On the road

Quasi pronte alla partenza!!!!

Welcome to the blog. Have a look at what's going on in the world of The Nomadic 90s

On the border we don't rein!

We left Olgii and drove along the route that the Blue Wolf director had recommended to us. The best of both worlds, the central road to Ulaanbaatar is a good compromise between the two main roads running East-West along Mongolia, reportedly excluding the bad roads of the North route and the desolate boredom of the South. The road, as it turned out, was a dirt track all the way, sometimes crossing mountain ranges worthy of The Lost World, sometimes coursing down vast open valleys. It is difficult to do justice to the scenery in Mongolia, and we would advise anyone interested to look it up on Google images, as my vocabulary fails me in describing the scale and beauty of the country. Occasionally we would pass a lake; a mere speck on the map but huge by European standards.  read more »

We left Olgii and drove along the route that the Blue Wolf director had recommended to us. The best of both worlds, the central road to Ulaanbaatar is a good compromise between the two main roads running East-West along Mongolia, reportedly excluding the bad roads of the North route and the desolate boredom of the South. The road, as it turned out, was a dirt track all the way, sometimes crossing mountain ranges worthy of The Lost World, sometimes coursing down vast open valleys. It is difficult to do justice to the scenery in Mongolia, and we would advise anyone interested to look it up on Google images, as my vocabulary fails me in describing the scale and beauty of the country. Occasionally we would pass a lake; a mere speck on the map but huge by European standards.  read more »

Now we've found an internet cafe we can elaborate on the last post, and explain just how we managed to spend nearly 3 days crossing the Mongolian border...  read more »

Almaty, the former capital of Kazakhstan, is an interesting place. In the centre, it is easy to believe you are in Paris; lots of wealth, tree-lined avenues of luxury shops and trendy cafés. Further out towards the North of the city, the setting becomes more central asian, with large, bustling bazaars and vendors selling street food. Even the markets, however, have felt the western touch. Navigation is easy in the city; it is built on a slope, so when one is heading North, one is going downhill. When going uphill, mountains can be seen towering above the city, and it is a popular excursion to trek into the mountain range on foot. We had two days to enjoy Almaty, since we had to register our visas, having learnt our lesson after last time.  read more »

Over the past month, we've had ample opportunity to decide that diesel is the worst fuel used by mankind. not only does it smell awful - particularly if the dashboard of one's car is covered in it from an accident at a pump - it is also the least versatile fuel on the planet. The smell is made even worse by the substance added to it to make it work in low temperatures, the black fumes belch out of the average old Russian Kamaz and through one's open car window, and it is a particularly bad fuel to use in an improvised alcohol burning stove in the absence of any alcohol.  read more »