Location: 12,000 feet above sea level in the Altai Mountains, Mongolia.
Speed: 0 MPH
Status: Hiding in the ambulance away from wind!!
This morning we needed to top up with diesel from our reserves. Unloading a 25 liter can from the roof Russ and Stu set about pouring it into the fuel tank. After about 20 liters Stu noticed that the diesel had become water and stopped pouring. It was then we discovered around 25% of our fuel was contaminated with water courtesy of that last Russian fuel station.
Fueled up we hit the road, driving alongside the lake. Stu drove whilst I walked out in front scouting for solid ground; we selected our path over the bog and finally got onto more stable ground. Driving south for a few hours we followed our schedule until we came to a fork in the track.
Russ wanted to take a right track as that was where the compass was pointed. I opted to take the left. I had a hunch this short cut wouldn’t work as the road seemed to lead up into the mountains. Stu had the deciding vote and I was once again out voted.
The terrain seemed good to begin with, we up over each hill with ease. The ambulance would need a run up at times but she performed well, amazing for a thirty year old transit van with blue lights!
After what seemed an age travelling up a hill, down a hill, up a hill, down a hill we arrived at a small settlement by a river crossing. We decided to stop for a late lunch of chicken soup, bread and a decent cup of tea. The locals dropped by the convoy to say hello, we dished out some chocolate to the children and Marlboro lights to the adults who (like all Mongolians) couldn’t get enough of them!
Whilst the washing up was being done in the river we gathered some of the locals around the bonnet of the Gobi Ambulance with our rather poor map of Mongolia to try and establish just where we were. We managed to get a fix and it turned out we’d travelled more West than we wanted to. In fact there were mountains in our way which would prevent us from getting East to the main route to Ulan Bator.
Washing up done and gear packed away we hit the “road” and I took over driving form Russ. I’d now taken a back seat in navigation with Russ directing we turned left up another mountain. After the initial climb we turned a corner to a river crossing. The water wasn’t too deep however the climb out was too steep so we set to work with spades to create a slope on which the ambulance could climb out of the river on. We pilled a few rocks in there for good measure and with ease the ambulance ploughed on.
At this stage people in the convoy are starting to complain of headaches and we’re all getting short of breath are any sort of mild exercise – we were suffering the effects of altitude.
Next up was what can only be describes as the mother of all hill climbs. We had a bit space in which to get our run up and then it was a full on 30% gradient with rocks, holes and very large boulders in the way. We all agreed (for the first time that day) that the strategy was to just go for it and go for it we did.
With my foot on the floor in first gear I began the ascent, weaving left then right then left again away from obstacles. We kept momentum and at around 10 miles per hour bumped and jumped out way up the hill, it really felt out of control. We made the top and all cheered, but where next?
Another river crossing was to be the demise of the Gobi Ambulance. I approached it slowly and on the way out of the river lost all drive and heard a very loud knocking from underneath. Russ and Stu both said together “Turn it off, turn it off” which I did of course then again in total synchronicity the looked at each other and said ”Prop shaft”.
We all piled out of the ambulance and the guys disappeared under the ambulance and confirmed that we had indeed broken a prop shaft. Furthermore the constant hiss from the back wheel meant flat tire too. During the planning phase of the Gobi Ambulance we looked at single points of failure and identified we should probably take a spare prop, we’re glad we did now!
Whilst Russ and Stu settled into mechanic mode, I decided to climb the hill to the South East to get a good view point on where the heck we were. I set off up and walked for about five minutes before needing a break, the air was indeed thin. Climbing up to around 15,000 feet it became apparent I wasn’t going to make the top of the hill so had a cigarette (just what you need when the airs thin) and gathered my thoughts - the view was amazing. Looking down on the ambulance which looked like a toy car in the valley below.
I went up the hill with three layers on and by the time I’d stopped climbing I was down to a thermal top. Sat down I seen cooled off and put the layers on again and began my descent. It started to snow but I didn’t mind – we’re in Mongolia!!
When I got back down I reported to the others my hunch about getting out of our little predicament. Russ said he didn’t want to navigate anymore so we started plotting a route out of the mountains with the help of the locals.
We had two options; the first was to drive back to the point where we joined the mountain road. The second was to take another road down to Tolbo which would bring is out near the lake that we had stayed at da few nights ago.
Both plans were not ideal but we chose to pick up the road to Tolbo as it was less mileage, and whilst we’d be going back on ourselves it made sense to limit damage to the ambulance by getting back on the most travelled path to Ulan Bator.
With the damage fixed, Stu took the wheel for the descent. First off was had to cross the river again, from the other side the bank was too steep so we all jumped out and dug out the bank to make the climb out of the river easier.
Before we could get down we had to go up again. We only have around two hours of driving light left and with the weather was setting in we chose a spot to camp high up in the mountains!We were in a valley and the wind was funning though but we’d positioned ourselves to get the sun from the East when it rises. We used the vehicles as shelter from the wind and bedded down for the night – it was cold!
Monday, 8 September 2008
Tuesday, 2 September 2008
Day 2 - Olgy - Lake Tolbo Nuur
Location: The East shore of lake Tolbo Nuur
Speed: 0 MPH
Status: Camped on the East shore of lake Tolbo Nuur
We left at around 10:00 and after an hour on the “road” we saw a small settlement which consisted of six Gerrs.
For those of you that don’t know, a gerr is a circular white tent, traditionally the nomadic Mongolians use them as a base whilst moving around the lands. Typically there will be a fire burning in the centre fuelled by dried dung with beds on the outer edge and colourful décor and rugs on the floor. Whilst still used by nomadic Mongolians gerrs are seen as a cost effective way of housing in towns, all around the outskirts of any city there will be “gerr suburbs” where people who can’t afford bricks and mortar will stay.
Shortly after the settlement we stopped by four Mongolians, two horses and a motorbike which had a flat tyre. Using our now patented international sign language dictionary we established that they needed some glue for an inner tube patch – trust me that wasn’t easy to establish!
Stu and Russ rolled up their sleeves and got straight in there, patching the tyre up.
Then the locals spent an hour trying to get the tyre back on the rim which proved difficult as they were doing it wrong! Eventually they asked us if we could take the eldest of them to Olgy which was around 10KM away.
The elder was wearing traditional Mongolian dress; the boots, coat – everything, we nick named him Genghis.
We loaded Genghis into the ambulance offering him prime spot on a stretcher. He smelt of yak, something we’d learn all rural Mongolians smell of.
Genghis didn’t speak a world for the entire trip. However he’d obviously been to bookshops and brought a copy of the “Gobi International Sign Language” as he knew exactly how to extract things from us. Food, vodka, cigarettes were all requested all of which we gave him. It became apparent after half an hour of driving that Genghis has a serious smoking issue, chain smoking the pack of Marlboro lights we’d given him.
As we drew close to the Olgy we asked Genghis to move to the passenger seat so he could give us directions. Moving forward, cigarette in hand he made gestures indicated which way we were to drive. By the time we’d got to his drop off point he’d smoked the entire packet of twenty, each tab to the butt!
Opting to stop for an hour we used the Internet, restocked with beer, vodka, food and of course brought an 80’s Russian motorbike and side cart!
Russ and I did the deal and for a sensible amount of US Dollars we had acquired ourselves a fine machine. So fine in fact that it broke down after five minutes, but only needed fuel.
With Russ driving I sat in the side car for our inaugural trip aboard our new steed. In a word the ride was bumpy and it started to rain. Russ drove out of town with Stu driving the ambulance whilst I played camera man.
After ten minutes it broke down, the spark plug had fallen out! With that fixed it wouldn’t start so we decided to push start it….with the ambulance! Two miles later the engine hadn’t started but it had seized – game over. We pushed our former toy to the side of the road, left the keys in it and figured a local would find and repair it – lucky person!
It was now pummelling down with rain as we drove South up and out of the valley away from Olgy. Our aim for today would be a fresh water lake called Tolbo Nuur where we’d camp, wash and continue.
As ever nothing is as simple as it seems in Mongolia. With Russ in charge of navigation we started to take short cuts away from the beaten track to improve speed towards Ulan Bator. Operating a strict democracy in the ambulance I (Mat) was out voted when I suggest we shouldn’t be taking these routes and the short cuts continued.
As time went on the short cuts were taking their toll on the ambulance. The rough roads, steep climbs and ditches were not idea. By the time we caught sight of lake Tolbo Nur our path across the landscape had got very brave. With only a few miles to go to our chosen camping spot we found ourselves at a sheet 100 foot drop with no where to go.
I suggested we looped back to the main “road” but over ruled again saw us take a route down a dry river bed at a 45 degree angle! Credit where credits due, the old girl made it down and we dropped right down next to the lake. Since it was getting dark we turned towards the lake to camp, driving straight into a bog! With two of the three cars in the convoy stuck, including the ambulance we set about recovery. First things first we open some beer and thought about how we were going to pull a 3 ton ambulance out with a 800 kilogram Suzuki jeep that has a 1 litre engine.
This is where our kinetic rope came in – allow me to fill you in: eight weeks ago back in England Russ suggested we bring a kinetic rope. We make contact with a few suppliers and eventually got one at cost price; thank Genghis Khan we brought it with us.
A kinetic rope by the way is a length of line that is very stretchy. It generates kinetic energy when pulled from slack so in effect it generates its own pull motion to give assisted power. We’d attached each end to different vehicles then flake (or coil) the rope out before driving away at full throttle, when the role becomes taught the cars energy is used as well as the kinetic energy – put simply it will allow small cars to pull a 3 ton ambulance out of the mud!
So on with the rope and the Suzuki drove off at full pelt with Stu driving the ambulance and Russ driving the Suzuki she jumped straight out of the bog.
Next up was to recover the Shogun (we met these guys in Russia and they convoyed all the way to UB with us) from the bog. Now this would be more of a challenge, sure we had twice the power in the form of an ambulance and a Suzuki jeep but we couldn’t get near it as the bog was too deep.
We dug out the wheels with spades for an hour then tried the tow using the ambulance. No joy at all, the Shogun was well stuck in the bog. By this stage I’d given up with footwear as it was just too muddy.
After filling buckets up with shingle and dumping them in the wheel ruts where it had dug into the bog we then fashioned a tow. Using various lines lashed together we attached the Suzuki to the Shogun then using the kinetic rope we attached the Suzuki to the ambulance so in effect a two car tow.
Russ stood back and counted us in, Stu in the Shogun a chap called Dave in the Suzuki and I was driving the Gobi Ambulance. “Three…two…one…GO!” Russ shouted and with that the SJ applied full throttle whilst I drove forward. The kinetic rope quickly became taught and as nearly flipped the Suzuki as we pulled the Shogun totally free!
After a some vodka to celebrate our achievement we began pitch tent when someone shouted “Ralliers” and with that we turned the sirens on to get their attention. In hindsight this was probably a bad thing to do as once the ralliers had seen us they immediately turned towards us and into the bog! We waved them away but it was just too far away and low and behold they got caught – we didn’t get to camp with them that evening. We were unable to help them with our vehicles so we walked to say hello, they had things under control.
As night fell we washed in the lake which proved to be salt water which wasn’t too great for washing but at least it meant no mosquitoes! We sat down to eat and as the sun when down and we were able to take in the beauty of the spot we’d chosen to camp. To the East, over the lake were snow capped mountains and to the South were gerrs lining the shores of the lake. We discussed out route out of the bog and agree’d we’d drive along the lake shore and send someone ahead walking to identify solid ground.
Before bed we drank some vodka and hit the sack around 23:00 ready for a reasonably early start.
Our next target was Tolbo and then Khovd which was 150 miles away, achievable in a good days driving; or so we thought. As it happened we were still two and half days away from Khovd, but more about why later!
Monday, 1 September 2008
Day 1 - Mongolia
Location: Just inside Mongolia
Speed: 0MPH
Status: Camping for the night
We stopped at a petrol station just by the Russia/Mongolia border to fill all our tanks. We understand from talking to a various people we knew that diesel would be hard to come by in the Mongolia so we stocked up on 195 litres (39 gallons) of good diesel; or so we thought but more on that later.
We approached the border very slowly, stopping just short to remove CB radios and make sure all our valuables were securely stashed. From previous experience we’d learnt that border guards can be a little light fingered so at our final border we were not going to take any chances.
The Gobi Ambulance was first to go followed by the two other cars in convoy. I (Mat) got out and as the driver made my way to the cabin to find out what crazy hoops we’d have to jump though. To my surprise the whole process seemed fairly simple, all be it bureaucratic. Russ and Stu were to wait until I’d processed the “machine” paperwork then we’d go though together for passport checks.
The machine paperwork was simple enough; I even remembered to bring a pen to the office this time. The customs forms were even in English, I can’t say I was looking forward to wading my way though a bunch of Cyrillic forms again. After several stamps, signatures and nods of agreement I was asked to go outside and present the forms to an offer outside who I hasten to add had a huge gun – it was search time!
Three gleeful officers took great pleasure kicking the tyres of the Gobi Ambulance, walking around pointing and laughing. As usual they wanted to write their names on the bonnet of the ambulance; I obliged to help ‘grease the wheels’. After the relatively jovial outside search it was time to enter the back of the ambulance which at this stage was very messy, as the back door opened the all laughed.
First of all they noticed the bar optics to the left which still had an old bottle of Vodka perched in the holder. They all nodded happily and said in unison “Vodka, da?” which I replied “Da” (Just in case your wonder Da is Yes in Russian).
At this stage the most official looking chap stepped into the back of the ambulance, I briskly followed. You can spot the chief a mile off because he wears the biggest hat! I followed him around whilst he pointed at things, the conversation went something like this:
“What?” as he points
“Mobile telephone” I reply
“What?” as he points again
“Amplifier for music” I reply
“What?” as he points
“Medical kit” I’d reply
“Open” he’d demand. I’d open the kit for 10 seconds before he’d quickly bark “Close”
This went on for about fifteen minutes until we stepped outside the ambulance, closed the doors and the chief then said “Bye” and shook my hand. As I walked off they stated taking in Russian then he shouted “Wait”. I turned around and he pointed to the roof rack. My heart sank a bit because hauling everything down would be a really pain in the neck. I walked back and they all started laughing and said “Bye” again –that’ll be the good old Russian sense of humour again!
I joined Russ and Stu in the queue for passport control and after a few minutes we got chatting to a few people who were aboard a large off road coach which had eighteen people on board. When they pointed to their vehicle out of the window Russ and I couldn’t believe it. Not six months ago we had see the very same vehicle on the M25 and we’d both noticed it as it was advertising trips to Mongolia – small world!
Passport control was simple enough, after more stamps we finally got though what we thought was the border, drove another 10km and then arrived at another gate. There was a single guard who asked for our passports, we handed them over and he disappeared into a small hut. Reappearing five minutes later he handed our passports and opened the gate. That was it, exit from Russia and the roads stopped.
We drove for another 15KM before we drove up to the Mongolia border. It was fairly understated, first stage was a 100 Rouble fee for a wheel wash. At the same time the lady offered us a “good price” of 1100 Mongolian Togrog (the local currency) for one dollar, we declined moving though the gate.
The whole border control process lasted around half an hour and that included bartering 500$ of Togrogs with a customs official. As we exited the border a chap in jeans and a t-shirt waved us down, being harden to beggars we drove on stopping 1KM down the road to wait for the other cars in our convoy.
We were instantly approached by lots of children who all wanted to shake our hands, it made me laugh then a boy of around three years walked up to me bold as brass with his hand out and said “Hello Mister”.
The other cars turned up and we asked what the guy in jeans wanted, they all said “Insurance” so we turned around to get our insurance. I walked up to the chap and apologised sheepishly, he laughed. Aver 2800 Tugrugs we had our Mongolia insurance document and we hit the road.
We followed the compass South East towards Olgy which would be our first town. Feeling brave we opted for a short cut over a hill. There were tyre tracks so we thought there was nothing to loose. It paid off; we arrived into a valley that the road we were following previously seemed to join. By this stage it was getting dark so we opted to camp in a valley.
We picked our spot and got the spade out to clear stones from our various camping areas. Whilst this was underway we heard a motorbike coming towards us. After a few minutes a Mongolia chap turned up at the campsite and just watched us. I went over and shook his hand, I sat in his side cart and posed for a photo (photo in the gallery). We gave him a shot of Vodka and he went on his way.
The temperature dropped that night but we all slept well, please to have made it to Mongolia and looking forward to the next 950 miles to Ulan Bator.
Mornings in Mongolia are quite laid back for us. We’d wake up some time around 08:00 maybe 09:00 if it was really cold and get the kettle on. After some tea we’d slowly pack up the tents and sort the roof rack, tidy up the inside of the ambulance and finally engine checks. The whole process would take around two hours but since we’d planned to drive six to eight hours each day we could afford to be a little relaxed.
Speed: 0MPH
Status: Camping for the night
We stopped at a petrol station just by the Russia/Mongolia border to fill all our tanks. We understand from talking to a various people we knew that diesel would be hard to come by in the Mongolia so we stocked up on 195 litres (39 gallons) of good diesel; or so we thought but more on that later.
We approached the border very slowly, stopping just short to remove CB radios and make sure all our valuables were securely stashed. From previous experience we’d learnt that border guards can be a little light fingered so at our final border we were not going to take any chances.
The Gobi Ambulance was first to go followed by the two other cars in convoy. I (Mat) got out and as the driver made my way to the cabin to find out what crazy hoops we’d have to jump though. To my surprise the whole process seemed fairly simple, all be it bureaucratic. Russ and Stu were to wait until I’d processed the “machine” paperwork then we’d go though together for passport checks.
The machine paperwork was simple enough; I even remembered to bring a pen to the office this time. The customs forms were even in English, I can’t say I was looking forward to wading my way though a bunch of Cyrillic forms again. After several stamps, signatures and nods of agreement I was asked to go outside and present the forms to an offer outside who I hasten to add had a huge gun – it was search time!
Three gleeful officers took great pleasure kicking the tyres of the Gobi Ambulance, walking around pointing and laughing. As usual they wanted to write their names on the bonnet of the ambulance; I obliged to help ‘grease the wheels’. After the relatively jovial outside search it was time to enter the back of the ambulance which at this stage was very messy, as the back door opened the all laughed.
First of all they noticed the bar optics to the left which still had an old bottle of Vodka perched in the holder. They all nodded happily and said in unison “Vodka, da?” which I replied “Da” (Just in case your wonder Da is Yes in Russian).
At this stage the most official looking chap stepped into the back of the ambulance, I briskly followed. You can spot the chief a mile off because he wears the biggest hat! I followed him around whilst he pointed at things, the conversation went something like this:
“What?” as he points
“Mobile telephone” I reply
“What?” as he points again
“Amplifier for music” I reply
“What?” as he points
“Medical kit” I’d reply
“Open” he’d demand. I’d open the kit for 10 seconds before he’d quickly bark “Close”
This went on for about fifteen minutes until we stepped outside the ambulance, closed the doors and the chief then said “Bye” and shook my hand. As I walked off they stated taking in Russian then he shouted “Wait”. I turned around and he pointed to the roof rack. My heart sank a bit because hauling everything down would be a really pain in the neck. I walked back and they all started laughing and said “Bye” again –that’ll be the good old Russian sense of humour again!
I joined Russ and Stu in the queue for passport control and after a few minutes we got chatting to a few people who were aboard a large off road coach which had eighteen people on board. When they pointed to their vehicle out of the window Russ and I couldn’t believe it. Not six months ago we had see the very same vehicle on the M25 and we’d both noticed it as it was advertising trips to Mongolia – small world!
Passport control was simple enough, after more stamps we finally got though what we thought was the border, drove another 10km and then arrived at another gate. There was a single guard who asked for our passports, we handed them over and he disappeared into a small hut. Reappearing five minutes later he handed our passports and opened the gate. That was it, exit from Russia and the roads stopped.
We drove for another 15KM before we drove up to the Mongolia border. It was fairly understated, first stage was a 100 Rouble fee for a wheel wash. At the same time the lady offered us a “good price” of 1100 Mongolian Togrog (the local currency) for one dollar, we declined moving though the gate.
The whole border control process lasted around half an hour and that included bartering 500$ of Togrogs with a customs official. As we exited the border a chap in jeans and a t-shirt waved us down, being harden to beggars we drove on stopping 1KM down the road to wait for the other cars in our convoy.
We were instantly approached by lots of children who all wanted to shake our hands, it made me laugh then a boy of around three years walked up to me bold as brass with his hand out and said “Hello Mister”.
The other cars turned up and we asked what the guy in jeans wanted, they all said “Insurance” so we turned around to get our insurance. I walked up to the chap and apologised sheepishly, he laughed. Aver 2800 Tugrugs we had our Mongolia insurance document and we hit the road.
We followed the compass South East towards Olgy which would be our first town. Feeling brave we opted for a short cut over a hill. There were tyre tracks so we thought there was nothing to loose. It paid off; we arrived into a valley that the road we were following previously seemed to join. By this stage it was getting dark so we opted to camp in a valley.
We picked our spot and got the spade out to clear stones from our various camping areas. Whilst this was underway we heard a motorbike coming towards us. After a few minutes a Mongolia chap turned up at the campsite and just watched us. I went over and shook his hand, I sat in his side cart and posed for a photo (photo in the gallery). We gave him a shot of Vodka and he went on his way.
The temperature dropped that night but we all slept well, please to have made it to Mongolia and looking forward to the next 950 miles to Ulan Bator.
Mornings in Mongolia are quite laid back for us. We’d wake up some time around 08:00 maybe 09:00 if it was really cold and get the kettle on. After some tea we’d slowly pack up the tents and sort the roof rack, tidy up the inside of the ambulance and finally engine checks. The whole process would take around two hours but since we’d planned to drive six to eight hours each day we could afford to be a little relaxed.
Thursday, 14 August 2008
ALTAI MOUNTAINS, RUSSIA
Location: Tawahma, Russia.
Speed: 40 MPH
Status: Heading South East towards the Mongolian border!
Speed: 40 MPH
Status: Heading South East towards the Mongolian border!
We are so near Mongolia we can almost taste the fermented yaks milk! 60 miles to go until our final country and as the beginning of the end of our epic journey is upon us we're all in very high spirits and looking forward to the challenges Mongolia is about to throw at us!
Barnaul was nice, but we had to move on. After an early night we moved out at around lunch time and drove south east toward Biysk. Our aim for the afternoon would be to get our front coil springs fixed.
We arrived into Biysk and made straight for a garage. After Stu and Russ scoured the place for springs it turned out that they didn't have stock of what we needed. One of the mechanics took Stu down to another garage where they had the parts. So off we went in the ambulance to said garage.
I think the term garage has to be used loosely it was more a body shop but the man working there managed to work out what we needed and after two hours he'd finally got it all done. So we can now go into Mongolia with beefed up suspension!
We continued to drive though the most amazing scenery along a river which followed us for hundreds of miles. Eventually we stopped at around midnight, not wanting to miss out on the view because of the dark. We picked a great spot, total luck as it was pitch dark! We put our tents up next to a fast flowing river, made a fire and cracked open some beer. It was a relaxing evening after 12 hours driving.
We woke up early but were not in a major rush to get on the road again. Russ, Ben (from another rally car) and I went swimming in a calm patch of river. It was nice to have a wash even if the water was around nice degrees. It turns out the river was glacial water running down from one of the higher mountains, fresh; it took your break away.
After washing up, tea and some fiddling with the ambulance we hit the road again. As I type we are driving down a rather good road around 60 miles from the Mongolia border. The landscape has totally changed, it's looking more like the photos of Mongolia I've sent. Flat planes with hills and vast open space except we have the roads of Russia!
We're going to border today, Thursday 14th August and aim for Ulan Bator for around 23rd August in time for the second of the welcome parties.
Tuesday, 12 August 2008
UZBEKISTAN, KAZAKHSTAN & RUSSIA
Location: Barnaul, Russia (Altai Mountain Region)
Speed: 0 MPH
Status: Day off
Speed: 0 MPH
Status: Day off
We always seem to get to large cities in the dark which makes finding a hotel interesting! In our usual manner we rolled into Tashkent, Uzbekistan after a few days in Bukhara at night.
As we drove down the road we asked a few taxis whom seem disinterested in what we wanted. Eventually we caught the attention of someone at traffic lights and they offered to take us to a good hotel. We followed the car until it stopped, the driver got out and ran across the road for directions (even she was lost!) this caused a car to skid and nearly hit her! She got back in and two minutes later we pulled into a hotel car park. We thanked the friendly local and started negotiations for rooms. It was 02:30 and we all went to sleep.
In the morning we talked about routes over breakfast. The decision was made to skip Kyrgyzstan as the border was going to a long wait and we'd only be in the country for a day and a half so it seemed better use of time to get into Kazakhstan and Russia earlier than planned.
Decision made we spent three nights in Tashkent, relaxing and taking car of some minor mechanical bits. There was even time to go to the local Aqua-Park which consisted of a few flumes and a wav pool. It was right next to Tashkent Land which was an ex-Soviet theme park, we didn't go but it looked fun!
Leaving Tashkent with fond memories of the hotel staff who looked after us well. We aimed for the border which was just outside Tashkent only to be told we couldn't cross as it was a "local only" border. We had to drive all the way back on ourselves by two hours to a place called Chinoz. Arriving around 15:00 we passed though the Uzbek side of the border after dishing out a t shirt to a fat policeman who wouldn't let us though then onto the Kazak side – let the bribes begin! First up the gate guard wanted a ball, we gave him a tennis ball; then he saw our football – we refused to give it to him which didn't impress him but there are limits.
As we drove up to the next gate we were told to go into the office. As usual we had to stand at various windows with all our paperwork, stamping and signing forms which were all written in Cyrillic. The Ambulance is in my name so I had to go though as the driver whilst Stu and Russ crossed as foot passengers.
Whilst Stu and Russ did their thing I walked back out of the main border gate to get the ambulance though. The guard looked at the paperwork and simply said "Dollar" which I replied "No Dollar". We sat there for five minutes; I ignored him for a time then approached him again and got the same response. This went on for twenty minutes until I took my t shirt off and handed it to him saying "Take the shirt off my back, it's all I have" – he didn't seem to understand but the gesture worked and the gate opened!
As we moved though to the customs check, border guards were surrounding the ambulance all shouting dollar. One of them even wrote $100 in maker pen on the side of the ambulance. Stu tricked one into pressing the siren on the ambulance which seemed to clear them all away. They try to wear you down so you just pay to get moving but we've got patience.
Next up it was customs check. Two dogs and a guy in camouflage clothing introduced himself, he made a point of saying "No Dollar for me" – we didn't believe him. Sure enough after fifteen minutes he said he wanted to search everything; tanks, roof rack the lot. However we could avoid it if we paid him $20; we haggled for a while settling on $10 and passed though into Kazakhstan.
So the current bribe count stands at:
€30 - Iran
$10 - Kazak
1 x T Shirt - Uzbek
1 x Tennis ball - Kazak
We still have a cricket set and as a last resort a football to go!
Within an hour of being in Kazakhstan we were stopped by a police man. I got out, Russ stayed put and Stu went to lend a hand with another team who had given all their paperwork to the police man! He saw me into a shed where there were two rather large chaps. I was then told I had run a stop sign and therefore had to pay "dollar" – see the pattern? They wanted our documents; I refused to give them over and went outside.
I walked to the supposed sign; there was indeed a stop sign. Standing by the side of the road I waited for a car to pass – it failed to stop; great I thought. So rather loudly I started shouting "No stop" at every single vehicle that didn't stop. With Stu shouting "No dollar" at them and my shouting "No stop" at passers by they got bored of us after half an hour and let us go. Lesson learned we now stop at every stop sign!
We kept thundering north until we hit a town. We needed Kazak Tenge to buy diesel, we drove around for a while until we spotted a shop with an ATM outside. We got cash and went shopping for supplies. After bread, milk and snacks we found outselves looking at an array of vodka. Not having a clue we went on cost until a English speaking man introduced himself. He asked us what sort of vodka we wanted, we explained and he selected two bottles and said "A gift from me" – result! It turned out the man was the shop owner and after we racked up our shopping a third bottle of vodka had been given to us. We asked directions and he offered to drive us out of town to the main road to Lake Balkash. We drove out, towing another rally car until we stopped at a coffee shop/restaurant he wound his window down and said "This is my shop, do you want to stop for lunch" we accepted and went in.
Plates and plates of food arrived we gorged for an hour and talked about all sorts of things from football to Kazak politics. The man (Alex) said he was visiting London so we offered to return the favour when he comes to London.
We hit the road until sun set when we found a field for the night, driving off the road for five minutes. I pitched my tent whilst Stu and Russ opted for the comfort of the ambulance. We ate dinner, solar showered had a beer and broke out the Vodka! After a few we decided we'd drive none stop to the Russian border, all 1200km! We woke up at 05:30 and hot the road for 07:00.
Around lunch time we stopped arrived at Lake Balkash, had a swim and got some photos of the ambulance by the lake. We took advantage of the water to have a wash too, it was nice to be clean!
The road got bad that evening, very very bad. They went from dirt track to asphalt with two foot pot holes; it was horrendous. We snapped one of the front coil springs on the ambulance so now our suspension is a little softer! We couldn't get any photos as it was pitch dark. At one stage we were diverted off the main "road" to a dirt track which we had to drive for 60km, not pleasant.
We arrived at the Russian border where we stayed for eight hours being processed. It was the usual thing of stamps, paperwork and money although this one was mildly different. All paperwork done we had to wait for one man to sign some forms. He didn't like me so I sat on a chair for nearly two hours whilst he drank tea and dealt with Russians.
Though the border we kept on driving and driving until after a total of 50 hours driving we found ourselves in Barnaul, Russia where we are now. We met a team here who are flying home, their 4x4 is a wreck. So we're pillaging everything we can from their car!
We spend some of today walking around Barnaul. We visited a small amusement park where we went on the "Barnaul Eye" a small Ferris wheel that offered some vaguely good views of the town. Then we went out for a meal with some other teams, ordering food was interesting. Fortunately the waitress managed to find an English speaker amongst diners so we managed to order food!
Tomorrow we'll be departing for the Altai Mountains and onto Mongolia; aiming to hit the border Thursday or Friday.
Finally we've uploaded new photos, but they are no longer in chronological order for some reason. Given we've got very poor Internet connectivity we wont fix it until we get back to England when we'll revamp the site and post video, photos and lots of other bits about our adventure.
So this may well be our last blog until we arrive in Ulan Bator!
Monday, 4 August 2008
TURKMENISTAN & ONTO UZBEKISTAN
Location: Bukara, Uzbekistan
Speed: 0 MPH
Status: Having a well earned day off!
Moving on from Ashgabat it took us two days to get across Turkmenistan. We drove hour the desert for miles and miles and even saw our first camels. The temperature topped out at 47 degrees Celsius – with the window open it was still like a warm hair dryer in the face!
We stopped by the side of the road and went into the dunes to get some photos with the camels. Out of no where a farmer appeared and got some of them over for photos. He then made gestures and we established he wanted us to go to his farm where he had baby camels.
We hopped into the ambulance and followed the famer in his car, five minutes down the road we drove into a small farm. We got out and the man was full of smiles as we led us over to a pen where there were two baby camels. More photos were taken and we even tried camel’s milk which was shocking!
Hitting the road again we arrived in a town called Mary. Nearly had an accident on a roundabout when two Turkmen Lada drivers were racing nearly drove into the side of the Gobi Ambulance! Disaster averted we found a spot just off the main road to Turkmenibat (the Turkmen/Uzbek border) and settled in for the night. It was hot, uncomfortable and we only managed three hours sleep but it was all we could get.
Next morning he drove the 300KM to the Uzbek border. More desert, more 45+ degrees temperatures and more camels! Cold water was a thing of the past, it was all warm and when we did manage to get it cold it warmed up in minutes.
Arriving into Turkmenibat at around 15:00 we got horrendously lost trying to find the border. Eventually after asking everyone we saw we got to a Turkmen arm checkpoint where they demanded another 100,000 Manat and $52 which was a total pleasure to pay!!
We trucked onto Farab which was the border town and the process to exit Turkenistan began.
Driving up to gates we were told to park and go into an office. There was a very large crowd of people around the gate, we sussed the situation out we decided to wave our English passports and shout “tourist” a lot – it worked we jumped the queue!
The gate guard checked our papers and made us sit on a wall until another guard told us to follow him. We ended up in a corridor which lots of doors, they actually looked like interrogation cells. After being shoulder barged out of the way and queue jumped by lots of Turkish truck drivers we decided to play it aggressive and formed a line of bodies across the corridor which annoyed the truck drivers but got the result we wanted. At this point the man in the interrogation cell (which was actually an office) came out and took the drivers and paperwork to Customs. The others had to be process separately.
Customs was interested, we walked in got asked a bunch of standard questions like “Why are you here?” and “Where are you going?” etc. We got our stamps so that was the vehicle bit done, now it’s passport stamp time. We joined the queue, chatting amongst ourselves and Turkmen guard snapped “No talking” so we shut up! Passport stamped we went for the crossing into Uzbek, only to be told we needed to have another stamp in our passport.
We were on hour two by the time all the stamps were collected, we drove though and hit the Uzbek side of the border. The drivers we asked medical questions like “Have you ever had avian flu?” which made me laugh a bit. Then is as passport stamps followed by the customs form which was all written in Cyrillic.
It was comedy watching a bunch of English speakers trying to decipher the form. We eventually got it by asking various people. We were allowed then to bring the ambulance though to the final checkpoint.
Walking into the customs building it became apparent they were X-Raying spare wheels. This would be a real pain as it was really hot and it would take hours to get everything off our roof rack! Fortunately the old tourist card played we cleared and headed to Bukara.
Another warm welcome our fourteenth country, Uzbekistan. People were beeping their horns, waving and all smiling – I guess it’s not everyday they see a thirty year old ambulance driving down the road!
We arrived at a rather quant place called Hotel Siyavush which is run by a family. The have cold water, cold beer, air conditioning and showers so we are very happy people again! They also have Internet which is how you’re reading this now!
There are seven rally cars here and last night 16 of us went out for some food. After a night of gorging the bill came to around £3.50 a head!
Today (Monday 4th August) we’ve decided to take a day off the road and see a bit of Bukara, take care of some money and mechanical matters.
As for the roads, well there are OK(ish). We’re driving on pot holed tarmac at the moment which is shaking the poor old ambulance to bits. Before we leave on a morning we run around and tighten every nut and bolt we can find, it’s good we’ve been doing it as some have come a little loose!
We made a decision over the last few days. Together we have decided to drop Tajikistan from our itinerary. We had planned to take the Pamir Highway (essentially the old silk route) but it’s the second highest road in the world with altitudes of up to 6,000 feet. It’s a safety call really as the brakes on the ambulance are not vented and on mountain passes they get rather hot and can fade.
So with that decision in mind we’re heading up to Tashkent (the capital of Uzbekistan) and assuming the border is open we’re going to cross into Kyrgyzstan. From there it’s North into Kazakhstan and Russian before turning East one final time for Mongolia. It’s crazy to think we’ve only got four counties left!
All being well we should be into Ulan Bator by late August, right on target! But we still have at least 3,000 miles to go and the roads are only going to go down hill from here. Mongolia only has around 150 miles of tarmac and we have to drive over 1,000!
Not sure when we’ll make the next posts, it’s dependant on Internet connectivity. The site will be updated eventually but maybe delayed. We are texting our position, so you should find the map a good indication of where we are.
Speed: 0 MPH
Status: Having a well earned day off!
Moving on from Ashgabat it took us two days to get across Turkmenistan. We drove hour the desert for miles and miles and even saw our first camels. The temperature topped out at 47 degrees Celsius – with the window open it was still like a warm hair dryer in the face!
We stopped by the side of the road and went into the dunes to get some photos with the camels. Out of no where a farmer appeared and got some of them over for photos. He then made gestures and we established he wanted us to go to his farm where he had baby camels.
We hopped into the ambulance and followed the famer in his car, five minutes down the road we drove into a small farm. We got out and the man was full of smiles as we led us over to a pen where there were two baby camels. More photos were taken and we even tried camel’s milk which was shocking!
Hitting the road again we arrived in a town called Mary. Nearly had an accident on a roundabout when two Turkmen Lada drivers were racing nearly drove into the side of the Gobi Ambulance! Disaster averted we found a spot just off the main road to Turkmenibat (the Turkmen/Uzbek border) and settled in for the night. It was hot, uncomfortable and we only managed three hours sleep but it was all we could get.
Next morning he drove the 300KM to the Uzbek border. More desert, more 45+ degrees temperatures and more camels! Cold water was a thing of the past, it was all warm and when we did manage to get it cold it warmed up in minutes.
Arriving into Turkmenibat at around 15:00 we got horrendously lost trying to find the border. Eventually after asking everyone we saw we got to a Turkmen arm checkpoint where they demanded another 100,000 Manat and $52 which was a total pleasure to pay!!
We trucked onto Farab which was the border town and the process to exit Turkenistan began.
Driving up to gates we were told to park and go into an office. There was a very large crowd of people around the gate, we sussed the situation out we decided to wave our English passports and shout “tourist” a lot – it worked we jumped the queue!
The gate guard checked our papers and made us sit on a wall until another guard told us to follow him. We ended up in a corridor which lots of doors, they actually looked like interrogation cells. After being shoulder barged out of the way and queue jumped by lots of Turkish truck drivers we decided to play it aggressive and formed a line of bodies across the corridor which annoyed the truck drivers but got the result we wanted. At this point the man in the interrogation cell (which was actually an office) came out and took the drivers and paperwork to Customs. The others had to be process separately.
Customs was interested, we walked in got asked a bunch of standard questions like “Why are you here?” and “Where are you going?” etc. We got our stamps so that was the vehicle bit done, now it’s passport stamp time. We joined the queue, chatting amongst ourselves and Turkmen guard snapped “No talking” so we shut up! Passport stamped we went for the crossing into Uzbek, only to be told we needed to have another stamp in our passport.
We were on hour two by the time all the stamps were collected, we drove though and hit the Uzbek side of the border. The drivers we asked medical questions like “Have you ever had avian flu?” which made me laugh a bit. Then is as passport stamps followed by the customs form which was all written in Cyrillic.
It was comedy watching a bunch of English speakers trying to decipher the form. We eventually got it by asking various people. We were allowed then to bring the ambulance though to the final checkpoint.
Walking into the customs building it became apparent they were X-Raying spare wheels. This would be a real pain as it was really hot and it would take hours to get everything off our roof rack! Fortunately the old tourist card played we cleared and headed to Bukara.
Another warm welcome our fourteenth country, Uzbekistan. People were beeping their horns, waving and all smiling – I guess it’s not everyday they see a thirty year old ambulance driving down the road!
We arrived at a rather quant place called Hotel Siyavush which is run by a family. The have cold water, cold beer, air conditioning and showers so we are very happy people again! They also have Internet which is how you’re reading this now!
There are seven rally cars here and last night 16 of us went out for some food. After a night of gorging the bill came to around £3.50 a head!
Today (Monday 4th August) we’ve decided to take a day off the road and see a bit of Bukara, take care of some money and mechanical matters.
As for the roads, well there are OK(ish). We’re driving on pot holed tarmac at the moment which is shaking the poor old ambulance to bits. Before we leave on a morning we run around and tighten every nut and bolt we can find, it’s good we’ve been doing it as some have come a little loose!
We made a decision over the last few days. Together we have decided to drop Tajikistan from our itinerary. We had planned to take the Pamir Highway (essentially the old silk route) but it’s the second highest road in the world with altitudes of up to 6,000 feet. It’s a safety call really as the brakes on the ambulance are not vented and on mountain passes they get rather hot and can fade.
So with that decision in mind we’re heading up to Tashkent (the capital of Uzbekistan) and assuming the border is open we’re going to cross into Kyrgyzstan. From there it’s North into Kazakhstan and Russian before turning East one final time for Mongolia. It’s crazy to think we’ve only got four counties left!
All being well we should be into Ulan Bator by late August, right on target! But we still have at least 3,000 miles to go and the roads are only going to go down hill from here. Mongolia only has around 150 miles of tarmac and we have to drive over 1,000!
Not sure when we’ll make the next posts, it’s dependant on Internet connectivity. The site will be updated eventually but maybe delayed. We are texting our position, so you should find the map a good indication of where we are.
TURKMENISTAN
Location: Ashgabat, Turkmenistan
Speed: 0 MPH
Status: 5* hotel, living it up!
We woke up at 05:30 had showers and hit the road for 06:30 for the Turkmen border.
The roads were great, shame about the nutty drivers! Iranians seem to think they can squeeze four lanes into two and over take on blind bends in lorries and coaches!
En route we stopped to get the ambulance passenger seat welded. When we turned a corner a couple of days ago the whole seat came off it’s mountings. A friendly Iranian chap put a stop to it by welding it back onto it’s frame using a bolt to bolster it.
It was hot at 40 degrees, we drove all day meeting up with some other rally vehicles. We made the border at 16:50 to guards saying it was closed. We pushed though and made the passport check as it was being locked down; damn! It would reopen again at 08:00 in the morning, so we found a spot to camp.
We ended up in a car park next to the lorry park. Stu and Russ got the awning out, we pitched our tents, drank lots of tea and watched a film. Much to our surprise it was a fairly good nights sleep, the air was a lot cooler as we were so high up (around 2500 feet).
We had a really productive evening. After clearing the ambulance out and anti-bacterial spraying just about everything I decided to have my head shaved. I sported a bin liner and took my hair down to a number two. The heat was too much - it looks shocking, but hey it’ll grow back!
Another highlight of the evening was giving Stu his second antibiotic injection to help the infection in his foot. We filmed the whole thing so will upload it at some point.
We woke up and hit the border for 08:00. The exit of Iran only took two hours with the entry into Turkmenistan taking another one and a half. This process is getting easy now, it requires patience and it’s not finished until you’re at least a mile or two into the next country! It seems each border is a great excuse for countries to tax you heavily. Turkmenistan wanted $210 for visas then a further $110 to get the ambulance insured. We kept smiling and paid our money.
Driving down the mountains into Ashgabat was a good feeling, our first “stan” under would mark the half way point in the journey to Mongolia as well as the hottest bit.
We found the Grand Turkmen Hotel in the centre of Ashgabat. It was reasonable for a 5* hotel at $70 a night, but they made up for it in drinks with water at around £4 a bottle.
We got local currency which is like monopoly money. For around £40 we got 720,000 Manat. Stu became a Turkmen millionaire for a time! These notes were a little crazy. For a beer we’d have to hand over around 90,000 Manat. By the time you’d counted the notes out your beer had got warm!
Speed: 0 MPH
Status: 5* hotel, living it up!
We woke up at 05:30 had showers and hit the road for 06:30 for the Turkmen border.
The roads were great, shame about the nutty drivers! Iranians seem to think they can squeeze four lanes into two and over take on blind bends in lorries and coaches!
En route we stopped to get the ambulance passenger seat welded. When we turned a corner a couple of days ago the whole seat came off it’s mountings. A friendly Iranian chap put a stop to it by welding it back onto it’s frame using a bolt to bolster it.
It was hot at 40 degrees, we drove all day meeting up with some other rally vehicles. We made the border at 16:50 to guards saying it was closed. We pushed though and made the passport check as it was being locked down; damn! It would reopen again at 08:00 in the morning, so we found a spot to camp.
We ended up in a car park next to the lorry park. Stu and Russ got the awning out, we pitched our tents, drank lots of tea and watched a film. Much to our surprise it was a fairly good nights sleep, the air was a lot cooler as we were so high up (around 2500 feet).
We had a really productive evening. After clearing the ambulance out and anti-bacterial spraying just about everything I decided to have my head shaved. I sported a bin liner and took my hair down to a number two. The heat was too much - it looks shocking, but hey it’ll grow back!
Another highlight of the evening was giving Stu his second antibiotic injection to help the infection in his foot. We filmed the whole thing so will upload it at some point.
We woke up and hit the border for 08:00. The exit of Iran only took two hours with the entry into Turkmenistan taking another one and a half. This process is getting easy now, it requires patience and it’s not finished until you’re at least a mile or two into the next country! It seems each border is a great excuse for countries to tax you heavily. Turkmenistan wanted $210 for visas then a further $110 to get the ambulance insured. We kept smiling and paid our money.
Driving down the mountains into Ashgabat was a good feeling, our first “stan” under would mark the half way point in the journey to Mongolia as well as the hottest bit.
We found the Grand Turkmen Hotel in the centre of Ashgabat. It was reasonable for a 5* hotel at $70 a night, but they made up for it in drinks with water at around £4 a bottle.
We got local currency which is like monopoly money. For around £40 we got 720,000 Manat. Stu became a Turkmen millionaire for a time! These notes were a little crazy. For a beer we’d have to hand over around 90,000 Manat. By the time you’d counted the notes out your beer had got warm!
TEHRAN & BEYOND
Location: Tehran, Iran.
Speed: 0 MPH.
Status: In a hospital!
We left Tabriz around 12:00, later than planned but hit the motorway for Tehran. It was 750KM and we wanted to do it in a day. The drive was fantastic, every time we stopped to change drivers or for a break we’d be given a water melon – four in one day by different drivers!
After a few hours behind the wheel and stopping at every single fuel stop it became apparent that diesel was hard to come by in Iran. It got to the point where we had used all our spare fuel and were close to running out. We stopped to discuss our predicament with the rest of the convoy when out of the blue an Iranian chap walked over with a twenty litre drum of diesel. We instantly though he was trying to make a quick buck, he talk at us in Fasi then phoned his friend who spoke English. The voice on the other end of the phone said “No money for the diesel, it is a gift” after saying thank you times he helped us pour it in our tank and we hit the road again.
That night we slept in the ambulance in a rather industrial area just outside Tehran, we slept around three hours then started the trek to Iran’s capital.
We arrived in Tehran and found diesel! Whilst filling the ambulance up we asked around about hospitals, a chap turned up who spoke good English. He asked us what was wrong and then explained how to get to the hospital. After 30 minutes of aimlessly driving around Tehran we got a taxi to lead us – there’s no way we would have found it!
Stu’s foot was giving him grief so it was good to get it seen to. They injected him, gave him some cream and some antibiotic tablets. The whole process took around three hours. We phoned William Russell (our medical insurers, and sponsor) in case we needed to make a claim; the phone call probably cost more than the treatment! The bill came to £9, so we quickly got off the phone!
We left hospital and hit the road for the border. We drove North to the coast to a town called Babol where we couldn’t find a hotel. When we stopped to ask directions an Iranian gentleman jumped in the ambulance and started giving us directions. It turned our the his mother worked at a hotel that might have rooms. We arrived, parked up and found out there were no rooms. We ended up sat in the lobby of a hotel drinking Chiai with the manger whilst the man who gave us directions disappeared.
Half an hour later and four teas later he turned up again. In international sign language we worked out we were being offered his house to stay at and shower – fantastic! We all jumped in the ambulance, including our new friend and followed the back streets to a house.
Walking in the house was fairly basic. The living room had a small television, and a two piece suite. We drank water and the family just stared at us – we couldn’t speak Fasi and they couldn’t speak English.
After half an hour (it’s almost 02:00 at this stage) the family left us and we settled in for the night.
Speed: 0 MPH.
Status: In a hospital!
We left Tabriz around 12:00, later than planned but hit the motorway for Tehran. It was 750KM and we wanted to do it in a day. The drive was fantastic, every time we stopped to change drivers or for a break we’d be given a water melon – four in one day by different drivers!
After a few hours behind the wheel and stopping at every single fuel stop it became apparent that diesel was hard to come by in Iran. It got to the point where we had used all our spare fuel and were close to running out. We stopped to discuss our predicament with the rest of the convoy when out of the blue an Iranian chap walked over with a twenty litre drum of diesel. We instantly though he was trying to make a quick buck, he talk at us in Fasi then phoned his friend who spoke English. The voice on the other end of the phone said “No money for the diesel, it is a gift” after saying thank you times he helped us pour it in our tank and we hit the road again.
That night we slept in the ambulance in a rather industrial area just outside Tehran, we slept around three hours then started the trek to Iran’s capital.
We arrived in Tehran and found diesel! Whilst filling the ambulance up we asked around about hospitals, a chap turned up who spoke good English. He asked us what was wrong and then explained how to get to the hospital. After 30 minutes of aimlessly driving around Tehran we got a taxi to lead us – there’s no way we would have found it!
Stu’s foot was giving him grief so it was good to get it seen to. They injected him, gave him some cream and some antibiotic tablets. The whole process took around three hours. We phoned William Russell (our medical insurers, and sponsor) in case we needed to make a claim; the phone call probably cost more than the treatment! The bill came to £9, so we quickly got off the phone!
We left hospital and hit the road for the border. We drove North to the coast to a town called Babol where we couldn’t find a hotel. When we stopped to ask directions an Iranian gentleman jumped in the ambulance and started giving us directions. It turned our the his mother worked at a hotel that might have rooms. We arrived, parked up and found out there were no rooms. We ended up sat in the lobby of a hotel drinking Chiai with the manger whilst the man who gave us directions disappeared.
Half an hour later and four teas later he turned up again. In international sign language we worked out we were being offered his house to stay at and shower – fantastic! We all jumped in the ambulance, including our new friend and followed the back streets to a house.
Walking in the house was fairly basic. The living room had a small television, and a two piece suite. We drank water and the family just stared at us – we couldn’t speak Fasi and they couldn’t speak English.
After half an hour (it’s almost 02:00 at this stage) the family left us and we settled in for the night.
TURKEY & NORTH EASTERN IRAN
Location: Tabriz, Iran.
Speed: Averaging 35MPH
Status: Trying to find diesel!
Travelling though Turkey has been the first taste of the East. We all regarded Europe as the easy bit, familiar cultures and good roads. Turkey would be the beginning of the rest of our journey.
As we drove east towards the Iranian border the landscape became more baron, the roads became dirty tracks and the people became more Persian. The roads would vary from straight flat, well surfaced to gravel tracks and mountain passes.
After a long days travelling we decided to camp near a lake that on the map looked like it might be nice. So we followed our noses and ended up on the waters edge of a fresh water lake that the locals were using for fishing. We arrived at dusk, pitched tents and after a quick swim begun our “Iranian border party” for the next day we would try and cross the border. The logic being we couldn’t take alcohol into Iran so it had to be consumed; and we managed it. Although there was a crate of “Baadog” beer left, which is a rather dark Mongolia beer which we donated to the local fishermen as we left at 05:00.
After around four hours of driving we entered into the Kurdistan region of Eastern turkey which can be a hot spot for Kurdish Separatists. We knew there had been a kidnapping or two so opted to stick with other rally cars, the convoy was now at seven vehicles. The first we were aware of any issues was when we were pulled over by the army. Whilst driving along we turned a corner and were waved in. Not knowing what was going on we handed our passports over as requested and a mobile phone as handed to us. A distance voice on the other end told us not to travel at night and to be vigilant as there has been a recent Kurdish uprising.
As we continued to make our way east there was a very obvious military presence. Armed personnel carriers and several check points where we were pulled over.
Due to the roads we were unable to make the Iranian border by night fall so we heeded the arm advice and stayed in a hotel rather than camping around six hours from the Iranian border.
The next day we woke up for 06:00 and drove towards to Iranian border, leaving Turkey at around 12:30 and entering the Iranian side. None of us knew what to expect, we know how the British media portrays Iran so had a slight air of apprehension.
As the gate opened our passports were taken and we were told to park. We stood around for half an hour with nothing happening until we asked the man who took our passports what was going on. He had them in his pocket all the time! We said we needed to go and register our VISA, so we did - that took another hour.
Once that was done we were clear to enter Iran, but the vehicle wasn’t. We had to process our Carnet de Passage which is a formal document stating we’re temporarily importing the Gobi Ambulance and therefore we don’t pay import duty on her. It’s a bunch of papers that must be stamped on entry and on exit of Iran. If it doesn’t get stamped we loose a rather large deposit that we paid to the RAC back in England.
The process can only be describes a chaos. We spend five hours walking from desk to office, to official back to another desk and waiting. The final stage was a search of the Gobi Ambulance, since we poured all our contraband (alcohol) away we were cleared to leave which was another mini-event in the whole palaver.
One car drove out with an official who still had our passports and carnets. We didn’t know what was going on until another official jumped in the Gobi Ambulance and told us to drive. We then drove down to another gate and parked. After another half an hour the gate opened and we were told to park the other side and ushered into a café.
Stu and I sat down at a table with the officials and the other rallyers. He dished out the fully stamped carnets and passports and when the calculator arrived I know this was going to become a bribe negotiating session. He asked us for 120 Euros per car which we refused. After another few minutes of banding figures around I asked for his ID and a receipt; all of a sudden the price hit the floor. We negotiated down to 20 Euros per car, which I still think is a cheek buy we had been at the border for around six hours and just wanted to go, we paid and drove off down the road.
The plan was to head to Tabriz for the first night, so I took the wheel and started driving. We were all nervous of being in Iran which was totally blown out of the water when I stopped the ambulance to ask how to get to Tabriz. A local chap shook my hand and pointed in the direction of Tabriz. As we go going again people were waving, beeping their horns and all seemed really pleased to see us.
After a few hours driving Russ took over and we eventually made it to Tabriz. Not knowing where we were going we pulled over in the centre of town. The convoy of Mongol Rally vehicles attracted an enormous amount of attention which people gathering around saying “Shalom.. Shalom” (hello is Fasi).
Walking over to a family looking at the ambulance I introduced myself. I asked about hotels and two of family spoke broken English. Rather than give directions they opted to lead the convoy to a hotel and after several laps of town we arrived at a hotel which was fully booked. The father of the family clearly wanted to help us and he started making tent gestures by putting his hands in the shape of a roof. After lots of really disjointed conversation we all jumped back into our vehicles and followed the family.
We arrived at a road with a barrier. The man jumped our and spoke to the attendant on the gate and then ran down the convoy of cars with a voucher. This we were to realise was our camping ticket, he parked up and pointed us a spot to park. The next hour was consumed by taking photos with the family with all the vehicles and half of the happy Iranian campers at the camp site! The family then left and we setup camp.
It was now 01:00 and we were hungry so cooked up some of our tinned food and made a cup of tea. We sat outside our tents and were quickly joined by some locals. We shared hookah, and offered them some English tea which they sipped and then threw a bucket load of sugar into the mug! After food and tea we settled down for the night.
We woke up around 10:00 to a note on the wind screen of the ambulance. It was from the family who guided us though the hectic streets of Tabriz. Just asked us to write to them and send some of the photos we have taken, which we shall do of course.
After packing up and having some tea the family turned up for another round of photographs!
Speed: Averaging 35MPH
Status: Trying to find diesel!
Travelling though Turkey has been the first taste of the East. We all regarded Europe as the easy bit, familiar cultures and good roads. Turkey would be the beginning of the rest of our journey.
As we drove east towards the Iranian border the landscape became more baron, the roads became dirty tracks and the people became more Persian. The roads would vary from straight flat, well surfaced to gravel tracks and mountain passes.
After a long days travelling we decided to camp near a lake that on the map looked like it might be nice. So we followed our noses and ended up on the waters edge of a fresh water lake that the locals were using for fishing. We arrived at dusk, pitched tents and after a quick swim begun our “Iranian border party” for the next day we would try and cross the border. The logic being we couldn’t take alcohol into Iran so it had to be consumed; and we managed it. Although there was a crate of “Baadog” beer left, which is a rather dark Mongolia beer which we donated to the local fishermen as we left at 05:00.
After around four hours of driving we entered into the Kurdistan region of Eastern turkey which can be a hot spot for Kurdish Separatists. We knew there had been a kidnapping or two so opted to stick with other rally cars, the convoy was now at seven vehicles. The first we were aware of any issues was when we were pulled over by the army. Whilst driving along we turned a corner and were waved in. Not knowing what was going on we handed our passports over as requested and a mobile phone as handed to us. A distance voice on the other end told us not to travel at night and to be vigilant as there has been a recent Kurdish uprising.
As we continued to make our way east there was a very obvious military presence. Armed personnel carriers and several check points where we were pulled over.
Due to the roads we were unable to make the Iranian border by night fall so we heeded the arm advice and stayed in a hotel rather than camping around six hours from the Iranian border.
The next day we woke up for 06:00 and drove towards to Iranian border, leaving Turkey at around 12:30 and entering the Iranian side. None of us knew what to expect, we know how the British media portrays Iran so had a slight air of apprehension.
As the gate opened our passports were taken and we were told to park. We stood around for half an hour with nothing happening until we asked the man who took our passports what was going on. He had them in his pocket all the time! We said we needed to go and register our VISA, so we did - that took another hour.
Once that was done we were clear to enter Iran, but the vehicle wasn’t. We had to process our Carnet de Passage which is a formal document stating we’re temporarily importing the Gobi Ambulance and therefore we don’t pay import duty on her. It’s a bunch of papers that must be stamped on entry and on exit of Iran. If it doesn’t get stamped we loose a rather large deposit that we paid to the RAC back in England.
The process can only be describes a chaos. We spend five hours walking from desk to office, to official back to another desk and waiting. The final stage was a search of the Gobi Ambulance, since we poured all our contraband (alcohol) away we were cleared to leave which was another mini-event in the whole palaver.
One car drove out with an official who still had our passports and carnets. We didn’t know what was going on until another official jumped in the Gobi Ambulance and told us to drive. We then drove down to another gate and parked. After another half an hour the gate opened and we were told to park the other side and ushered into a café.
Stu and I sat down at a table with the officials and the other rallyers. He dished out the fully stamped carnets and passports and when the calculator arrived I know this was going to become a bribe negotiating session. He asked us for 120 Euros per car which we refused. After another few minutes of banding figures around I asked for his ID and a receipt; all of a sudden the price hit the floor. We negotiated down to 20 Euros per car, which I still think is a cheek buy we had been at the border for around six hours and just wanted to go, we paid and drove off down the road.
The plan was to head to Tabriz for the first night, so I took the wheel and started driving. We were all nervous of being in Iran which was totally blown out of the water when I stopped the ambulance to ask how to get to Tabriz. A local chap shook my hand and pointed in the direction of Tabriz. As we go going again people were waving, beeping their horns and all seemed really pleased to see us.
After a few hours driving Russ took over and we eventually made it to Tabriz. Not knowing where we were going we pulled over in the centre of town. The convoy of Mongol Rally vehicles attracted an enormous amount of attention which people gathering around saying “Shalom.. Shalom” (hello is Fasi).
Walking over to a family looking at the ambulance I introduced myself. I asked about hotels and two of family spoke broken English. Rather than give directions they opted to lead the convoy to a hotel and after several laps of town we arrived at a hotel which was fully booked. The father of the family clearly wanted to help us and he started making tent gestures by putting his hands in the shape of a roof. After lots of really disjointed conversation we all jumped back into our vehicles and followed the family.
We arrived at a road with a barrier. The man jumped our and spoke to the attendant on the gate and then ran down the convoy of cars with a voucher. This we were to realise was our camping ticket, he parked up and pointed us a spot to park. The next hour was consumed by taking photos with the family with all the vehicles and half of the happy Iranian campers at the camp site! The family then left and we setup camp.
It was now 01:00 and we were hungry so cooked up some of our tinned food and made a cup of tea. We sat outside our tents and were quickly joined by some locals. We shared hookah, and offered them some English tea which they sipped and then threw a bucket load of sugar into the mug! After food and tea we settled down for the night.
We woke up around 10:00 to a note on the wind screen of the ambulance. It was from the family who guided us though the hectic streets of Tabriz. Just asked us to write to them and send some of the photos we have taken, which we shall do of course.
After packing up and having some tea the family turned up for another round of photographs!
Saturday, 26 July 2008
GREECE, TURKEY and onto IRAN!
Location: Eastern Turkey, not really sure!
Speed: Averaging 30MPH
Status: Driving down some really poor roads in East Turkey.
We stayed in Kavala last night which is a lovely little Greek town. We arrived at a campsite right on the Aegean sea, we pitched our tents at around 22:30 with another rally team. Deciding to wash in the sea we got into our swimming gear and ran into the water, it was lovely and warm and refreshing after a hectic weeks driving. We washed, got changed and headed into Kavala for a few drinks. The night was fairly late, we saw the sun rise, it was nice to get out of the ambulance for a while!
The next day we left around 15:00 somewhat later than we planned due to our rather late night. We drove East towards the Greek border, the temperature has hit around 32 degrees, shorts weather!!
Five hours later we arrived at the Greek/Turkey border where we went though the usual procedure of walking from cabin to cabin with all our paperwork, and forking out for insurance etc.
The border guards were fairly impressed with the Gobi Bar in the ambulance but for a moment they wanted us just to go through in case there was an emergency!! That would have been great, but we wouldn’t have had the paperwork we need at the Iranian side of Turkey!
We arrived into Istanbul around 22:00 and checked into a Hotel Ibis just outside the main town.
We had a great time in Istanbul, we had a Turkish bath which involved getting totally naked, wrapping yourself into a towl. We were then ushered into a Sauna where some rather fat Turkish chaps washed us with some exfoliating pads then massaged us, pouring hot and cold water all over us. It was great, very relaxing all be it painful in places!
After the Turkish bath we did some tourist bits, looking around Mosques and shopping. Finally we all had a Turkish shaves with a cut throat razors, so we all look and smell very clean for the journey ahead.
We left to at 05:30 to get as much day light driving in as possible. The plan is to hit the Southern Iranian border tomorrow (Sunday 27th) which is only 20 miles for Iraq so we really are in unfamiliar territory.
As I type we’re driving down a road called the D100 which should take us as far east as we need to be. We’re driving until around 19:00 today when we’ll find somewhere to camp, the convoy has increased in size. We not have four Mongol Rally vehicles with us – a Sumo, SJ410, 2CV and an Allegro. We’re all going to camp together tonight, safety in numbers and all that!
We’re all still in high spirits, getting along well and tackling any problems that come our way with ease (so far!). The Gobi Ambulance (aka Blossom) has served us well so far, fingers crossed she’ll keep doing so for the remainder of the trip.
We are attracting lots of attention. Driving down the road everyone waves at us, beeps at us and smiles – people even take photos, we feel famous!
Some stats for you - we’ve travelled around 2500 miles, 12 countries and used around 450 litres of diesel with average sleep running at four hours a night; this is tough!
Blogs might come few and far when we enter Iran and the other Central Asian states, we’re not sure on Internet access but we will write daily and post when we can.
Speed: Averaging 30MPH
Status: Driving down some really poor roads in East Turkey.
We stayed in Kavala last night which is a lovely little Greek town. We arrived at a campsite right on the Aegean sea, we pitched our tents at around 22:30 with another rally team. Deciding to wash in the sea we got into our swimming gear and ran into the water, it was lovely and warm and refreshing after a hectic weeks driving. We washed, got changed and headed into Kavala for a few drinks. The night was fairly late, we saw the sun rise, it was nice to get out of the ambulance for a while!
The next day we left around 15:00 somewhat later than we planned due to our rather late night. We drove East towards the Greek border, the temperature has hit around 32 degrees, shorts weather!!
Five hours later we arrived at the Greek/Turkey border where we went though the usual procedure of walking from cabin to cabin with all our paperwork, and forking out for insurance etc.
The border guards were fairly impressed with the Gobi Bar in the ambulance but for a moment they wanted us just to go through in case there was an emergency!! That would have been great, but we wouldn’t have had the paperwork we need at the Iranian side of Turkey!
We arrived into Istanbul around 22:00 and checked into a Hotel Ibis just outside the main town.
We had a great time in Istanbul, we had a Turkish bath which involved getting totally naked, wrapping yourself into a towl. We were then ushered into a Sauna where some rather fat Turkish chaps washed us with some exfoliating pads then massaged us, pouring hot and cold water all over us. It was great, very relaxing all be it painful in places!
After the Turkish bath we did some tourist bits, looking around Mosques and shopping. Finally we all had a Turkish shaves with a cut throat razors, so we all look and smell very clean for the journey ahead.
We left to at 05:30 to get as much day light driving in as possible. The plan is to hit the Southern Iranian border tomorrow (Sunday 27th) which is only 20 miles for Iraq so we really are in unfamiliar territory.
As I type we’re driving down a road called the D100 which should take us as far east as we need to be. We’re driving until around 19:00 today when we’ll find somewhere to camp, the convoy has increased in size. We not have four Mongol Rally vehicles with us – a Sumo, SJ410, 2CV and an Allegro. We’re all going to camp together tonight, safety in numbers and all that!
We’re all still in high spirits, getting along well and tackling any problems that come our way with ease (so far!). The Gobi Ambulance (aka Blossom) has served us well so far, fingers crossed she’ll keep doing so for the remainder of the trip.
We are attracting lots of attention. Driving down the road everyone waves at us, beeps at us and smiles – people even take photos, we feel famous!
Some stats for you - we’ve travelled around 2500 miles, 12 countries and used around 450 litres of diesel with average sleep running at four hours a night; this is tough!
Blogs might come few and far when we enter Iran and the other Central Asian states, we’re not sure on Internet access but we will write daily and post when we can.
Thursday, 24 July 2008
AUSTRIA, CROATIA & SERBIA
Location: E70 in Serbia, heading toward the Macedonian border
Speed: Averaging 30MPH
Status: Convoy of three, torrential rain with rocks in the road, awful conditions.
Speed: Averaging 30MPH
Status: Convoy of three, torrential rain with rocks in the road, awful conditions.
1400 miles down, only around 7500 left!
We've finally named the Gobi Ambulance – she's now officially called "Blossom" – we christened her with a Baadog (Mongolian beer) over the bonnet today.
So after departing Zagreb we turned South East towards the Serbian border it started raining. Arriving around lunch time this was our first none-EC border so we figured it might take some time. We were in a convoy of five, we all made it though but three of the vehicles required a green card – including us!
Basically a green card is a piece of paper that states you're insured. Our insurance company said we didn't need one; the cover note had all the details on. Well the Serbian border guard didn't think so – rubbish company!
The next half hour was spent traipsing between various buildings with all the documents. One place to get the green card, one place to pay then back to the green card building before hitting the currency building for money, what a palaver! I guess it'll get worse as we head East so we shouldn't complain. Anyway we got stung for 130 Euros…. Kerrrching, I'm sure there's more of that to come!
So here we are nearly eleven hours later, still driving on the E70 heading South now towards good weather apparently. It is still raining very heavily; we've slowed to 40MPH (ish) because of standing water in the pot holes on the motorway. It's actually quite hard, we've all driven for over three hours today and the conditions have made it difficult. Stu is driving at the moment with Russ as co-driver, we need two pairs of eyes to actually see in all the rain, glare and surface water. They seem to be spending more of their time preventing accident by mad Serbian drivers over taking on blind bends!
The good news though is for the first time out VMG (velocity made good) is in positive figures. Simply put we're now heading (all be it at 12 MPH) towards Mongolia now rather than away.
More good news, we'll be in Greece by Wednesday where it's reportedly 30 degrees and broken cloud – hurrah! We're planning a two day very chilled out (250 miles a day) drive along the Dalmatian coast with a few beach stops and a night out. Then it's off to Istanbul for the convoy to Iran, we're joining up with around ten cars and quite probably the mad Russians in the red London bus!
Tuesday, 22 July 2008
NEARLY ON THE MED!
Position: Zagreb, Croatia
Speed: 55MPH
Status: "E30", Southbound to Serbia.
Speed: 55MPH
Status: "E30", Southbound to Serbia.
After driving none stop until 04:30 on Sunday (20th) morning we were forced to stop in a motorway lay-by after our alternator started playing up. It turned out a bolt had broken and the fan belt wasn't keeping tension so it was squealing badly. Stu and Russ "fixed it" be modifying the alternator bracket. We were all shattered so we slept in the ambulance and got up four hours later.
Day two saw us driving to the world famous Nurburgring where we paid 21 Euros and took the Gobi Ambulance on the track! Our lap time was a very impressive 23 minutes. It was awesome; we had Porsches, Ferraris, motorbikes all racing past us it really was worth doing despite breaking our brakes!
After the Nurburgring we made our way to Klenova Castle in rather out of the way village in the Czech Republic. Around 200 fellow Mongolers turned up and partied the night away in the ancient castle. This medieval castle litrally became a night club with various dance rooms, an outdoor stage, some very cool fire shows and a very cheap bar!
Day three and we hit the road rather late because of our very heavy night. Departing Klenova we headed South at around 15:00 after a spot of shopping in Lidl (yes they have it in Czech!) we hopped over the border into Austria and onto Slovenia before hitting Zagreb at around 22:00 after a long day behind the wheel.
So far our favourite country is Czech Republic because of it's cheap beer and worse is Slovenia because of it's rained, rubbish roads and 35 Euros vignette (road tax).
Time on the road seems to be going fairly well. We're sleeping, cooking, drinking tea, working our way though the music collection, playing CB radio games with other cars.
We've been experimenting with "slip streams" which involves sitting behind a lorry and being sucked along in its disturbed air – it not only saves fuel but is quite a source of entertainment.
We're buying a beer in each country for research purposes. It's important to not only understand the culture, roads of each place but also how well they can brew a good pint! So far we've been though UK, France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. By the end of the day you'll be able to add Serbia (possibly Bosnia) and Macedonia to it, we're clocking the miles up!
As we head South various things are changing.
Firstly there's the weather, whilst it's raining now it's defiantly warmer. Landscapes have changed too, we had the mountains of Austria to the flat of Serbia and now in Croatia the motorway is just straight with crops on each side.
Driving styles are also changing; drivers are becoming a little more crazy! Some follow a few feet from the bumper; Lorries flash us and try to literally push the ambulance along.
We had our first injury; Russ decided to slice his finger open. We gaffer taped it up with a dressing under it so it shouldn't fall off.
We're now heading out of Zagreb for a 500 mile leg down to the Dalmatian coast in Greece for two days relaxed driving, laying on the beach and meandering slowly towards Istanbul, Turkey.
We're uploading photos to the website, more than we're blogging so check out the gallery!
Saturday, 19 July 2008
WE'RE ON OUR WAY
Position: Somewhere in Belgium
Speed: 50 MPH
Status: Settling into 24 hour driving mode!
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Speed: 50 MPH
Status: Settling into 24 hour driving mode!
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Wow, what a day!
We had a truly rapturous departure from Hyde Park today. With hundreds of people turning up to say farewell to the brave/mad teams taking part in the 2008 Mongol Rally!
We led the fleet of 300 vehicles out of Hyde Park along with old red London bus driven by some mad Russians. Turning right we drove past Buckingham Palace in convoy, through Trafalgar Square before heading over the Thames and onto the motorway south for Dover and our P&O (thanks for the discount) ferry.
We boarded late because of the queues, landing in France some time early evening. As I type we're hurtling down a motorway just outside Brussels. As I look forward Stu is still driving with a massive grin on his face. Looking right Russ has settled into travelling move by watching a DVD. Looking left the sun is setting over Belgium and everything is going well! As for me, well I'm writing blogs and rigging up the laptop to the sound system to keep us amused for our trip ahead.
Tonight we'll be heading to Kenova Castle just outside Prague for a jolly good knees up. We're going to let our hair down after what has been a rather hectic few months preparing for our trip.
Photos of the launch will be online over the next day or two courtesy of the official Gobi Ambulance team photographer, Sarah-Jane
Finally we'd like to say is a massive get well soon to Mark the fourth member of team Gobi Ambulance who cannot be with us today. He's gone and broken is leg! Get well soon Mark; hope you can join us at some point.
Monday, 14 July 2008
The big Gobi Auction!
5 Jul 2008 at 3:36am
51'19N 0'33W, Old Woking ENGLAND - 14th July 2008
51'19N 0'33W, Old Woking ENGLAND - 14th July 2008
FIVE DAYS TO GO - It's auction time!!
After staying up until 04:00 working on the Gobi Ambulance last Saturday we came up with an idea; let's auction off a seat or two to Prague in the Gobi Ambulance for charity!
This is a totally one of a kind chance to get a seat in a Mongol Rally 2008 vehicle. Team Gobi Ambulance is Mat, Stu, Russ and Mark who will be driving their 1978 former St John Ambulance to Mongolia.
We'll be leaving Hyde Park from 11:00 on Saturday July 19th and heading east. First stop will be Prague (well just outside) for a rather cool festival called Czech Out and it's this first leg that we are offering up for grabs.
Depart: July 19th - Hyde Park, London – you must be ready by 10:00 with all your kit.
Arrive: July 20th - Prague, Czech Republic for festival.
We'll then drop you at Prague Airport on July 21st around midday and your experience will end!
This three day experience bidding starts at £65 – grab yourself a one off experience!
Visit eBay and search GOBI AMBULANCE or click on this link:
There are FOUR places available but this auction is only for ONE, if you've friends that want to come along then get in let us know NOW!!
For more information see the team's website at http://www.gobi-ambulance.org.uk
Sunday, 6 July 2008
EMAIL BLOG UPDATE TESTING!
Location: Southampton, England - 50°54'N, 1°23'W
Speed: n/a
Status: Last minute prep.
Speed: n/a
Status: Last minute prep.
We're just testing our blog via email service so this story is fairly dry in information however it proves things are working as they should!
Don't forget we'll be updating the site as much as we can so keep checking back. You can also sponsor us by texting GOBI to 82010 or clicking DONATE to the left hand side of the screen.
Saturday, 5 July 2008
TWO WEEKS TO THE GO(BI AMBULANCE)!
51'19N 0'33W, (somewhere south of London) 5th June 2008
In exactly two weeks we’ll be rumbling into North Carriage Drive, Hyde Park in London in the Gobi Ambulance ready to set off on our epic trip to Mongolia via twenty odd countries! Make sure you come along from midday to see us off, the Gobi Bar is going to be open, you can have a guided tour of the Gobi Ambulance and of course we'll be glad to take your money for our charities!
We’ll be updating the website regularly on the build up to the rally and during so be sure to check back for all the latest. We’ll be blogging all the way to Mongolia with video and photos to share our journey with you all.
In exactly two weeks we’ll be rumbling into North Carriage Drive, Hyde Park in London in the Gobi Ambulance ready to set off on our epic trip to Mongolia via twenty odd countries! Make sure you come along from midday to see us off, the Gobi Bar is going to be open, you can have a guided tour of the Gobi Ambulance and of course we'll be glad to take your money for our charities!
We’ll be updating the website regularly on the build up to the rally and during so be sure to check back for all the latest. We’ll be blogging all the way to Mongolia with video and photos to share our journey with you all.
In team news we've taken on another few sponsors: Realy Usful Box, Contact Roller Shutters and TWM. The ambulance has had her livery applied, she's looking great! We'll get some photos posted soon!
Russ, Stu, Mark have been flat out preparing the ambulance this week, often working until one in the morning. It’s fabrication time, things like sump and fuel guards, roof racks etc. We have cleaned up the mess after our jaunt to Wales – the ambulance looked like a dirty protest cell with all the mud in it! Two speakers fell out of their brackets and some other bits had to be fixed but we learned good lessons. Including how to cook up bacon sarnies and tea on a motorway!
We have decided to wing Europe – we had planned on heading though Romania and Bulgaria but word is the roads are poor so we might opt for Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia, Serbia, and Macedonia and into Greece. There’s a great drive along the Mediterranean and it’ll give us a bit of watery scenery before we get land locked in Central Asia. From there the routes fairly set because of our visas.
There have been reports of civil unrest in Mongolia over the last few days. We’re monitoring things closely and it looks like things are going to settle down. Some of the locals are claiming the recent government elections were rigged so they started throwing things at government buildings. That coupled with burning things down and four deaths it looked a bit messy for a while. The government put in a state emergency and things are looking better now. For more information see Reuters: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSSP9004820080705
Don’t forget you can still sponsor us! Just click on donate (to the left) or send a text message to 82010 with the word GOBI
- Mat.
Tuesday, 17 June 2008
4 Weeks to Go.
A small update this week, to keep you in touch with the latest from the Gobi Ambulance camp. We’ll post more next week after the weekends shenanigans!
We have a new engine!! Photos of the transplant are in the gallery, it was a serious amount of work. We all worked until the small hours getting the ambulance finished. Final sign writing should be done this week courtesy of Show Card Print; all out sponsors logos are going to be slapped on every available bit of body we can find.
On Friday, we’re taking her on her first long trip as a group. All four of us will be packing up, hitting the M40 up to Telford, turning left and settling into a 4x4 track somewhere in deepest darkest Wales. Next week we’ll update you on how she go on off road!
Mat’s just done a deal with a company who are kindly going to reinforce and strengthen our leaf springs. We need this as the front suspension is held together by a very small single leaf spring. As and when we finalise the arrangement we’ll post more details about the company here.
With four weeks to go the tensions building. The focus has moved sideways from preparing the ambulance which is nearly done, onto camping gear and other practicalities.
We’ll be touring some of our sponsors in the coming weeks for photo opportunities. Sut has also managed to secure a few more kind companies that will be sponsoring us.
Don’t forget to come down to Hyde Park on 19th July from 12:00 to see us off – the Gobi Bar will be open and serving some very special treats!!
Thursday, 5 June 2008
Update: GOBI BAR, OFFROADING, NEW TEAM MEMEBER & MORE
51'19N 0'33W, (somewhere south of London) 5th June 2008
Details have been released about our departure, and its going to be BIG. Everyone is welcome to come down to Hyde Park between 11:00 and 15:00 on Saturday July 19th. The Mongol Rally vehicles will be parked up on North Carriage Drive, just type it into Google Maps; the nearest tube is Marble Arch and theres loads of parking nearby. Try not to drive though as the GOBI BAR will be open serving some VERY special drinks all for FREE so make sure you come down! Heres the Facebook event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=13427464118
With six weeks to go the momentum of the Gobi Ambulance is unstoppable! Were still interviewing, tying up last minute sponsorship arrangements and finishing the final bits of paperwork. This week its been medical insurance forms for our sponsor William Russell and carnet de passage time, which is basically a temporary importation document – we have to deposit a load of cash with the RAC who hold it until we get home with the fully stamped carnet.
Mark Logan has joined us too, I work with him and originally he was to go in a SJ410 jeep in convoy with the Gobi Ambulance but for one reason and another hes now joined our project. For more information on Mark, see the team page.
Ive had the first of three rounds of injections today. The rest of the gang are in the same position, visiting their GPs and getting the jabs. On the list is Typhoid, Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Tetanus booster, Diphtheria and Polio. This afternoon my arm feels a bit like a pin cushion but its better than picking up the “lergy” along the way I suppose!
In other news weve dumped our old sign writing company (Top Signs in Wickham Bishops, Essex) who charge us over the odds for sign writing in favour of a very helpful company called Showcard Print who will be finish the sponsors sign writing on the Ambulance free of charge! So make sure you give them a call for all your sign writing and printing requirements – they are great.
Russ and Stu have made the decisions to change the engine on the ambulance. So were going diesel on Stus advice. He just happens to have an engine lying around so hes set about fitting it, mainly by replacing the hoses and giving it a good service before the transplant. The ambulance weights 2.3 tonnes and in road trials weve found she doesnt like going up hills, to the point that were in 1st gear and going VERY slow. The Pamir highway will tear the engine apart so we went for a torque filled 2.5 litre naturally aspirated diesel lump which should be fine on those 4000 meter mountain passes!
Weve finalised the mechanical jobs list and theres plenty to do. Our first real pre-rally road trip is going to be Wales on the 21st July; were taking the ambulance for a weekend of off-roading which is something we thought wed never do!!
Dont forget you can donate to our charities by clicking DONATE on the left hand site of the website as well as sending a text message with the word GOBI to 82010.
Updates are going to get more frequent now the rally is getting closer, so be sure to keep checking the web site - Mat.
Tuesday, 27 May 2008
William Russell sponsors team Gobi Ambulance
International expatriate insurance specialist William Russell has sponsored Team Gobi Ambulance in the Mongol Rally 2008 to raise money for five vital UK and international charities.
The Gobi Ambulance Team has entered the rally in a 1978 former St John Ambulance and will depart Hyde Park with 300 other teams on July 19th 2008 to drive around 10,000 miles to Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
The route is open to interpretation, London to Mongolia via anywhere. The Gobi Ambulance Team has chosen a tough route through much of central Asia. From Turkey they head south into Iran and onto Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kryghystan before entering Kazakhstan. Then into Russia before crossing into Mongolia via its Western borders.
The Gobi Ambulance Team of Mathew Booth, Russell Nunn and Stuart Garnham are aiming to arrive in Mongolia around four weeks after leaving London. William Russell has donated £2,500 directly to the charities supported by Team Gobi Ambulance and is providing them with comprehensive medical insurance.
James Cooper, Sales Director, William Russell says:
“This is a significant challenge for Team Gobi Ambulance which will raise money for five vital charities. They’re well qualified to succeed; Mat is a qualified yacht skipper who holds a full MCA medical care certificate, Russell is a qualified mechanic with significant off road driving experience and Stewart runs a car and commercial vehicle business that specialises in custom fabrications.
“At William Russell we’re delighted to back their challenge with the practical assistance of our GlobalHealth Elite plan providing comprehensive international private medical insurance and financial sponsorship. We wish them every success on the rally.”
Wednesday, 14 May 2008
Gobi Ambulance to go carbon neutral
Position: 51'19N 0'33W, somewhere South of London .
The Gobi Ambulance is proud to be a carbon neutral project.
We’ll burn around 650 gallons of petrol on our way to Mongolia which will generate 5.8 tonnes of carbon which is just under half of that created by the average family home. It is for this reason we felt whilst raising money of charity, we shouldn’t impact the environment.
We’ve chose to plant some tree’s in Somercombe Wood located in the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) on the Somerset/Devon border near Hemyock. It takes its name from the old Saxon word for Summer ‘Samiaco’, from which the name Hemyock is believed to be derived.
At 35 acres, it is a large plantation and incorporates 5 acres of mature woods and wetland. The Madford River forms the southern boundary and the land is broken up by mature hedgerows and several small, revegetated quarries.
The 35 acre plantation will link two much larger areas of woodland to form a single unit in excess of 200 acres, a sizeable forest. Connecting up valuable habitat is a key goal of the Wildlife Trusts so that safe corridors for wildlife are constructed.
The Gobi Ambulance is proud to be a carbon neutral project.
We’ll burn around 650 gallons of petrol on our way to Mongolia which will generate 5.8 tonnes of carbon which is just under half of that created by the average family home. It is for this reason we felt whilst raising money of charity, we shouldn’t impact the environment.
We’ve chose to plant some tree’s in Somercombe Wood located in the Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) on the Somerset/Devon border near Hemyock. It takes its name from the old Saxon word for Summer ‘Samiaco’, from which the name Hemyock is believed to be derived.
At 35 acres, it is a large plantation and incorporates 5 acres of mature woods and wetland. The Madford River forms the southern boundary and the land is broken up by mature hedgerows and several small, revegetated quarries.
The 35 acre plantation will link two much larger areas of woodland to form a single unit in excess of 200 acres, a sizeable forest. Connecting up valuable habitat is a key goal of the Wildlife Trusts so that safe corridors for wildlife are constructed.
Sunday, 27 April 2008
Three Months to GO
Position: 51'19N 0'33W, somewhere South of London.
With just over three months until we jump in the Gobi Ambulance and head East we’re starting to tick things off on the to do list.
First the fun stuff... We've agreed a sky dive in Tehran (Iran) with some fellow Mongol Rally entrants. Mat and Russ will be jumping out of a plane at 15,000 feet with ten others. Stu going to stay on the ground, take some photos.
Secondly we're currently working on paragliding in Tajikistan. Being the most mountainous country in the world it’s the perfect places for the thermals required for paragliding.
We’re on the lookout of other interesting things to do along the way, so if you’ve got any suggestions drop us a line.
The paper work that is required to transit twenty two counties is significant. Looking at it in a positive way, we only have eight visas and a carnet-de-passage to obtain. The amount of forms stands at fifty four for visas and another three for the carnet, most of which is filled out by hand. To say it’s a little tedious would be an understatement but its all part of the fun (apparently!).
Last weekend we all got together and had use of a fully equipped garage, with a hydraulic ramp so Russ and Stu set about suspension work by raising the back suspension and checking brakes. It looks like we need to strip down and replace the front brakes, and then there’s the issue of brake fluid, we need to think about is the temperature to stop brake fade. In Tajikistan we’ll be traversing mountain passes up to 3500 meters high, and what goes up must come down. This will probably involve quite a bit of brake usage which can result in the brake fluid boiling and in essence loss of breaks.
We also had a bit of a debate on which engine to put in the Ambulance. Right now she’s got a two litre petrol engine but Stu is keen to replace it with a diesel lump, but that involves a fair but of work so we’re not all convinced.
There was quite a bit of tyre kicking throughout the day. One of the problems we need to solve is fuel and spares storage. The key thing here is to keep the centre of gravity low because of the terrain we’ll be driving over the last thing we need to do is make her more unstable! We’ve agreed to stash the heavy stuff (fuel, spare suspension leaf springs etc) underneath. Stu’s a bit of a master fabricator so he’s going to don his welding mask and put something together. We’ve got around 100kg of additional fuel to put underneath so whatever he makes is going to have to heavy duty.
We’re also plating over the fuel tank (and reserve tanks) to stop anything putting a hold in it. The last thing we need is to be stuck without fuel with 2.3 tonnes of ambulance up a mountain with altitude sickness!!
Before going home we managed to finish the stereo off, the amplifier is in with speakers for the front and rear. The fridge went in nicely as did 12 and 240 volt DC/AC supplies and various mobile holders.
To finish off we cleared up and then did some down hill stretcher racing – more on that next time!!
The web site is doing well, last month we have over 20,000 hits which is fantastic. Please do pass the address onto your friends.
Don’t forget we’re still taking donations online, just click donate on the left side of the screen. If you’ve not got a PayPal account then remember you can also donate a fiver by texting GOBI to 80210.
.
With just over three months until we jump in the Gobi Ambulance and head East we’re starting to tick things off on the to do list.
First the fun stuff... We've agreed a sky dive in Tehran (Iran) with some fellow Mongol Rally entrants. Mat and Russ will be jumping out of a plane at 15,000 feet with ten others. Stu going to stay on the ground, take some photos.
Secondly we're currently working on paragliding in Tajikistan. Being the most mountainous country in the world it’s the perfect places for the thermals required for paragliding.
We’re on the lookout of other interesting things to do along the way, so if you’ve got any suggestions drop us a line.
The paper work that is required to transit twenty two counties is significant. Looking at it in a positive way, we only have eight visas and a carnet-de-passage to obtain. The amount of forms stands at fifty four for visas and another three for the carnet, most of which is filled out by hand. To say it’s a little tedious would be an understatement but its all part of the fun (apparently!).
Last weekend we all got together and had use of a fully equipped garage, with a hydraulic ramp so Russ and Stu set about suspension work by raising the back suspension and checking brakes. It looks like we need to strip down and replace the front brakes, and then there’s the issue of brake fluid, we need to think about is the temperature to stop brake fade. In Tajikistan we’ll be traversing mountain passes up to 3500 meters high, and what goes up must come down. This will probably involve quite a bit of brake usage which can result in the brake fluid boiling and in essence loss of breaks.
We also had a bit of a debate on which engine to put in the Ambulance. Right now she’s got a two litre petrol engine but Stu is keen to replace it with a diesel lump, but that involves a fair but of work so we’re not all convinced.
There was quite a bit of tyre kicking throughout the day. One of the problems we need to solve is fuel and spares storage. The key thing here is to keep the centre of gravity low because of the terrain we’ll be driving over the last thing we need to do is make her more unstable! We’ve agreed to stash the heavy stuff (fuel, spare suspension leaf springs etc) underneath. Stu’s a bit of a master fabricator so he’s going to don his welding mask and put something together. We’ve got around 100kg of additional fuel to put underneath so whatever he makes is going to have to heavy duty.
We’re also plating over the fuel tank (and reserve tanks) to stop anything putting a hold in it. The last thing we need is to be stuck without fuel with 2.3 tonnes of ambulance up a mountain with altitude sickness!!
Before going home we managed to finish the stereo off, the amplifier is in with speakers for the front and rear. The fridge went in nicely as did 12 and 240 volt DC/AC supplies and various mobile holders.
To finish off we cleared up and then did some down hill stretcher racing – more on that next time!!
The web site is doing well, last month we have over 20,000 hits which is fantastic. Please do pass the address onto your friends.
Don’t forget we’re still taking donations online, just click donate on the left side of the screen. If you’ve not got a PayPal account then remember you can also donate a fiver by texting GOBI to 80210.
.
Wednesday, 2 April 2008
Launch of donate by text service!
Position: 51'19N 0'33W, (somewhere South of London)
Today we launched a new service where you can donate using your mobile telephone. It's quick, simple and easy.
Get your mobile phone, start a new text. Type in GOBI and send it to 82010.
Texts cost £5 with £3 going directly to the Gobi Ambulance project. The other £2 goes to the greedy mobile operators which we think is cheeky but what can you do?
Remember you can also donate using PayPal just click on the donate section to the left of the screen.
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Today we launched a new service where you can donate using your mobile telephone. It's quick, simple and easy.
Get your mobile phone, start a new text. Type in GOBI and send it to 82010.
Texts cost £5 with £3 going directly to the Gobi Ambulance project. The other £2 goes to the greedy mobile operators which we think is cheeky but what can you do?
Remember you can also donate using PayPal just click on the donate section to the left of the screen.
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Thursday, 20 March 2008
March - Update from the team.
51'19N 0'33W, (somewhere south of London) 20th March 2008
Blimey, we've had a rip-roaring month! It’s been very busy with work on the ambulance, the website, media relations and raising money all take up our time. This update might bit a bit disjointed, but now we've fixed up a fantastic way to blog we'll post news almost very regularly. The Gobi Ambulance is officially road worthy and legal to drive. Stu managed to get her though an MOT and after £100 on tax we can now start road trials with the old girl. We've got a few videos on our Facebook group of drive-bys with the blues and twos on (private road, honest guv'). We've stripped all the graphics off the side of the ambulance so with the help of a local sign writer we'll get her badged up and looking the part by mid-April.The website has now started to take shape. After the initial shell Mat's been very busy getting content online. Let us know if you spot a typo, we’ve tried to find them all.It started with an interactive map; we're going to update our position at least daily but sometimes more frequently.
We’ve got some fancy technology that will track us every mile of the journey using GPS (global positioning), GPRS (internet via mobile phone) and a bit of software on a mobile phone. The problem with it i the possible lack of mobile phone coverage, so whilst we might use it as much as we can; we might have to fall back to the original daily updates. We’ll test it before the rally but either way you’ll know where we are on a daily basis.
Next up we put a Flickr gallery in, it's a simple slideshow but you can stop it and scroll though thumbnails of the trip. Mat's toying with technologies that will "geo-tag" photos using GPS and upload them to the Internet via a mobile. There are some snags though, plus it costs a fortune so depending on support from sponsors we might take the technology on. Then the news items you're reading now. We have a problem in that good Internet access may be a little difficult once we're on the road. We needed a simple solution that could get around that lack of good connectivity. When Mat sailed across the Pacific he used Blogspot and it did the job, so the team chose to stick with it. We can send emails to a secret address and they appear on the website - cracking! You can also subscribe to an RSS news feed to your computer or even your mobile.The Goby Ambulance HQ has kept Royal Mail busy recently. We've started to receive all sorts of gear. Water/fuel carriers, camping gear, electrical gizmos and other important bits required for the trip.Russ brought the first bit of tacky rubbish in the form of a singing, dancing camel. It plays some really awful music, it seems to have set a president - we'll be collecting junk en route! Media coverage is starting to pickup. We've featured in a few papers, the East Anglia Daily Times, Wanstead and Woodford Gazette, Essex Life Magazine, the Essex Chronicle and Russ is lined up to do an interview with Dream FM in Chelmsford. Thank you to our good friends at St John Ambulance whom just donated over £120 of medical kit to the project. It's important we're well prepared and we're very grateful to SJA for helping us on this front. .
Monday, 10 March 2008
New Charity, The Lauren Page Trust
51'19N 0'33W, (somewhere south of London)
10th March 2008
Today we proudly announced our support for the Lauren Page Trust.
Lauren was one of literally thousands of extra special babies born prematurely in the UK every year. Thankfully, due to the dedication and expertise of the medical teams who look after these tiny babies, many of them, against all the odds, survive and grow into beautiful children.
Unfortunately some like Lauren, despite fighting in many cases for months, lose their battle for life. This charity has been formed in memory of Lauren and all the other brave babies in the hope that money raised can offer further support and hope to not only the babies but also their parents and the medical teams looking after them.
The Lauren Page Trust is a charity set up to raise money to further the work of Consultant Obstetric Physicians who deal with women who have serious health problems during pregnancy often resulting in premature births. Also, supporting the work of Special Care Baby Units within the Greater London area in the form of research, specialist staff and equipment.
Find our more about the good work the Lauren Page Trust does at http://www.laurenpage.org.uk/
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Monday, 25 February 2008
GOBI AMBULANCE ENTERS THE MONGOL RALLY 2008
51'19N 0'33W (somewhere south of London)
25th February 2008
In four months teams will depart Hyde Park to drive around 10,000 miles to Ulan Bator, Mongolia on the Mongol Rally. Leaving with them will be three friends in their entry - a 1978 former St John Ambulance dubbed the Gobi Ambulance all to raise money for charity.
Think of the rally as a cross between the Cannon Ball and Scrap Heap Challenge, perhaps it could be more comparable to Wacky Races. The idea is that teams use their wit, cunning, guile and tenacity to traverse Western and Eastern Europe, the steppes of central Asia, through countries most people have never heard of. Across seven mountain ranges before reaching Ulan Bator, capital of one of the most untouched and remote countries in the world; Mongolia.
The rules stipulate vehicles engine sizes must not exceed 1000cc. There is an exception though, and that is if a vehicle is deemed by the rally committee to have ...comedy value, this is where the Gobi Ambulance has been classified. Teams will not be allowed outside support either, once have departed London they will be on their own. This combined with traversing countries with very little in the way of road infrastructure and maps make this a truly epic journey.
Each vehicle must raise at least £1000 for the Mongol Rally charities, but the team have selected a number of other good causes and plan to smash the £1000 target.
The route is open to interpretation, London to Mongolia via anywhere! The team have chosen a tough route though much of central Asia. From Turkey the team heads south into Iran. Onto Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan before entering Borats home territory of Kazakhstan. Then into Russia before crossing into Mongolia via its Western borders around a month after leaving London.
Three friends have signed up for this mad cap adventure, Mathew Booth, Russell Nunn and Stuart Garnham. Together they have the necessary skills to see them make it all the way to Mongolia in their Ambulance!
All efforts are being made to raise the profile of the Gobi Ambulance team in an effort to maximise returns for our nominated charities.
25th February 2008
In four months teams will depart Hyde Park to drive around 10,000 miles to Ulan Bator, Mongolia on the Mongol Rally. Leaving with them will be three friends in their entry - a 1978 former St John Ambulance dubbed the Gobi Ambulance all to raise money for charity.
Think of the rally as a cross between the Cannon Ball and Scrap Heap Challenge, perhaps it could be more comparable to Wacky Races. The idea is that teams use their wit, cunning, guile and tenacity to traverse Western and Eastern Europe, the steppes of central Asia, through countries most people have never heard of. Across seven mountain ranges before reaching Ulan Bator, capital of one of the most untouched and remote countries in the world; Mongolia.
The rules stipulate vehicles engine sizes must not exceed 1000cc. There is an exception though, and that is if a vehicle is deemed by the rally committee to have ...comedy value, this is where the Gobi Ambulance has been classified. Teams will not be allowed outside support either, once have departed London they will be on their own. This combined with traversing countries with very little in the way of road infrastructure and maps make this a truly epic journey.
Each vehicle must raise at least £1000 for the Mongol Rally charities, but the team have selected a number of other good causes and plan to smash the £1000 target.
The route is open to interpretation, London to Mongolia via anywhere! The team have chosen a tough route though much of central Asia. From Turkey the team heads south into Iran. Onto Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan before entering Borats home territory of Kazakhstan. Then into Russia before crossing into Mongolia via its Western borders around a month after leaving London.
Three friends have signed up for this mad cap adventure, Mathew Booth, Russell Nunn and Stuart Garnham. Together they have the necessary skills to see them make it all the way to Mongolia in their Ambulance!
All efforts are being made to raise the profile of the Gobi Ambulance team in an effort to maximise returns for our nominated charities.
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