http://www.flickr.com/photos/29239314@N07/

Here is a selected few of my rally photos if anybody is interested.

Bright eyes

I can't believe what's happening at the northern border (Sukhbaatar). Why are rally cars not being allowed to enter. It must be absolute nightmare for teams at the moment after everything they have been through. Any news on if Lance has made it in his micra to mongolia (Team Gibbo).

Hello all im back home safe and well just need to rest and repair before work on monday. I will back track and tell you how i got on in the last few days of the rally. I can't remember exact dates but i made really good progress and i travelled from Novosibirsk to Krasnoyarsk 500 miles in a day pretty good roads. Then from Krasnoyarsk heading for Irkutsk another 500 miles on shocking roads really bad but i couldn't make it to Irkutsk so slept in the car. Got up early and drove through Irkutsk and then i visited lake baikal then 280 miles to Ulan Ude really nice place and i had dinner in the irish bar there.

I pushed on a bit late in the morning to the Mongolian border which took a bit longer than usual and my check point for the night was a city called Darkhan 220 miles away but i made it in good time so i went for Ulaan Baatar and reached the finish 8.30pm local time. My aim was to go to Dave's place and find a place to stay only one other team there it was nice to see another team after more than two weeks by myself. I stayed in a cheap hotel for the night but regretted it not a good bed. The next morning took pictures of the main square and booked my flight home, handed the car over to CDPF and i treated myself because of what i had achieved to a five star hotel for my last night. I met some british tourists and we had a great dinner in the irish bar over there before a early morning flight home on the Thursday 31st of july.

My flight home was a bit of a ordeal to say the least i managed to shop around and get a good deal basically Ulaan Baatar to Berlin via Moscow quick transit and then another good deal from Berlin to London stanstead. The problem was i didn't feel that well on the planes due to the fact of jet lag etc. When i got to london i had to figure out a way back home to Manchester with very little money. So i made the desperate decision to hitch hike after three rides i arrived home in the early hours Friday totally knackered but i had my bed. I completed the rally a couple of days a head of schedule which means more time to recover. I still can't believe i did it and the not a single problem with the car a bit emotional leaving the mighty micra behind they really are king of the jungle. Good luck to every one else.

Regards

Matt

Hi All really been struggling the last few days as i have picked up some kind of stomach bug from some food i ate along the way. It has been difficult as i have to keep going but with many toilet stops required. I am emailing you from a Internet cafe in Almaty Kazakhstan my second entry into this country. This trip has definitely been challenging to say the least both mentally and physically. The Kyrgyzstan mountains were worth the detour instead of going through Kazakhstan. I experienced all weather conditions along the way cold, rain and then hot temperatures. No sign of any other teams average time at borders 2 hours i am aiming to get to semey ain the few days. The mighty micra still going strong no problems to report making good time.
 
Regards
Bright eyes

I have decided to raise funds for three charities one mongolian and two local charities because i feel very passionate about them. The first that i have chosen is Cambridge Mongolian Diasater Appeal which help with things like injections for livestock and build or repair wells for clean drinking water. The second is Five Stars Scanner Appeal raisng funds for a new MRI scanner for Manchester Children's Hospital and finally Lifeboats because the government don't fund them and one day you might need there help. The target amount was £1500 and i have successfully managed to reach that total which i am very happy about.