The Yorkshire Terios

We've only gone and done it!

2009-08-13T09:15:00.000+01:00

12:34 today....we crossed the finish line in the center of UlaanBaatar.
We came in 58th and Parked the car on the finish ramp had some photos
takEn and had a beer.

A few others rolled in and the mood was good

Currently in a swanky hotel to get cleaned up.

We could have made it last night but stopped 100 km out of town at a
large national park where we were allowed to drive in at dusk to see
the recently reintroduced preszwalsky horses.
It was great fun and we met some Japanese, British and American
tourists who had all flown in to UB to be driven around the desert in
4x4's. At first I don't think they believed how WE had got there.

We also gifted lots of our kit to the center which was gratefuly
recieved. We were able to rescue a local man with a shredded tyre with
one of our unused spares. We haven't had a single puncture.

Big thanks to everyone who sent us messages of support during the trip.

The photos and videos will all be added to the website in good time
once we get back home.

We might just make it.........

2009-08-12T04:47:00.000+01:00

The last couple of days has seen us relax a little and set aside more
time to enjoy this great country. It would seem that the Mongol Rally
is seen as a good thing by everyone we have met here.
The kids line the tracks on the routes in to town and seem barely
able to contain themselves with excitement. Within seconds of pulling
up, it's often difficult to open the doors because of the swarms of
children.
Anyhow, yesterday we found ourselves in a small settlement of roughly
25 gers and i felt it was time to get the ballons out. YCR gave us a
ton of the things and it took only one of them to be shown how to blow
it up before letting the air out to make a screeching noise before the
town was full of screaming kids with screaming baloons.

We left pretty soon after.

We are currently around 300km from the finish line in UB and you
know....it's looking like we may just pull this thing off!

Our determination to cover big distances these past few days has taken
it's toll on everyones sanity. Giddyness sweeps the nightime camp
faster than swine flu, demonstrated in the attached snap.

This morning was a bit calmer. As we were packing up camp a man on
horseback appeared from over a hill and rode down to take a look. Beth
( team Mainiacs, USA ) ended up going for a drive on the kind mans
horse. Keith gave him some honey he had bought of a Beekeeper in the
ukraine and I offed him a big handfull of our Yorkshire tea. He was
very happy. The honey is quite probably very radioactive but the tea
will do him nothing but good.

The gravity of our achievement is starting to be realised along with a
sinking feeling that this is all coming to a close..............for
the time being ;)

We made it to the Gobi

2009-08-09T05:07:00.000+01:00

We realised that we are now actually in the Gobi desert.

Kazakhstan hunting eagle

2009-08-09T05:05:00.000+01:00

Today, we will mostly be seeing.....

2009-08-09T05:02:00.000+01:00

......this!

Donkey!

2009-08-09T05:00:00.000+01:00

These guys hit a donkey in Russia. Sadly the donkey didn't make it but
the car is still going and passed us yesterday as we made our way into
khovd.

Repairs

2009-08-09T04:57:00.000+01:00

Makeshift repairs to the rear suspension

Mongolian border campsite

2009-08-09T04:56:00.000+01:00

Our home for a while

Lunch in a ger

2009-08-09T04:54:00.000+01:00

Being detained at the border wasn't all that bad. The guards were kind
enough to let some of us walk through to the village on the Mongolian
side. One ingenious family had set up in business serving delicious
lunches in their ger. For just a few dollars 6 of us ate like kings.

Mongolia at last

2009-08-09T04:46:00.000+01:00

The last few days have been a touch bonkers. We realised early last
week that time was going to bite us. Our research before the trip had
us thinking that the roads from Kazakhstan would be poor but
manageable. The reality was that with 700 km to go...the roads didn't
exist. The tail end of last week is now just a blur. Two Days of 'hour
on: hour off' driving shifts got us to the Russian border and through
the country in time to get to the Mongolian border before it closed
for the weekend. Worryingly though we had been hearing rumours from
other ralliers that the race organisers had messed up with the import
paperwork for the cars and that upon arrival, we would be compounded,
unable to go anywhere, whilst the payments were transfered and the
vehicle import docs drawn up.
This all turned out to be the case and we spent Thursday evening in
the Mongolian customs compound with 12 or so other teams. It was not
long before we all accepted our fate. Within an hour, the rugby balls
were out, kites were being flown and the Russian vodka was keeping us
all warm. The temperature the night before had fallen to minus 10
celcius. It was cold when the sun went down but we were spared such
extremes.
The following morning the guards came and selected teams 2 or 3 at a
time to collect their papers before being released. As these cars
left, those of us left behind lined the compuond cheering, waving and
blowing our horns. It was just like the start all those weeks ago.

Our turn came but. It was late and the light was going, so we crossed
our first mountain pass (8500 ft!) and camped up for the night.

We set off late despite being up at sun rise and managed only 130
miles to Khovd. We met an English speaking kazak teacher in the street
who was very helpfully. He came into a cafe with us to help us
translate the menu and we were given some useful Info on Some of the
roads we need to cross ( some bridges are out presumably because of
recent heavy rains).

As has been the case on most of this trip... If you plant a mongol
rally car outside a cafe or gas station for more than 30 minutes it's
not long before other find you. Last night we met some Australians
that I had met earlier In the trip outside Krakow and a Spanish team
who had smashed their car up the day before and were flying out to UB
in a couple off days.

Mongolia is beautiful. So much more so than anything I had ever
expect. Everything I had read and all the photographs I had seen in
the run up to our adventure didn't even scratch the surface.

The car continues to soldier on. We had a bit of a problem with a rear
suspension spring (it snapped!) but some remedial repairs I carried
out whilst stuck at the border seem to be holding up.

It's getting hard to find 3G in Mongolia but keeping checking in for
updates.

.....still in Kazahkstan!

2009-08-03T10:54:00.000+01:00

This place is vast. We may have underestimated the roads and
distances. For the last 2 days we have been stuck in the car, with our
faces covered, driving through dirt and sand, stopping only
periodically to shake dust out of our ears! Last night we found a city
in the middle of nowhwhere which had a shower, beds and beer. After 5
days of camping rough, this was a real lift and the horrors of the
bumpy sandy tracks were washed down the plughole along with all the
grime and dirt. Breakfast this morning was a first for me... Soured
cottage cheese laced with brown sugar. ( one large bowl of ), instant
coffee with whitener and a cheese sandwhich! This was all part of deal
negotiated the previous evening by Laurence, and quite reasonable at
just $16.
Today sees us back on crappy roads , averaging 25kmh, with tonights
intended destination just 713 km away!

Car still holding together well

Laurence and me......loving every second!

Convoy

2009-08-01T09:02:00.000+01:00

Photos

2009-08-01T09:00:00.000+01:00

Similar of laurence to follow

Photos

2009-08-01T08:57:00.000+01:00

The 3G coverage is becoming sporadic so the pictures may dry up for a
while. Thankfully the roads seem to be improving and our mean speed
increasing.
We made the difficult decision today to not head into south kazakstan.
This means missing out visiting the ghost ships where the Aral sea
once was. It was this or risk not making Ulan Baatar in time which is
absolutely not an option

Kazahkstan-where the Rally begins.

2009-07-31T12:43:00.000+01:00

It's dusty here. We are on sand roads, passing wild horses, camels and
eagles. Everyone peeps their horn and waves as they pass us and pull
over to shake our hands and say hello where ever we stop.
It's really hard going, we average about 35kmh but we have been
assured the Tarmac will return soon.

Passing through the towns, it feels more like SE Asia, not at all like
part of the former USSR.

Car continues to do well

2009-07-30T19:42:00.000+01:00

Busy day yesterday. Having realised later than prehaps we should have
that NOT registering with the Russian authorities and getting our
transit papers stamped before departure would more than likely result
in 'protocol' fees at the border. It took a couple of hours to sort
out but wasn't too big a deal. The border crossing into Kazahkstan
took hours but it gave us time to rest, eat, meet other ralliers and
the hoards of local kids.
It's a long story but all the ralliers ended up having these kids
write good luck messages on our cars. Unfortunately for us, the group
of kids you can see on the photo I've attached must have paid
attention during their biology lessons. The attention to detail in
thier pictures showed an impressive understanding of human anatomy. As
a result, the bomnet is now covered in strips of gaffa tape as it was
deemed unsuitable the border guards.

Mother Russia- volgograd

2009-07-28T15:22:00.000+01:00

Todays early start and hearty Russian breakfast (egg and fried hot
dogs!) meant we could press on to Volgograd in good time to visit the
memorial of mother Russia.
A breathtaking sculpture which stands taller than the staue of liberty
and looks over the city and towards the Volga river.

Russian roads have, so far, been very good to us and the police seem
more interested in catching drivers speeding than Mongol ralliers.

The weather has turned a little and while everyone loves the sunshine,
it makes driving large distances much less exhausting.

Everyone is well. We lost one of our convoy to wheel bearings but the
Maniacs ( from Maine) are still with us.

Heading towards the deltas in Astrakan.

Russia

2009-07-27T21:58:00.001+01:00

Today was always going to be a mind melt! Today we crossed the border
into Russia, having driven our little Hyundai across France, Germany,
the czech republic, Poland and the Ukraine.

It was a slightly anxious wait in no-mans-land, being shuffled from
one office to another with increasing numbers of documents all
written in crylick. It took around two hours in total which talking
with other ralliers, was pretty quick....and as yet no bribes!

We parked up to make coffee a kilometer from the border to wait for
our American comrades ( team mainiacs ) to be processed before being
directed by a very kind local in an Audi Rs8 with jet black windows in
the direction of Volgograd.

We drove around 100kms before turning off to check into a beautiful
marbled lobby hotel costing the equivalant of £15 each. The en-suite
shower comes equiped with telephone, steam-jets and an AM/FM Stereo
Radio. It's tough but were all pulling together and thinking of Blighty.

More tomorrow.

Building regs

2009-07-27T06:12:00.000+01:00

This last couple of days has just been head down, munch miles and
avoid the police. Driving breaks have been infrequent but involved
coffee and delicious water melon bought from the farmers.
The photo depicts the high regard hoteliers in the Ukraine don't show
fo health and safety. I considered getting a jump lead out of the car
and earthing myself before showering!!! Everything was fine though!
Heading to Russia today and bracing ourselves for a long wait.

L'viv to Kiev

2009-07-25T07:16:00.001+01:00

The transition from beautiful Poland into The Ukraine has been a tough
one but 48 hours into it, everything that initially shocked has become
normal to me. Inspite of not being able to read, speak or understand
the language, everyone has been so helpful and this helps you to get
by just fine.(obviosly this is not including the rozzers!)

The motorways are dual carriageway but poorly maintained. As a result
only the best side gets used. The poor side seems to be slowly
reclaimed by nature and on many stretches were cows grazing. There is
little regard for the rules and passing horse and carts piled 15ft
with hay (on a motorway remeber) is an odd sight at first.

Laurence flies into Kiev today to finish the final three weeks of the
rally. It's obviously going to be great to see him but also great to
have someone to navigate again.

Just had a good nights sleep in kievs very own Fawlty Towers. No
luxuries here...it seems not much has moved on since this was
communist Russia. All is well.

Ukraine

2009-07-23T14:08:00.001+01:00

An amazing days drive from Krakow. Noticed a real change in the look
of the villages. Wish me luck. More from the other side.

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Czechout party

2009-07-22T07:15:00.000+01:00

Party in the grounds of klenova castle

Czechout party

2009-07-22T07:14:00.002+01:00

Party in the grounds of klenova castle

Klenova-Prague-Brno

2009-07-22T07:14:00.001+01:00

After a lazy start at the campsite in Klenova, we headed North for
Prague. Lovely city and some great sites. We had lunch in the grounds
of the old Jewish Library overlooking the whole city. It was then that
Andrews part of the trip ended and as he headed west to the airport,
it was back on the road agian hoping to make Poland before nightfall
but due to a two hour jam on the motorway only reached Brno.

Czech border

2009-07-22T06:06:00.000+01:00

Relaxed border crossing into Czech Rep.

Made it to the Czech Rep

2009-07-20T15:26:00.001+01:00

We are having a few probs with the IT. The email address is not
working via the website link?!
Today sees us in the Czech Republic camped in a huge field in the
shadow of kelanova Castle.
Yesterday we made a trip to the Nurburgring hoping to do a lap but we
were turned away because of our roofrack, jerry cans and spare wheels!
Shame.
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Dover

2009-07-18T18:51:00.000+01:00

We are safely at the port.... Waiting to board. All good.

The start line

2009-07-18T14:59:00.000+01:00

Start line last minute repairs

2009-07-18T13:04:00.000+01:00

A few last minute fixes. There are loads of people here. Goodwood is a
very cool venue.
Due to do our lap of the race track In An hour.

Goodwood

2009-07-18T12:03:00.000+01:00

We arrived after getting a bit lost

2009-07-14T12:08:00.001+01:00

Test