The best posts of 2008

We just dined in an oil tanker repurposed as a cafe and are giving a lift to two locals to Aktobe. No, no one has died - for the next 270 kilometers there will be six people in our car!

Entered Kazakhstan! Number of checkpoints passed in Russia: 14 in one day. Stopped: 10 times. Asked to get out of car: 4 times. Total punishment threatened: 4000 dollar fine, 2 years in prison, 2 years of driving ban. We got away with giving them 4 packs of cigarettes.

Hey, after a mamouth 10 hour drive yesterday we are in Romania, and as Paul mentioned we had to give 20p as a 'souveneir' to the border guard, he asked for a pound coin but we couldn't find one. Team F7 F7 did give a pound though. If that is the kind of bribes we have to give then I'll be happy. Heard from one team who had to pay off the police for speeding in Bulgaria, 40 dollars or a 30 day ban.

Hungary was nice, there was a very errie town where just about all the locals were on the side of the road selling buckets of what looked like black currents or blueberries. Romania is a very industrial place, and the roads are getting worse. We are heading over the hills and down to Constanta today, should only be about 6 hours I hope.

The food has been alright, from motorway service station hot dog (better than it sounds) to a mixed grill last night, hardy getting our 5 a day though.

Bruce is doing alright. A bit of black smoke when struggleing up hill. Ok a lot of black smoke, we almost gas out the car behind. There is a few interresting knocking noises every now and then. He'll be fine. And he is doing about 25 mpg, which is better than I thought. No break downs, despite negative thoughts from certain people back in the uk!!! Have some faith.

I'll try and do this again, but internet is a bit random, and my phone is not getting through to the blog. Pauls is, but mine ain't. Trying to sort that too.  When I get a better connection, I'll upload some photos too, this one is very sllloooooooow.

Laters

Stephen

To my darlin sweet natalie, when i get home will you marry me, make me the happiest man in the world by becoming my wife and mother to our children? I love you

Been a while! Iran gasket blown, 260dol, lots of chai. Mashad tired, wailing muslims! ashgabat, big las vegas style pissed! Turkmen hottest ever 50 deg, damper smashed by pot hole, 70 dols. Stuck in sand, very long. Hit uzbek, aj blag at border. All good at mo. Over 5k miles smashed...

Kazakhs are friendly, though questionable architects/engineers - or so our creaky hotel attests. Everyone finds our communication by miming hilarious but happily joins in. Making good progress across flat flat country (but sadly not flat roads) - still have tarmac but not sure for how long!

The awards for the best police stops are in! Best saving: Chris for getting off of an $80 bribe from 5 policemen through sheer persistence and not under standing the word 'dollar'. Best speeding stop: Ian for getting stopped doing 78km in a 40km zone, on a road with no speed signs! Let off with a warning. Most stops in an hour: Nick for getting pulled over 3 times, twice in 2 mins, and not getting any fines. But then last night our west country charm and good looks finally failed us. Nick got pulled over and was 'fined' $30 for not stopping quickly enough! Our usual tactics failed, and he was put in the back of a police van and told he would face prison on fake marijuana charges! After much deliberating we decided it was probably best to bail him out, as it was his turn to drive next and we were tired! We left with lots of smiles and are now best friends with those policemen who told us we can now cross their check point as much as we like, bribe free. We felt honoured, such generosity! 1200km to go in Kazak, which is a really nice place.

We have just been followed by 4 people in a Lada for the past 30 miles. They then pulled along side at 60 mph and handed us a post it note. It said , we want to speak with you :-) we stopped in a populated area and so did the car. It contained 4 members of the russian army, they shook our hands and wished us luck. We now have a gift, compliments of the russian army :-)

Hello!

This morning, after recovering from a thoroughly memorable night out, we signed the van over to the CDPF. They showed us examples of all the good work they do, which made the trip feel thoroughly worth while. Prehaps more importantly they gave us cheeseburgers and beer.

When cleaned up, the van looked surprisingly good - with the only major damage (visible) being the dent where I hit a post in Birmingham. Sorry CDPF. Also, the friont bumper was hanging off, but that was fixed in a few minutes. The inside wasn't too bad either, especially considering it had powersteering fluid, brake fluid, diesel, petrol, water and engine oil all over the floor and 5000 smashed mosquitoes on the walls. The only major problem it'll have is the transmission and clutch. We drove half of Mongolia using only 2nd and 4th gears, which would have done some damage. The warning lights on the dashboard have been lit up like christmas lights over the last week.

Some kids tried to pickpocket tom this morning but, using all the streetfighting skills he's learnt from the mean streets of Bromsgrove, he managed to fight them off.

We're going to go and stuff our faces with fast food now, so from an extremely proud (and quite hungover) Team Ghenghis Can't - goodbye! Wait out for an after action report and news of our exploits in China!

 Hazell.

Ok, well moments after sending that senseis head gasket blew, big disaster. However, within minutes a friendly local pickup takes us to his garage to fi [part 2]

British police 25 russian police 0

Anyway,

we are in Ulaanbaatar!!

AmbulancetoMongolia has been a resounding success meeting all its aims and have successfully delivered a fully operation Ambulance to Mongolia. We will put some pictures up when we find a faster internet connection, it is painfully slow everywhere we have been.

So what has happened sine day 16?

I last posted in Aqtobe, Kazakstan several thousand miles away from my present location. Since Aqtobe we ventured East (obviously) and travelled to Kustanay in the North of the country. The roads were shocking, how anyone gets around is beyond us as the potholes could easily be filled by a Nissan Micra and the dust is incredible when combined with wind making navigating the sea of potholes somewhat challenging. Kazakhstan was slow. We were averaging little over 100 miles on 10 hours driving for a few days which was annoying to say the least. Then just outside Kustanay the engine shuddered to a halt. A problem we thought could be resolved by changing the fuel filter. This we duly did and the engine failed to fire. A tow was in order to the local garage. Some German guy in a camper van towed us to the garage some 50km away where we met magic mechanic, Slav. The engine roared back into life after 10 minutes and all was well. Naturally he invited us to his house for lunch where we met his wife, Nina and his two children. Nina cooked us up a fantastic meal comprising pasta and some sheep. Slav then cracked out the Vodka, something which happens scarily regularly on this trip. We tried to politely decline but he insisted and being ambassadors we had little choice but to accept. No more driving was to be done that day as the local community leaders started to arrive including the local priest (alcoholic) and shopkeeper along with several other people. Slav joked with us that he had a Russian Bath in his shed and was going to fire it up for us. We thought this bath was a myth and dismissed the idea until we saw his son making several trips to the woodpile. We had a swim in the lake that backed on to his house and evening rolled around. The bath was ready and in we piled. Nina’s older brother “Uncle Slav” was on hand wearing nothing but a tophat to douse water on the roasting Russian oven creating immense amounts of heat and steam. We could hardly breathe. Uncle Slav then whipped us with dried leaves. This happened four times, each time broken with a jump in the lake and a shot of vodka. While in the bath Nina had constructed a long table in the back garden for dinner and this Russian chap called Vadin turned up. Vadin claimed to be ex-Russian special forces and obviously wanted to prove this by attempting to empty as many bottles of vodka as possible. He was sensible about the drinking though giving us a little cucumber to eat after every vodka shot. Nina had rustled up another culinary delight comprising of pasta and Aubergine and some other unrecognisable ingredients. The evening went on and by about midnight Vadin had drunk too much and was telling us how he respected our adventure and that we were indeed men. He then pulled out a wolf skin from Slavs house and was telling us that Slav was also a man for shooting wolves. He was then removed from the party and no further words were spoken about him. We stayed in Slavs lounge that evening and after breakfast the next day we were on the road to Astana. The Kazakh people are always more than willing to offer a helping hand and Slav was a prime example of this. We were the first British people to visit his village and everyone went out of their way to be hospitable. He didn’t even charge us for the Ambulance repair. That night we reached Astana, the Kazakh capital. Astana was truly a strange place with poor people living in shacks on the outskirts of town and lavish new apartment blocks being built in the centre along with a Las Vegas style city centre with biright lights and massive fountains.  The Kazakh president decied to change to capital city to Astana in 1997 as it was closer to Russia that the old capital Almaty.  Since then 8% of the annual budget of the country is spent on making Astana look good.  The next day we hit the road again and we on the way to Pavlodar and the Russian border.  It took two days to get to Pavlodar and upon visiting a shop there the local television station turned up to film us and ask about the trip.  We are now firmly Kazakh celebrities.  The next day we luckily got to the Russian border early as we had no idea what was about to ensue.  Foolishly we did not read our migration cards, something you are given at every border.  It clearly says on the back of them in English that one should register their presence in Kazakhstan within five days of entering the country.  The passport control chaps keenly pointed this out and literally threw the rule book at us.  We had to pay a $100 fine.  This process took all day as we had to go to the bank to pay the fine, our first legitimate one.  The bank then had a power cut and we were there for hours.  A border guard came with us to the bank and was very friendly.  In fact they were all very friendly about the whole thing and jokingly threatened us with a 15 day jail sentence.  All very funny of course in broken English.  Once that was all sorted we were back in Russia and on the road through Siberia.  Did you know that 30% of all the trees in the world are kept in Siberia? It is also home to Lake Biakal, the worlds deepest lake and also one of the largest.  We ventured towards Irktusk taking about five days to reach there, meeting Nick from  the “Apprentice” en route.  He was a helpful chap giving us phone numbers of important Mongolians as we had heard there could be trouble entering Mongolia with a car.  We saw some fantastic Siberian scenery and drove along Lake Biakal for a couple of days.  Siberia was  really good but full of bugs, literally millions and millions of insects waiting to suck your blood.  We were bitten to pieces.  We headed towards our final destination, Mongolia.  As we got closer conversation turned to questions about what to do once we get there.  We have been driving constantly for over a month and what does one do once the driving stops? This is a question we still have to answer and so far all we have done is find the internet.  We crossed the Mongolian border with ease as Medical vehicles are exempt from lots of bureaucracy.  The border was fascinating, one of the most secure we have seen with a patrol road around the country being trod by big army 4×4’s.  At the border were loads of Mongol Rally cars that had not been allowed into the country, it was a strange experience seeing all these English cars sans drivers in limbo.  Most of them were battered from the brutal roads and most had lost windows.  The ambulance was a fine steed not experiencing any of these issues with careful driving.

Now we find ourselves in Mongolia sorting the ambulance out and finalising travel arrangements home.  The plan currently is to get the train to Moscow on the 2nd September and then fly home from Moscow on the 7th courtesy of British Airways.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the companies and individuals who made this project possible.  Without their support a fully equipped Ambulance would not be in Mongolia making a difference.  We have been here for a day and a half now and have seen first hand how dire medical provision is.  The streets are full of begging children and the hospitals are all falling to pieces.

We will update this again in a couple of days with more about Mongolia and hopefully some pictures depending on internet speeds.

Day 2 in Moscow and where to start? The guy in the traffic loading a gun? The crazy 5 series of ring roads round the centre? The metro stations with different names according to which line stops there? Lunch in the gardens next to the kremlin? A beer in a café on Red Square? No,the highlights of today have been the wonderful Russian people who have helped us in various ways. From the coffee shop girl, the lorry driver, to the guy in the traffic who offered help though we hadn't asked. But most of all to Ivan and Evgesha. Its 02.40 local time; we left Moscow at 20.00 and have been stuck in a traffic jam about 50k outside due to a broken bridge. Ivan and Evgesha have befriended us and made a long, tiring crawl fun. This blog is dedicated to them and the crazy walking through the traffic to reach us! Hoping to meet them at some point in Vladimir tomorrow, but first we have to get there.lou x

Great fun had by all last nite. We joined teams Grumpy old Men, Men in Sheds, Monkey Wrenchs and the organisers. The atmosphere was always going to be great and we had loads of fun swapping stories. The head guy from CDPF made a heartfelt speech, thanking us all. And then to our collective surprise we were presented with plaques signed by the president of Mongolia bestowing on us the title of 'Envoy of Honour'!..Oh and a bag of sheeps ankle bones to predict the future with.. Which was nice. Vodka war poured (ouch) and then we took part in a giant and impossibly difficult quiz set by an American woman. 4 questions in to the 3 hour quiz and we and lots of others decided to give up and continue with the merriment. Up this morning for the weirdest breakfast ever. But still enjoyable. Walking round the town now for the sightseeing bit now. An unsubtle blend of 3rd world ghetto chic and palatial government buildings. We'll be right back after these important messages! ;-)

6080 miles so far. From the river stop we drove through the desert, got stuck in sand and were pulled out by a lorry driver. Which we in turn reversed into the back of him. drank 20 litres of water that day. Dodgy night at the border with wild dogs, donkeys, cows and truckers! Very hot! Driving through Uzbek we stopped at buxoro and samarqand. Did some culture. Found a nice spot to camp far from the road only to be woken early morning by two men on horses circling our camp. Soon after a man on a donkey with a herd of cows walked by followed by more cows people, dogs, donkeys and horses, pretty much noahs fricking ark! Seemed we had set camp on a cattle highway. Managed to dodge 6 bribes today with some tetley tea, smiling and acting or being stupid. Next we took on the Kazak border. They tried to ask for a 20 dollar bribe. Chris decided enough was enough and so sat on the floor cross legged and called the mans mum a water buffalo. Job done we are now in Kazak!

aral city is epic in its tragedy, a fishing city no longer by the water due to sea level drop caused by man. Spent yesterday looking round wrecked ships now in the middle of the desert, as camels grazed nearby. Also got registered with the police, eventually! Ps international sim working again :)

Hi guys. By blind luck we found an open internet cafe on a sunday in Baku!

In the end we (team f7f7 and team wateraid) took a 200km detour to the northern Georgian/Azerbaijan border and were able to cross without issuse. We even got food accomodation and dating advice... lol.

But that was the good news. We are stuck in Baku. The ferry company will not issue us with a ticket unless we have a visa or letter of invitation. Our visa is in turkmenbashi and we dont have a letter of invtation. The azer border guards are quite willing to let us pass but the ferry company officer will not sell us a ticket, bribe or no bribe.

So we went to the turkmenistan embassy in Baku. Spoke with the friendly guy there on a saturday (its closed sat sun). He can offer us a letter of invitation which can take 10 days!!!!! Or we can contact Go Help (our charity). Go Help asks the London Turkmen embassy to ask Turkmen immigration service to tell the Turkmen embassy in Baku we are cleared and allowed a letter of invitation. When that happens it takes 1 hour for paperwork.

Beauricratic or what !!!! Basically if everything goes well we are stuck in the blistering heat of Baku until Wed/Thursday. We are considering ferry to Kazak but at the moment we are sticking it out.

As it stands We are in a totallly shit hotel room, but its a cheap 10 pounds a night. Gotta conserve money since we have a long way to go. Dangerous cooling fan, Bad air, lots of god damn misquito bites. Still what is an adventure without adversity.

Cheers from Baku,

Ben - Dyce - Michael

So we're finally nearing the end of our time in Russia - apologies for the lack of contact, we're still having phone issues.

 So what have we been up to the last few days.  In all honesty they've been pretty similar - camping in the wilds of Russia avoiding wild boar, deer and mosquitos the likes of which Jurassic Park would be proud.  There have camp fires and beers aplenty with some fairly decent cooking you'll be surprised to hear - but that's mostly from the nurses we've been travelling alongside.  We're up to 5 police stops now, and have got away time without a fine or bribe, although with varying degrees of disgruntlement and frustration on the part of the policeman involved.  In one case, we simply discussed the chances of Pavlyuchenko moving to Chelsea over the summer, and in another Toby and Alex had to sit in a policemans interrogation room, while he pointed at road signs with speed limits on and we pretended to still not know what the problem was....

We met a nice man (the only one we met) who helped us with fitting our spotlights, then insisted we clean the car (while he took toby out back for a "coffee").  We've moved on to slightly more dubious areas though, and after arriving at our hotel/brothel/building site last night some initially friendly locals got arsey when we refused their offer of a drink at 3am (we had to be up at 6), tried to break into the car, and slashed the tyres on the girls car.  So we stayed up till gone 4am keeping watch over the cars, and enjoyed the lovely 2 hours sleep we had before getting up today to replace the affected wheels and head into Mongolia.  In summary:

Women - gorgeous

Men - grumpy

Rocks - none

Trees - lots

Roads - kind of

Mullets - aplenty

Toilets - a big pile of poo in a shed

Language - silly

That's it for now, Mongolia beckons. 

UlaanBaatar, Mongolia. I made it!!!!!

I had heard that the last 450km's was proper road so I decided to do it all in one stint.
I Ieft my hotel room at 7am, loaded up the bike for the final time, jumped on raring to go and the bike wouldn't start! I knew straight away what the problem was, dry battery cells......again!  (to all bikers reading this and thinking of making any distance tours in hot conditions, get a sealed gel battery!) I unloaded the bike again to remove the seat and as it was too early for the shops to be open to find any distilled water it had to be Mongolia's finest mineral water! The bike started immediately and I was off on the final leg of Mongolia with the Honda. There was a bitter cold wind and the water by the side of the road was frozen and within minutes, so was I! As predicted it was constant tarmac all morning, eagles by the side of the road, scared by the noise of the bike soared into the air and I was soaring with them. All the months of planning, weeks of riding, the highs and lows had lead me towards this day and UlaanBaatar. I stopped more than usual, partly because I was frozen and partly because I was wanting to enjoy my last day of freedom with the Honda and meet more people. After a while I was getting bored with the road, it wasn't the reason I had ridden to Mongolia, then, exactly five minutes later and 125kms before UB the road just ended and it became track again!! I wished I hadn't thought the road was boring! I threw all caution to the wind and 'went for it!' I put my 'Dakar race face' on and was flying past land cruisers and the like with ease and I was defiantly making my motocross tyres work!  I had a few hair raising moments as I was motor crossing on a fully loaded sports bike but I was loving every minute of it, putting all of my off road experience with the Honda to good use. It turned out that I wasn't that much slower than if I had been on the road! Then, 30km's before UB the road began again, brand new snooker table smooth tarmac. My motor cross tyres were humming on the brand new road and I was singing in my helmet as UlaanBaatar came into view! At the sign to the city I pulled over to take a photo, I really wanted a photo on me stood on the Hansen Honda, I felt on top of the world,  but I couldn't find anyone who could take the photo, so I had to make do with a picture of the Honda near to the UlaanBaatar city sign. Once inside city it was quite a culture shock, Mongolia has a nomadic, rural culture but UlaanBaatar is modern vibrant city not unlike any other city in the west. I then had the task of finding the location of the CDPF (childrens development and protection fund) offices so that I could donate the Hansen Honda to them. This was not as simple as I had hoped as the directions that I had were vague at best and the two contact numbers that I had were not working! After an hour or so of driving around I gave up, totally frustrated I called my wife to check through the charity rally emails and try and make contact with someone to guide me to the CDPF offices. An hour later I was sat inside the CDPF office, because it was  late Saturday afternoon we couldn't complete the hand over process officially, so I handed over the keys and paperwork, left the Hansen Transmissions Honda with them and arranged to return on Monday to officially hand over the Hansen Honda. Accommodation was arranged at a guest house and so ended my long journey with the Team Hansen Transmissions Honda. She had been a loyal and trustworthy companion and I don't regret for one minute my choice of motorcycle to make this long and difficult journey. The only real problems that I had with her were of my own making and I am sad to see her go, but I hope that she will raise a handsome amount of money to go towards helping poor Mongolian children. And now begins the very last stage of my journey, to travel to Tianjin, China to hand over the Hansen Transmissions 'green cheque' at their new Chinese premises for 88 trees to be planted to offset my carbon emissions. On my journey I have tried to ride as economically as possible, I have used a fuel additive every time that I have filled my tank which has increased my range and reduced my emissions by ten percent. Now, with the help of my team sponsor, Hansen Transmissions, I can fully offset my carbon emissions with 88 trees which will be planted around their new premises at Tianjin, China.

We no longer own a Toyota :-(. We found the CDPF compound wher the really friendly volunteers there sat us down for a chat and burgers and beer were lavished on us. Very much appreciated as it was our first meal for over a day. We then emptied the vehicl while the good folks organised a good place to stay near the city centre. They even gave us a lift the short distance to the hotel. We caught a few glimpses of the city's sights. The main square looks really impressive. Although i may have to represent the prize for worlds maddest drivers.. The Moscow Madmen cant quite match the Bataar Batterers. Its as if its all so new to them and amidst leaning out of their windows to shake our hands they honk horns just because they have them and drive like they are all alone out on the steppe. We are just about to freshen up before walking into town to meet two teams and charity staff at the famous 'Dave's Bar' which we thought had closed down. Just noticed some fun notices in the hotel rooms like the one instructing you how to shower or the operating instructions for the waste bin or the fried backbone on the menu!..funny that, i was just thinking i could do with a new one those!;-)

More bad news. Typhoon kicking up on the other side of the caspian our boat is now anchored off coast of azer. Could be here a few days til the storm clears. The boat is so shabby and smells really bad. Not goin to be nice. Just want to get back on the road. No shower for 5 days whilst on car park and none on boat. Really not good we need one so bad especially in this heat!

It was a bright, clear day in October 2007 that I spotted her.  There she sat, black and low and menacing.  She wore black shades;  her expression purposeful.  In kinky boots she sat on her haunches, close to the ground with poise and grace; coming out of the low sun she was a panther waiting to pounce.  Her narrow waist flared to the curve of her hips.  She was beautiful ... she was flirty and nearly thirty; and she looked really dirty ... 

Me?  All I was doing was driving to work.  It just wasn't fair.  I mean, it really wasn't my fault.  She just kept on staring at me.  Every morning and every night there she was.  Her shades glowered at me, her presence bored into me   It really, really wasn't my fault.   I resisted, I held out, I did... honestly, I held out for a whole week!  I kept on driving by but it all got too much ... the lure grew and grew.  The force was strong with this one.  She was Darth Vader ...  I couldn't resist her seduction any longer.  I had to stop.  And that was all it took... 

Ford Capri Ghia.  The car you always promised yourself.  Indeed. 

'Carla' just after I first brought her home ...

 As a kid growing up in the seventies and eighties I wanted a Capri.   Everyone wanted a Capri back then.  It didn't matter much which one; if you could get a 3.0S great, better yet a 2.8i or a Brooklands but 1.6 or even 1.3 Laser would do.  Just as long as it was a Capri.  By the time I turned 17, they stopped making them.  Which meant used ones held their value.  They were in demand. At least for a while.  Too much for me when I first passed my test at any rate.  And now, the good ones are even more expensive.  The rest are rotten.  I could afford this one though - at least that's what I told myself.... I know the screen price reflected the work required ... this girl was looking good across the dance floor but up close she was always going to be high maintenance ... but I overlooked that .. in a masochistic act of willing suspension of disbelief I saw through the fading gloss, the care-worn, wrinkled and pock-marked skin ... all I could see was the pout and the taut sexy body... like I said, the force is strong with this one....  

Anyway, I went through the motions ...  a spot of unimpressive tyre kicking, grunting and chin rubbing followed while I pretended to know something about ... well, something about anything at all really.  I tried to appear not all that bothered.  I tried to play hard to get.  I failed completely of course (as I always do).  A cursory spin around the block like a teenager on a promise, followed by a frantic but ineffectual bout of haggling and desperate groping for the wallet that always precedes teenage kicks sealed the deal.  The Undertones got it wrong though.  Teenage Kicks don't last right through the night.   They last about 30 seconds.  Or, it did in this case...

So there you have it ...  I became the proud owner of a Ford Capri Ghia with a 2 litre OHC engine and auto transmission.  First registered in 1980 she had done (on the clock at least) 142,00 miles or so.  She had four months MOT but hadn't been taxed in 12 years!  She had spent the last 11 and half years living in a garage unused; and that was both a blessing and a curse!

First thing I did was to get her to a Capri specialist, and I had her given a once over for safety and reassurance.  Her exhaust had fallen off on the test drive... I ignored that fact at the time; it didn't seem important really ... so I had a big bore exhaust fitted (£200 or so); her brakes were sticky - well, stuck actually, (common in any old car that sits for a while ... to be expected really ...) so I had them overhauled (new discs and pads at the front, the rears adjusted, £100 or so).  I thought I had better protect my girl so I had remote central locking and an alarm fitted ... (another £200 or so); a couple of miscellaneous items plus labour ... all in all, in a morning I doubled my purchase price and then some.   But it's all good.  I mean, I bought her at a price reflecting work to be done right ...? Very fair.

And then I parked her up for the winter, awaiting the summer fun that would be mine .. ours ... the Capri and I ... Together in Electric Dreams ....

During the long winter months I day-dreamed and idly wondered about what adventures I could have with the Capri ... or more truthfully, urgently considered what was I going to do with her.  She had to have a raison d'etre; she simply had to earn her keep ... I needed something useful for her to do... and quickly.   This  pragmatism was enforced by my beloved wife who had steadfastly refused to be seduced by the car or my pleas of innocence and rapturous praise of the car's undoubted virtues ... the wife was not impressed.   She was not impressed I had bought her.  She was distinctly unimpressed when I said she couldn't drive her.  When I told her she was too difficult to drive, my ever sensible wife translated that as too crap ( I merely meant too wayward, too tail happy, too powerful in all the wrong places, too rear wheel drive, too old, too rubbish at stopping, too rubbish at not hitting things, too bad at everything for my beloved and precious wife but not crap .. she is a good car .. really ...  she just needs me to drive her .. only I can reign in her wild horses and keep her out of a ditch or wall or oncoming buses .... no no no.. Carla was MINE ... ALL MINE!!!).  All in all I needed a reason to keep my Capri and fast ...

Ploughing through Classic Ford I read about a MK 1 Capri taking part in rallies in the States.   We could do that ... well, maybe not ..... too expensive and I am too rubbish ... I can't drive that fast ... nor can Carla (I am not really this sad by the way, I didn't name her ... Ford did ... when the Mk 3 was being readied for the market to replace the Mk2, it was known as 'Project Carla' but it is a good name .. I like it...) ... What about overland to the Sahara ... niiice ... lots of flying sand as the rear wheels spin wildly ... Paris - Dakar .... coool.... but on balance a 4wd Bowler Wildcat probably better ...     And then I found Charity Rallies ....

So that's how all this madness started ... a Capri I couldn't resist ... and a desperate search for justification for buying her... is this a mid life crisis?  It turns out that it is the 40th Anniversary of the Capri next year ... 1969 the first Capri's went on sale ... it was a good year, 1969 ... Neil Armstrong walked on the moon ...   and I was born too.

So Carla and me ...well, we are going to have one almighty 40th birthday party ... in Sukhbaatar Square, Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia on the 26th July 2009!  If you want to come, it's easy - get yourself a vehicle and drive 10,000 miles across Europe and Central Asia.  Cross mountains and steppes and deserts and untold borders with bandits at every turn ... well, crooked police and border guards actually ... very low risk of meeting any actual, bona fide, bandits ...   but do yourself a favour (and the Mongolians too) be sensible, take a 10 year old 4wd - you can pick up a halfway decent Land Rover Discovery for not a lot of money or better yet, for the Mongolians anyway, get yourself a Japanese 4wd - an Izuzu Trooper or Nissan patrol are probably as good as a Toyota Land Cruiser for the job in hand but half the cost).  Trust me, it will work out a lot less money in the long run.   Making a knackered or unsuitable car rally proof is more expensive than buying the right vehicle in the first place! 

Doh! - but don't tell my wife that! ;-)

Ullangom. Reached the hot springs late this evening after an eventful journey. Took track from ullangom, crossing numerous dry river beds and crossing one river. Severe thunderstorms were over the mountains nearby; crossed another dry river bed, 2 seconds after which a 7 foot high flash flood (which the boys immediately ahead had seen but carole and I hadn't) surged through the river bed we'd barely cleared. Looking back at the suddenness and ferocity of the surge it was shocking to comprehend how close we'd come to being swept away. As a result of the flooded tracks we were very late reaching todays destination and had to decline an offer from a monholian family to camp by their Ger and share a drink. Us pinkies are all gutted. But still, relieved to be in one piece and not separated from the boys. lou, carole and jen. XX

Still fighting hard to get back on schedule. Pushed to a whopping 653 miles today! The Toyota performed amazingly! Saw some spectacular scenery. Rising up and down again through evergreen covered mountains, valleys the size of countries and surrounded by hundreds of lakes. Russia is tough going but she rewards. Camping near a large lake with a view to the Kazakhstan border opposite. Heard they gave a couple of teams a real tough time so we gave the guards at the gate the Agincourt salute!