The morning after our night in Khovd was relaxed. We gave our Irish pals a lift to their mechanic, where their car was still undergoing repairs. While this was happening we decided to go and get Tina checked out. We were going to try and fix the shudder and stop the gearbox from getting smashed up by the sump guard. The mechanic was a friendly Mongolian who drove us to his brothers back yard, where…
The excitement was tantamount as we approached the border. This would be our first step into the country plastered across the side of the car. A place where we could say we completed our mission. We could return proud. But first, of course, there was customs. When we reached the Russian side, our Scottish friends who helped fix Tina in Turkey were there, in the queue with all the other cars for the border. This…
After a pleasant nights sleep in a small hotel in Kulunde, Russia, we set off nice and early in an attempt to reach the Mongolian border that day. It was about 1100km, so we were ready to do some night driving towards the end. The Russian roads were a dream after Kazakhstan and we passed the half way point of Barnaul at about 4pm. This was good and we were making excellent progress for the…
Astana After a splash of beer, a dash of shisha, and a sprinkle of russian karaoke we enjoyed a lovely sleep in our presidential suite. Here we are looking content: The next morning we woke up fairly early and set off for the Mongolian embassy in Astana. It was far easy to get actual taxis everywhere than drive Tina about in the centre of the city. Uber works here, and every trip came to about…
Unfortunately has been a disappointing lack of internet since Astana. I am completely unable to upload any pictures, and what is a post without pictures? As soon as I can I will post, rest assured we are alive though!
What a week. It finally feels like the term rally is appropriate. Day 1 On the first day we covered an easy 600km over perfect roads, breezing past our target for the day. It was an odd feeling when we started to come across camels, and we realised again the length of this journey and the environments it covers. Road-sense remains to be discovered by four legged mammals in these countries. We set up camp…
Ferries. I’ve been accustomed to the seemingly slick Dover crossings. I can tell you now this is a luxury I had no idea we were enjoying. The Caspian Shipping Company would give anyone competing for ‘The All Round Worst Organised System Award‘ a good run for their money. We arrived at the port on Friday, having discovered that the Port Of Baku is actually 70km away from Baku, in a tiny town called Alat. Useful.…
Tbilisi to Lagodekhi We woke up late, again. It’s the running theme of this trip. We decided to explore some of the old town in Tbilisi before heading off to the border town of Lagodekhi. After quite some walking, we were famished and headed into the next cafe we saw. The staff, who were all gathered around a table on their phones, immediately got up and began doing their duties. One of which involved playing…
Batumi to Kudaisi We left Batumi after sponging some McDonald’s wifi to download today’s maps. We were doing an easy 150km to a small town called Kutaisi, in central Georgia. The roads are better than expected here, but the heat is crazy. Our method of opening the windows for the breeze almost doesn’t work anymore, because the air is just so warm and dry. The one thing that does keep us on our toes though,…
Pictures are not uploading anymore, posting seems to be having issues over the WiFi here. Working on it. We woke up at 10 today after a sleeping like kings. We then realised we might miss our included breakfast and rushed downstairs to find the buffet still laid out (winning). Not long after, we set off for the Georgian border. As we passed more and more lorries, we realised we were approaching. One thing we have…