Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
26th Aug 1:00pm.
7,365 miles completed (+248).
The Mongol Rally race is run, and against the odds and the sceptics we made it to Ulan Bator a mere 43 days and 7,365 miles after leaving the UK.
It's been an amazing journey traversing mountains, deserts and rivers, we've met an incredibly diverse cross section of people and hopefully will have helped to improve the lives of some children here in Mongolia who haven't been as fortunate as all of us.
On that note, this was for charity so thank you so much to those who have made donations and we'd really appreciate the support of those who haven't yet. You can contribute via our team page or just drop one of us a note for details.
#mr #mongolrally
Tov, Mongolia
26th Aug 8:30am.
7,117 miles completed (+150).
Slight change of plans last night. The tarmac road was in much worse condition than we expected so we were averaging less than 25mph so we decided to make camp by the roadside - good call, we all had a solid night's sleep.
We were up by 7:30am and started giving away all of the food and equipment we no longer needed to the people living in the gers we'd camped next to.
We discovered how Mongolian hospitality works and were invited into the family ger for Aaruul (hard dried milk curds), Bortzig (fried unleavened bread) and dried cheese - delicious.
We drank whiskey with the head of the family and sniffed snuff contained in an 80 year old family heirloom.
As we left a sheep was being slaughtered in the traditional manner by placing the hand inside a small incision and doing something to end it's life, not sure what though.
All in all a great start to the day!
#mr #mongolrallly@
Tov, Mongolia
26th Aug 8:30am.
7,117 miles completed (+150).
The tarmac road was much worse than expected and were averaging
We were up by 7:30am and started giving away all of the food and equipment we no longer needed to the people living in the gers we'd camped next to.
This was reciprocated by being invited into the family ger for Aaruul (hard dried milk curds), Bortzig (fried unleavened bread) and dried cheese - delicious, not!
We then drank whiskey with the head of the family and sniffed snuff contained in an 80 year old family heirloom.
As we left a sheep was being slaughtered in the traditional manner by placing the hand inside a small incision and doing something to end it's life, not sure what though!
All in all a great start to the day.
#mr #mongolrally
Bayanhongor, Mongolia
25th Aug 8:30pm.
6,723 miles completed (+150).
This is (probably) the penultimate update blog of our Mongol Rally.
We're at the last 'city' before Ulan Bator.
Only 420km of pothole ridden Tarmac separate us from the finishing line.
The car held up to the last sections of unpaved roads and 2 river crossings and the roof topbox is still hanging on.
We're still in convoy with the 2 Ozzie vehicles and have stopped at a Korean restaurant for dinner.
ETA into UB is currently about 1am, fingers crossed nothing else happens to hinder our progress.
#mr #mongolrally@
, Altai Mountains
23rd Aug 9:15am.
6,573 miles completed (+300).
Still sunny days, cold nights, every day.
Updates a bit out of sync due to tech issues but this one's live.
Several cars in our convoy needed attention yesterday so we had a late start but last night we decided not to camp and instead drive through the night to try to reach Altai and make up some time.
The roads were horrendous with the last 200 miles driving over what looked like waves on a lake flash frozen, a real bone shaker.
Even with one of our party leaking oil for the whole journey all 4 vehicles have made it to Atlai and two are at the garage being patched up.
Having driven for 19 hours straight we are shattered, having lamb and dumplings for breakfast then as soon as the cars get out of hospital we'll be back on the road.
#mr #mongolrally
Bayan Olgii, Mongolia
21st Aug 11:45pm.
6,116 miles completed (+60).
Still sunny days, cold nights, but noticing how dry the air is up here.
We made it over the border, but only just.
It was looking like we were going to have to spend another night at the Mongolian detention centre with no running water and indescribable sanitation but one hour before it closed and they all went home we decided to take action.
Several calls to The Adventurists organisers ensured our vehicle import fees were paid then a lot of buttering up of the officials to convince them to work late for us and we were finally released onto the Mongolian plateau, and it was instantly breathtaking.
The roads were challenging as promised but the sump guard did its job and we only had to go up one section in reverse as our 65hp Polo just couldn't make it in 1st, especially at 2500m.
We made it to Olgii!
#mr #mongolrally
Bayan Olgii, Mongolia
22nd August, 20:00, 6,260 miles completed.
Warm and very sunny.
We spent today in a convoy of four cars, everybody had a least a puncture today and at most a brief moment upside down (yes upside down) we felt lucky until our german engine started making noises that sound pretty terminal and rendered us so weak that we could not easily ford the rivers or overtake the mobile ger in front of us on the road, I mean the track, I mean the rubble and sand. Tomorrow we will mainly be in a garage hoping to fix the car.
#mr #mongolrally #mr.
Bayan Olgii, Mongolia
21st Aug 11:45pm.
6,116 miles completed (+60).
Still sunny days, cold nights, but noticing how dry the air is up here.
We made it over the border, but only just.
It was looking like we were going to have to spend another night at the Mongolian detention centre with no running water and indescribable sanitation but one hour before it closed and they all went home we decided to take action.
Several calls to The Adventurists organisers ensured our vehicle import fees were paid then a lot of buttering up of the officials to convince them to work late for us and we were finally released onto the Mongolian plateau, and it was instantly breathtaking.
The roads were challenging as promised but the sump guard did its job and we only had to go up one section in reverse as our 65hp Polo just couldn't make it in 1st, especially at 2500m.
We made it to Olgii and enjoyed our first real meal and shower in 3 days.
Tomorrow the rally starts proper.
#mr #mongolrally #mr.
Tsagaan-Üür, Mongolia
20th Aug 3:45pm.
6,056 miles completed (+16).
Well it took about 3 hours to clear the Russian side of the border then we drive the 15 miles through no mans land to the Mongolian side of the crossing.
We jump through the usual seemingly pointless hoops, this time including paying a guy a US Dollar to spray the underside of our car, probably with tap water.
We've been processed and along with about another dozen Mongol Rally cars are being held in what can only be described as a detention centre, although to be fair as our cars are being donated to charity here we are importing them so documents need to be checked.
Apparently the post closes at 6pm so I hope we're not facing a night in this compound!
#mr #mongolrally #mr.@
Khövsgöl, Mongolia
45am.
6,040 miles completed (+0).
If it was cold in the evening, it was freezing at night (literally -1 or -2 degrees C). It turns out this border crossing is at 2100m, who knew!
Martin retired to his tent at 10:30 and slept pretty well through to about 6:30am. He either has polar bear genes or anti-freeze in his blood.
Colin climbed into his summer sleeping bag at 11:30pm and after 2 cold and uncomfortable hours sought shelter in the car and it's heater. Eventually 2-3 hours of sleep occurred.
We're waiting to be processed on the Russian side of the border and then the fun starts, if we get released into Mongolia before the end of the day we'll be happy, by the afternoon ecstatic.
#mr #mongolrally #mr.
