Mongol Rally: Stage One

Route
They left Aberfeldy soon after 8am on Friday 20 July the vehicle well laden complete with 5 spare wheels, army rations, water and fuel carriers and a shovel etc - pictured above by Polly Pullar.
Through hell and high water their trusty, modified Fiesta made it to Hyde Park on a day when England was deluged. Hold ups were caused along the way due to horrendous floods which happily somehow bypassed their chosen route but made them late for the party at Hyde Park.
The following day really they were through the Channel Tunnel and into France having never tackled driving “on the other side” - but they made it to the next party at Prague on Sunday 22 July. That was four countries in one day!

Progress
Email contact with the team on its progress has been sparse, but phones and texts tracked them to Istanbul by the following Sunday in roasting top 90’s temperatures. The lads went Dracula tracking in Transylvania on the way and ‘found Romania and the Carpathian Mountains truly stunning and the people very friendly, with horses and carts everywhere and the roads and villages lined with colourful characters - most with only a few teeth’.
They convoyed for a while with another team and had good banter and camping, plus a great time swimming in Black Sea. Heading for Ordu they had to run the gauntlet of some border guards and travelled through the night to avoid the sweltering temperatures.....

Journey Blog

03 August: We are now in Baku, after a monster drive from mid Georgia last night. was on the road for about 25 hours, completely knackered and very sweaty! The Azerbaijan border was a nightmare, but very funny. Handed over a lot of dollars, cigarettes and whisky minis. However, eventually we bribed our way through and found our way across country via a game of backgammon with the locals in a filling stationon the road to Baku. The roads are deteriorating but we can still make good time.

The car has taken a few big knocks but the sump guard seems to be standing up to the test. Hopefully going to get the ferry over to turkmen soon, apparently very dodgy timings though!

Baku seems very hot and sweaty. Will have a good look around later. Most of the people in the cities we’ve been in have been really friendly and we’ve had a good time everywhere so far. We are now convoying with Englishmen, Irishmen and Scotsmen. Now 5 hours ahead of UK, and the weather is HOT!

6 August: We are still in Baku, waiting another day for more ralliers to arrive in the hope that the ferry prices will come down. Apparently the ferry staff have realised they can make a lot of money off us by charging other ralliers ridiculous money, so looks like the ferry will be expensive! However, we are hoping there will be safety in numbers!

Baku is an interesting place - if you want fake sunglasses, cheap DVD’s and zippo lighters then this is your place but if you want anything else then think again! Hopefully we'll get the ferry tomorrow, then on to Turkmen

10 August: We are now in Bukhara in Uzbekhistan. The border was OK and we managed to get out of Turkmenistan on time. The events getting in were pretty funny. I had met a friendly local on the boat and had sepnt a bit of time chatting to him about Turkmenistan and he said that he would help us cross the border which would probably be a problem for us because we spoke no local dialect. When the ferrry finally arrived in Turkmenbashi we had to wait for ages on board.

Eventually the doctor came on and we spent a while having boxes ticked which was apparently our medical. It was incredibly hot and we were pretty tired after sitting on deck all day getting burnt. we were finally allowed off the ferry and as we were walking to the cars the friendly local told us that the border would cost us 40 dollars per car and if we gave him the money he'd deal with it all for us. We were quite happy with this, after all it was a border - where could he go without going through passport control first? We handed over the money and headed into the building. Immediately the bloke disappeared through customs at a rate even James Bond would be happy with. We were left, jaws on the floor in a state of shock.

An onlooking guard came over and it turned out his English was excellent and he told us we'd been robbed and he would do what he could. We spent about 3 hours getting the car and ourselves through and, as we were nearly finished, still despondent about the money, the guard reappered. He told us the police had arrested the man's father and it looked like they would have the son soon. A BMW pulled up and the man jumped out looking scared and handed over the money! Unreal. I had to write a statement and then we could go. Amazing.

The rest of the trip was pretty good. The hottest yet, with 44 degrees (118 faranheit) in Ashgabat yesterday! Earlier in the day went to an underground cave with a hot spring at the bottom. It was 65m underground, and then there was this large pool, smelling of eggy sulphur and a deep blue. it was really amazing.

Staying another night here because it is cheap and nice, we had a 3 course meal last night, with drinks for less than £5 a person! Good food as well. The digestion is in turmoil. the pills are working though!

20 August: Uzbekistan was beautiful, we came through the very fertile Ferghana valley of the Amu darya and started to make dinner on the edge of a quiet road next to a stubble field where we planned to camp. Soon enough a local passed by. He spoke little English but we established it was his field we got out some whisky and he agreed jovially to let us stay. The sun was going down and local herdsmen were taking their animals back home. The sun was backlighting the events and it was an amazing scene. Soon enough a car pulled up and two men and a young boy jumped out. They were very friendly and as soon as we said we were from the UK the older brother, who spoke no English, started telling us about Baker street and Sherlock Holmes, and about James Bond and Miss Moneypenny. Very funny!

We shared our dinner with them. As we were eating this by torchlight the younger brother drove off and soon returned with their national food - Osh, a fantastic rice dish with lamb, kind of like rissotto, really delicious.

All the time more people were appearing out of the darkness and joining in with conversation. No one spoke any English but the never-ending game of charades that the trip has been was in full swing! Eventually we finished our dinner and most of the people left. The kind brothers would have none of us sleeping in the field and we drove to the restaurant they owned. A massive watermelon (another major feature in our travels) was produced, plenty of tea was made and a bottle of vodka appeared. It was a great evening. Some police also arrived and joined in the fun, particularly enjoying the local brewed vodka. We went to bed after watching shooting stars on the veranda, feeling well looked after.

The next day we headed off to meet up with another team who’d gone to Tashkent. Unfortunately they were held up and we agreed to meet over the border in Kyrgyzstan. We arrived in Andijan near the Kyrgyz border quite late and started to look for somewhere to camp. We drove down a side road looking for a vacant field but ended up in a small village. We stopped to ask if there was anywhere we could camp. They quickly said no and, as we turned to leave, a family invited us to stay in their house. The hospitality was amazing and we were fussed over by the masses of children. The family was made up of 5 brothers, their families, all with about 5 children and a very wise old mother. The place was amazingly beautiful. A large grape vine covered the veranda and a vegetable garden stretched out in front. We were well fed and chatted for a long time in broken English. The children were learning English and seemed to enjoy practising it on us. At 10 o’clock we went to bed, again full of watermelon, tea, and delicious soup.

We were enjoying a very good sleep on the comfortable mattresses that had been laid out when I was woken up with a shock. Seven policemen were standing around the veranda, one with a video camera and the others all looking aggressive and annoyed. They rudely woke us all up and then interrogated us like we had stolen national treasures! We handed over our passports and they took down our details. After 30 minutes of aggression they decided we would be escorted to the border the following day by one of the policemen. We were very confused, definitely just off the correct road and annoyed at being interrogated at 12 o’clock! We think there was another brother in the family and after coming home had found us sleeping in his house. He’d made a few calls and soon enough brought his friends in. He was a real idiot and in the morning none of his brothers would speak to him. It was like he’d been disowned. They were all very embarrassed. We left early the next day, gratefully thanked our hosts and apologised for the disturbances of the night.

We eventually came to Kyrgyz border under the supervision of the policeman who was squeezed in with Andy and Grant from Rogue Telepath team. We stopped short and as a parting shot he tried to charge us 500 dollars. He was standing outside the car and we knew it was unofficial, we shut the door and zoomed off, leaving him in a cloud of dust. It was a shame because the people had been so kind, however this one man left us annoyed and definitely ready for Kyrgyzstan.

The border crossing could not have been better and we entered Kyrgyz with no problems. The other team were a little way behind and we agreed to find somewhere to camp and then they would catch up in the evening. The drive through Kyrgyz was amazing, massive mountains approaching and a challenging drive ahead. We had little money after having seen no cash machines for nearly 2000 miles, luckily the cheap fuel of Turkmen didnt break the bank, with 1 dollar buying nearly 50 litres of fuel! We found an amazing place to camp in the bottom of a deep gorge with a beautiful river running through it. A lot of locals were swimming but by nightfall they had all left. The river was cold but the evening sun was still warm. We had a delicious pasta feast and then tried to speak to the team coming up behind. It was quite late and they had decided to camp and come on early the next day. We watched the stars for ages and yet again more shooting stars. They seem to be amazing at the moment, we have seen so many.

The trio 'on top of the world' on the road to Kazarman

In the morning we swam again, and then caught up on a bit of diary writing waiting for Andy and Grant. Eventually they appeared and we set off on the worst roads yet. The scenery was unbelievable and the road lead us over a military road made in 1903, I think that was the last time it was maintained, much over 30mph would have been suicidal and the going was slow. The road climbed almost vertically and some of the hairpins make parts of the Tour de France look as easy as a walk in the park. The Lonely Planet guide recommended the road for only 4x4s with plenty of equipment. However 5 hours and 30km after we set off, 2 Nissan Micras and a Ford Fiesta appeared over the summit pass at an altitude of 3062 metres. It felt like a really serious achievement. We descended the other side as slowly as we’d come up, but by 8 o clock we reached a village.
We were aiming for the town of Kazarman where we hoped to get some food and then find somewhere to camp. The road was improving but still full of potholes and loose gravel. We came to a river crossing a few km’s outside the town. The new bridge had been built for some time, however there were no ‘on’ ramps yet so it was unusable. The old bridge was less than safe, maybe less than unsafe. There were large holes in the road and the river could be seen 15m below in the gorge. It was a proper Heath Robinson affair. We all managed to get over it, however, as Andy and Grant’s Micra left the other side they scraped their exhaust on the rocks and the rusty old Micra took a big knock. Immediately the exhaust had been punctured and sounded like a dragster. We agreed to go ahead and leave them to follow on slowly behind. The two good cars then headed into town to find a garage and somewhere to stay. We quickly met a friendly local who showed us a mechanic. We looked at a few restaurants, however they were all shut. He offered to have us to stay and we agreed, grateful for not having to search more fields in the dark.
I stayed on the road into town waiting for Andy and Grant but they never turned up. I drove back to the bridge and they weren’t on the road. We were all very tired and agreed to get up early and spend some time looking. The family were very kind and, after a good night’s sleep and handfuls of home grown kyrgyz apples, we set off in search of Andy and Grant. They were nowhere to be found. They had little or no fuel and no jack after it had been stolen. We were all worried but there was little we could do and we could only assume they were ahead of us somehow. The road out of town was ridiculously dusty and as a truck passed it was a total white out. We went through a deep pothole and got a puncture immediately. We fixed it quickly and moved on. Eventually we met up with Rogue Telepath Andy and Grant again and heard they had had quite a saga to deal with.....

22 August: At the Russian border and hoping to get through quickly and head for Lake Baikal There seem to be millions of Russian roubles to the dollar and we will need a hand cart to carry the money! The car is a bit dodgey as it took some major knocks in Kazakhastan but we are aiming to be in UB in a week from now.

29 August: Theft of one of the trio's mobile phone has led to communication being sparse.... however, they have made it to Lake Baikal andenjoyed some wonderful camping there, passed fields and fields of wacky-baccy on the way through Russia and are finding roads better but now the car is playing up.

31 August: MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! They arrived in Ulaanbaatar - totally and utterly exhausted by a really hard final leg of the trip and now chilling out in a good base for the weekend. They have now handed over their trusty wheels to the locals - the Fiesta having suffered no breakdowns only punctures - amazing.

The wearied trio hope to get into the country to try out Mongolian Horse. Due to leave on Tuesday on the Trans Siberian Express to Moscow - arriving Sunday 9 September - another long hike!
Lake Baikal was 'unbelievably stunning' - they went on the Lake with some very drunk fisherman in their boat - hilarious and awesome sunset over the water.

“Thanks so much to all who have so generously donated to the cause."

See also: Youth Trio Takes On 10,000 Mile 2007 Mongol Rally