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!
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