I rescind my previous post. I will drive those Russian roads six times over if it means that I don't have to do the Kazakh roads. There is more pothole than road. It shouldn't even be called a road.
And then it started raining.
These roads though.
I'm going to have the most muscular arse from clenching so tightly as I drive the shit asphalt on these roads.
