The Grey Marmote

The van was promised to take 48 hours and it ended up taking 80. It rarely went over 35km an hour, had flat tyre after flat tyre, massive mechanical problems, and ran out of oil twice and petrol three times. Squashed in were 19 people in a 11 passanger mini bus. Throw in a drunk, singing Mongolian half way through the trip and suddenly you have a really frustrating few days.

 However, we were in Mongolia and the spirits couldn;t stay low for too long. The trip took us through some beautiful landscapes and we were sharing the van with lots of students who were all going back to uni. We met a really kind young French couple who gave us food when we had no money, stayed the night in a gerr and had a races with the other van drivers.  read more »

Mongolia at last! The white warrior and the red dragon finally made it. Once the road from the border came a sudden end we were left to guess which tracks to take and judge where we were only by a compass and the map. Mongolia is incredibly beautiful. The newly patched up white warrior lead the way as we climbed a 3,000m mountain in the first few kms. The red dragon (slipped her off the auto and into 2nd gear) just took in in her stride. Literally the car can do anything. Pot holes, sand, 70 degree inclines, mounatins, deserts, probably even snow. She is better than any 4x4. The first part of Mongolia promised so much fun but unfortunately our luck was about to turn.

Barnaul, Russia. The white warrior needed some work done to her after the Kazakhstan roads so we checked into a hotel for the night. Showered and ate some food and relaxed before the push to Mongolia. Woken up in the morning by the mechanic charging into our room with a bottle of wine - the car was ready and there was a party forming outside the hotel with the mechanics and anyone else who wanted to join in and drink vodka and listen to pounding russian russian techno at 8 in the morning.  read more »

Have now been driving for 4 days in kazakhstan. Hoping to reach the russian border tomorrow night and then onto Mongolia for the next day, tuesday 19th. We're still travelling with the italian and bolivian team and the white warrior. Eating soup in service stations and sleeping by the nearest lakes to the road. The trip has taken on a more adventurous side, using the compass and the maps a lot more now that many of the roads have just been tracks in the sand. Hoping to change our border entry into Mongolia and stay with the white warrior and its passengers now that we have made a good team as mechanics and navigators. D of E has finally come in handy.. Not just a certificate. Also very confident on sand and want to end the trip properly. Ulanbaator by the 24th! Hope all is well. Having an awesome time. Sorry for lack of updates but we can only do it by text now. X

Have finally made it to Baku in Azerbaijan on the coast of the Caspian Sea. We're waiting for a ferry to take us to Kazakstan as visas and border crossings don't allow us to go by land. Apparently theres one going tomorrow but thats what they said yesterday so who knows. Baku is lovely; there is no problem with us waiting here. Checked into a hostel yesterday afternoon and soon afterwards headed towards the local traditional english pub. Met some interesting people and some no less than our new foes... the riggers.  read more »