Day Thirty-Eight: The Mongolian Border

The flat, straight monotonous tracks of Kazakhstan have been replaced by the steep winding roads of Russia, and in place of the sun, cornfields and tumble weed we now have mountains, wind and forests. We also have the cold. The driving also seems a lot quieter and less banterous without the occasional crackle of the radios and a quick quip from Dave or Jp. We all miss you guys!

So the night before last we made as much headway towards the border as possible then pulled off the road to camp near the river. It had been raining and the road was pretty boggy but the cars were not to be defeated and we slipped and skidded our way down to the river bed.

We set up camp and had a very civilized group dinner of burgers and sausages,no pasta in sight!

We wanted to get up early yesterday and bomb it straight to the border as it said in our handbooks that the border shut at 3pm on Sundays, however we managed to oversleep. We got up at nine but despite our best efforts on the windy roads there was no way we were going to cover the 500 odd km before it shut. Having resigned to this fact we stopped again by the river for a spot of lunch and the boys went for a dip in the freezing river. And when I say freezing I mean freezing, as in you half expected a lump of ice to float by at any second.

Eventually we trundled off to the border expecting to camp the night then cross early the next morning. When we got there there were several other teams already there! They had been there all day as it turned out the border was closed all day anyway. They had already started a fire which drew in the crowds as it soon started getting chilly. Throughout the evening several other ralliers pulled up and I believe there are now about 2 Ambulances and 8 cars queuing at the border.

We put up our tents which seemed to attract a lot of interest from the local children who hijacked ours and began running in and out of it shrieking. They were either very sweet,or very well trained as when it came time for us to out our bed in they started sweeping out all the dirt they had kicked in! They did then ask for money which I believe was the only English word they knew. We gave them a chocolate croissant each which seemed to satisfy them enough then they ran off.

This morning we got up and it is still freezing cold. I have even spotted a teeny tiny sprinkle of snowflakes falling and actually just as I started typing that it has begun to snow/hail a bit harder.

We were told the border opened at nine and that we had to go and get our passports stamped which we have done. It is now 11:30 and no further movements have been made.

I'm hoping the border will open at some point today but who knows. 

A game of football has been started now which everyone has joined, even the Mongolian guy who is parked infront of us. 

Will try to update when we get through. 

Hopefully we can find somewhere with wifi in a Mongolian town and preferably a shower!

Day Thirty-Six: A Birthday, a Bribe and a Terrible loss

After deciding that there was no way we were going to drive back to Aktobe to avoid a fine that we may potentially be able to get out of, we continued on our way. Basically the logic was that it would cost us more in time and petrol to go back and register with the police and we wouldn't even be able to get back there before the end of the day so we thought there was little point.

The further we headed into Kazakhstan the worse the weather seemed to get. Corn fields stretched endlessly either side of us and the flat land made finding a concealed camping spot increasingly difficult. We drove until dusk when the rain began. Justin located a track from the main road that curved round a lightly less flat bit of land and offered a marginal amount of coverage so we set up camp. One of the brilliant things about traveling in a large convoy is that between you, you have everything you need. Within moments of parking in the torrential downpour we had JP and Dave's tarp being stretched out and propped up by James and Sams bamboo pole, a windbreak was hammered in to stop rain from coming in at the sides, lanterns were put up in the middle and the sides of the tarp were ropes down. Within about 20 minutes we were all huddled under our makeshift gazebo cooking dinner, which for everyone was pasta yet again.

We woke the next morning to find that the wind had cruelly torn the tarp in half. But things could be worse, it had stopped raining and the corn fields made for some beautiful photos (which I will try to add when we get some wifi). We drove on in the direction of Astana hoping that if the roads were good we might be able to make it there by nightfall. We should know by now that the roads are never good. We made a pit stop in a little town for James a Sam to try again to get their tyre mended. Unfortunately it was not possible but they did have a spare tyre which the garage was able to put on the wheel giving them one spare wheel with a fresh tyre.

We continued on but realising we wouldn't make it to Astana decided to try and camp near and enormous lake shown on our map. Whilst searching for the lake we got pulled over by the police again. He didn't speak a word of English and didn't seem that interested in our documents so we assumed we was interested in where we were headed and made several guestures at the lake on the map.  He appeared to understand and headed back to his car motioning us to follow. We were either all arrested or he was going to show us the way. Thankfully it was the latter and a few minutes later he waved us off in the right direction. Unfortunately when we arrived not only was the lake incredibly depleted and unimpressive, for some reason we weren't actually allowed down to it so we drove a little way back to some sandy hills and camped there overlooking what was left of the water. This particular spot was also inhabited by an enormous fleet of mosquitoes causing the group to cover every bit of visible flesh (apart from the eyelids) with fabric.

The evenings now getting decidedly colder after being fed and watered we retired to the warmth of our sleeping bags.

Wednesday was of course my Birthday! For the first time I decided not to be the alarm clock for the group, it being far too cold to get out of my cocoon, and allowed myself a lie in. A few minutes later I was asked if I was awake, which I was, and was treated to a chorus of Happy Birthday from all the boys. JP cooked me a full vegetarian English breakfast (in the form of a boil in the bag army ration pack), James had carved Happy Birthday into the side of a sand dune and Alex.L and Sammy had sneakily stuck an eagle hood ornament onto the bonnet of the Nissan. (Thanks everyone!)

Morning festivities over we were all set to head off to Astana, except that it had rained in the night turning the dirt tracks we had driven up the previous day into tyre hungry mud slides. The two Nissans, clearly the most superior, made it through unscathed but when the other two cars didn't follow we walked back to investigate finding the Matiz thoroughly stuck, grounded and Sammy behind the wheel. It was obvious we weren't going to be able to tow it out without risking the other vehicles so we would need to recruit some outside help. Our Main man for the job, now referred to as JP-International Relations, Public Relations and Official Relations, was on the case, sweet talking a Kazak family in a Lada 4x4 scouted out by Dave. They seemed to find this a bit suspect at first but eventually agreed to follow JP down the track to lend a hand. Seconds later they were out (we felt a little silly for mocking Ladas so much) a bottle of Vodka exchanged hands and we were on the road again.

We were making good time and merrily whiling away the hours by spewing nonsensical songs, jokes and dialogues over the walkie talkies when we were stopped at a police checkpoint. They were becoming fairly routine now so we gathered all our documents and handed them over. We didn't appear to have done anything wrong so we just waited whilst they had a customary poke about. They found the animal skull that the Alexs had roped to the front of their bonnet quite amusing and made some comment about the plastic petrol cans James and Sam had strapped to the top of the Matiz but other than that they didn't really seem to be doing anything. We made motions to leave when James came over and dropped a bombshell. "We've got to be out of Kazakhstan by tomorrow".

Thankfully this didn't apply to all of us but I could see trouble for the convoy ahead. Until the police checked their visas as that particular moment, Sammy and James had failed to realise that they expired on Thursday the 25th of August. Unsure of what the best way to proceed would be we continued on to Astana a little confused.

By the time we reached Astana it was dark and by the time we found somewhere to stay it was late. Large groups do tend to make things take longer than usual but eventually we ended up in an appartment dubiously rented out by a man waiting outside a full hotel. It probably wasn't very legit on the whole but it worked out well for us in the end. The apartment was large with a TV, showing the best Russian Music videos, 3 bedrooms 2 bathrooms and a kitchen. A couple of the boys went out for pizza whilst I was hoping to have a good shower, but instead found that there was no hot water and that touching various essential parts of the shower resulted in a mild electric shock. Things didn't get much better after that and to cut out the nasty bits I went to bed rather unwell which I am blaming on our lunch at the roadside cafe. Apparently I wasn't the only one either.

James and Sam had decided that they would get up at the crack of dawn to make a break for the border so by the time we got up they were gone. It didn't seem right to only see three little cars sitting together but we planned to catch them up as soon as we could. We spent the morning addressing our internet withdrawals and then headed into the town in the hope of finding a police station that would actually be able to register us and stamp our passports. It was one of those ridiculously fruitless affairs where you find a place that tells you to go to another place, which tells you that you should go back to the place that you just came from. Things continued in this manner for a while with JP leading the investigation until we came to the conclusion that it was not going to happen. He informed us that the lady in the tourist office had said that we would need to hire a translator (at a cost to us) go to the immigration police, pay the fine for not registering within five days and then pay further to get the passports stamped. Apparently it also would have to be done before the office closed at six. It was twenty to. So if we wanted to register we would have to pay for another night in a hotel and do it the next day. We decided it wasn't worth it. If we had to pay a fine at the border it would still work out less than staying another day. We hit the road again.

As we had wasted so much time in the town we were contemplating driving late into the night to make up some time so that we could still meet James and Sam just over the border to Russia the next day. We had received a text from them saying that they had been fined for the wrong person driving the car. When we entered Kazakhstan we were unsure as to whether the insurance we had to buy was for the car or for the person and none of the police officers we had been stopped by so far had checked it. Turns out it only applied to the person so that meant that if we wanted to avoid a fine, myself, Dave and Alex.R would have to do all the driving until we left Kazakhstan. We set off and had not been driving long when we came across a traffic checkpoint. No points for guessing that we all got pulled over but we hoped that we wouldn't be kept too long. We were wrong.

The officer demanded our passports then went marching off into building. Dave and I followed. He searched through our papers for a while,established who was driving, how many passengers we had, where we were going and then withdrew the little problematic unstamped pieces of paper from our passports. He made a stamping motion and said "Big Problem".

His English wasn't perfect but he clearly knew and understood enough. He asked us why   we hadn't registered and Dave immediately replied by saying that we thought that the stamp on the slip of paper was the registration and we weren't aware that we had to get anything else. The officer pointed at Alex's passport and guestured outside by which I assumed he meant he wanted me to go and get him. Once all three drivers were in the room and the door was shut he again queried the lack of stamp to which we all replied that we didnt understand. He kept crossing his arms (x-factor style) and saying fault then pointed to a piece of paper on his desk, half covered by other bits of paper.It appeared to be a table of numbers with writing next to it. We assumed this was the fine. We thought that this would be the case and were prepared for this so asked where we had to pay the fine to get the stamp. He appeared not to understand. We asked if we had to go back to Astana for the stamp but he just kept saying that if we went to Astana we would have to pay for the "fault",and then we would have to spend five days there before "deport". He then showed us some other driving licenses that he had confiscated and drew and envelope on a piece of paper suggesting that he would have to post them back to London. We said that we would need to speak to the Embassy which he didn't seem to understand and then he drew another figure. 5000 tenge. He said no fault, you go to Russia,"I not see you, you not see me". We saw that coming. Clearly this needed some sort of group discussion. We asked if we could go and speak with our friends outside now having been in the office for quite a while. He only allowed Dave and myself out the first time but Alex managed to go out and get up to speed after us. Basically the plan was to go on playing dumb say we didn't have any money and keep saying Embassy in the hope that he would give up and let us go for free. The next few dialogues took about two hours. He kept calling us his friends and even went out and came back with a sweet for each of us,all the while making it clear how much of a very big problem this was and that we would get deported if we had to go back to Astana. Eventually he changed tactic and drew a box on the paper asking "how much?" We continued to explain that we had no money as we were expecting to leave the country and it seemed he got bored. Reluctantly he agreed to "presents" at which point we ran back to the cars and rummaged for our best bribes. We contributed two packets of cigarettes purchased for just such an occasion, the Alex' gave two bottles of Staropramen and JP and Dave gave a bottle of English Banana Bread beer, which JP had been saving to drink at the finish :(. We dumped the prizes on his desk which seemed to amuse him and he then let us take our documents and go.

After this hold up we needed to make up ground so we began to drive into the night. The roads weren't the best but with Dave leading the convoy and JP on the radio pointing out all the potholes under the categories "medium", "severe", "gail force" or "critical" we made decent headway. A couple of hours and toilet stops later we decided to get a few hours sleep in and pulled off into a field to camp. It was about half past one and we were  quite near the border so we planned to get up at about seven and make it there around lunchtime. We were just saying our good nights when we saw Dave and JP rummaging in the foot-wells of the Nissan. They had lost their document wallet containing the V5. We were definitely given them back from the border guard so it must have fallen out of the car on one of our toilet stops.

We searched again in the morning but unfortunately it was clear that it wasn't there. They decided to back track in the hope that they could find it and join us later on, but if not would have to go back to Astana, extend their visas and wait for a new V5 to be shipped out from the UK as there would be no way of getting into 4ussia without it . Massive bummer. We all hoped they would find it but unfortunately they would have to search alone as the convoy needed to continue. Wishing them luck we left for Russia now another car lighter.

Feeling pretty deflated we reached the border in reasonable time. We were prepared for potential problems with not having our passports stamped but the guards either didn't notice or care and so we got through for free. The whole crossing took less than a couple of hours so once we were through the two remaining cars stopped for a quick cup of tea to celebrate and boost morale.

We received a text from Sam and James saying that they were waiting for us in the next town so we couldn't hang around for long. They weren't immediately visible so we waiting by the main road whilst the Alex's went off to search for them. Minutes later they were back and there was the Matiz. A whole day had passed yet we greeted each other like long lost relatives. We filled them in about JP and Dave by which point I had received a text from them saying that they couldn't find the documents and would have to go back to Astana. We all knew this was a likely scenario but it was still disappointing nonetheless.

That night we camped by a river but it was far too cold for swimming so we played some cards again retired to the warmth of the tents pretty early. Today we've just beed bombing it through Russia as we are aiming for Mongolia tomorrow. Again it's pretty cold and now late so I will update more tomorrow. Desperate to get in my sleeping bag!

Also please excuse the grammar issues. Typing this amount on the kindle is not easy!

Morale: Average
Car: Either the Petrol tank or petrol gauge is a bit dodgy. It never seems to fill all the way up. Nothing serious though.
Current thought: It's bloody freezing!
Miles:7,770
Country Count:

Day Thirty-One: Dropping like flies

The current situation being of utmost hilarity and importance I will quickly re-cap the last couple of days events so as to swifty remark on the incident that has just occured.
Make yourselves comfy and get a cup of tea.

After the lake at Oral the driving through Kazakhstan has not been too eventful. We slept in a lavendar field not too far away from a little Kazak hamlet, slightly on edge and fearful due to most of the locals advising us that we were in Bandit Country and the people were as bad as the roads. However we woke to find everything still intact and as we left it. Unfortunately just to keep us on edge it seems, our little Micra, now christened Michaela (better late than never) decided that the battery water wasn't to her taste and failed to start. We were still able to jump start but it became apparent that as the quality of the tarmac worsened this would not be an option and so we would have to get a new battery.

Being at thehead of the convoy, as well as being invigorating and daring also has its drawbacks. It mean we are sitting ducks for the police. We got pulled over for a second time, but this time we were well under the speed limit and the lights were on. The other three cars drove well out of fining range but after showing our documents to the police it appeared he wasn't interested in a fine or bribe so waved us on.

Quite keen to shower and wash our clothes we stayed that night in a hotel in Aktobe. We found a restaurant with a table big enough for all eight of us and dined seated on cushions on the floor inside a curtained summer house type structure. After that we all had a few drinks and went bowling which was pretty amusing as a result of the pins dropping sporadically at the end of the lane and occasionally starting a lucky players go with less than 10 pins.

Yesterday due to finding wifi and shopping facilities near the hotel we didn't get on the road until well after midday. Yet again another friendly local stopped to chat to us and kindly drove us to the nearest place likely to have a new battery for us and a new tyre for the Matiz. After a bit of searching we bought a new battery for about £43 and it seem to have done the trick! Touch Wood. The Matiz is still without a spare and you would have thought this would lead them to drive with the utmost care and attention. Far from it. We drove until about eight then pulled off the main road to seek refuge amoungst some rocky hills. Finding the perfect spot concealed from the main road required a little off roading but the cars were all up for the challenge. Perfect spot found, tents pitched and pasta, on the menu again but in addition, for a change we cracked open the vodka watermelon! Unfortunately for me (having the eighth nearest to the vodka feeding hole) this particular watermelon did not have an unquencheable thirst for booze and so the only part saturated with the spirit was that immediately underneath the vodka hole.

This morning yet again we had the best intentions of getting up early and doing some serious miles however Kazakhstan obviously had some oher things planned. The morning began with James making molotov cocktails. For those not in the know (like myself until this point) this involves putting petrol in a bottle, shoving a doused rag in the top, lighting it and lobbing it so that the petrol satisfyingly bursts up in flames upon impact. Surprisingly after two sucessful attempts no injuries were incured and with the boys lust for danger temporarily satiated we decended from our quarry campsite.

I assume that due to the poor condition of the roads, or perhaps the need for police to check the underside of suspected Mafia vehicles, there are quite frequently at the side of the road, concrete vehicle ramps which rise up to a flat surface about four foot high with a gap down the middle for vehicle inspection. It was one of these particular ramps at the bottom of our campsite that claimed the front passenger wheel of the red saxo. We were just waiting for everyone to decend onto the main road when we saw it happen. It climbed diagonally for about 5 seconds and before we could shout or grab a camera an almighty scrape split the air as the hub cap frisbeed off the wheel and it teetered into the gap down the middle. After a suitable amount of footage,photo taking and mockery the boys did manage to lift the car out of the gap and safely reverse it back down the ramp. Surprisingly no obvious damage was apparent and as we were all about to let out a sigh of relief James drew our attention to the Matiz which appeared to have weed itself with all the excitement. The short offroad trip accompanied by the dizzying rally driving cost them their petrol tank. It now had a small  puncture which (depending on how you look at it) was rather unfortunate as it meant that unless anyone was willing to inhale vast amounts of petrol fumes to cyphen the fuel from the tank we would have to wait whilst it slowly dripped out.

In the end this took over two hours but we kept up the morale by completing the paint job of the union jack on top of Dupont Racing's car, making a brew and in Jame's case dressing up in a camoflage morph suit and prancing along the car roof tops. After a long while the tank was drained enough for the mending to begin but as I am not particularly well versed in mechanical lingo I will just say that I belive some sort of heavy duty putty was stuck to the hole. They filled the tank, it appeared to hold and so we finally hit the road.

Victory was short lived as we must have only driven for around 3 minutes when we saw the Saxo pull over. It was overheating. Apparently dropping its nose onto a concrete ramp didn't improve performance and we had to wait for it to cool down. We finally moved on a few minutes later and are now searching for a garage to fix the spare wheel for the Matiz.

We had hoped to be able to make a detour down to Almaty but at the rate we are moving currently we will be lucky enough to get out of Russia before our visas expire. We also need to find a police station that can Register us as apparently if we try to leave the country without registering we will incur a hefty fine. Not been able to find anywhere over the weekend so hopefully we can find somewhere today and then actually drive somewhere!

Morale: Average - eager to make some progress
Car: Not wanting to say too much but the Battery appears to be working well. No other complaints
Current Thought: I wonder why the shops in this town, that appear to just be doorways with shelves inside, sell only Bread, Fanta, Crisps, Vodka and Ciggarettes. I would love a cold drink.
Country Count: Still in Kaz!
Miles: 5,857

Update: Since writing this we have been told by the police that the only place that can register us now is Aktobe (where we have just come from) as if we proceed to Astana we will still have to pay a fine. Considering that is about a five hour drive in the wrong direction it's probably not going to happen. Stay Tuned.

Day Twenty Eight: Roads as smooth as a turbulent sea

Our poor car had been trying to tell us she was not happy for weeks, but our untrained eye did not spot her signs. After putting two and two together, with the help of Dupont racing we spotted the pattern. The eggy smell, now getting worse, the fizzing of the battery and the fact that she was now unable to hold charge even after long journeys all pointed to one complaint. Bogus Battery. For now we were just jump starting it every time until we could stop and work out what to do.

We reached Astrakhan two nights ago, a bit later than intented so decided to search for a cheap hotel then drive on to the Kazakhstan border the next day.  Luckily the first place we tried was a winner. An air conditioned double room with wifi and the most bling shower known to man complete with an internal mirror, lighting, moveable shower head, large ceiling shower head and water massager for only about £26 a night. Thanks to my superb directions the Alex's managed to join us at the hotel a few minutes later, with the other half of their convoy, Sam and James in a sexual mustard Dawoo Matiz.

We caught up swapped stories over Russian vodka and were joined by the Hotel security guard who spoke no English but managed to convey that his wife was at the hospital about to give birth. As the evening continued he then received a phonecall which obviously informed him that the baby had been born! A boy  as indicated by him waving his finger down between his legs.  It seemed a shame that he couldn't be there for the birth but we believe that he wasnt allowed due to shift work. We joined him in a Russian toast (which involed a double shot of vodka and two slices of sausage, one to sniff before and after the shot, and the other concealed in the same hand to sneakily eat under the guise of the second sniffing ) after which he wandered off and returned with a whiteish dribble down the front of his shirt. I was later informed he had just vomited next to Duponts Nissan.

Eventually we decided we should get some sleep and retired. The next morning we were faced with the reality of the amount of miles we were going to have to cover in a very short space of time if we were still to continue our desired route. JP had worked out that we had about 5,000 still left to do in only 17days which is the end of our Russian visas which realistically would not be enough time to do Uzbekistan. The Alex's and Team Matiz (Don't know their team name so thats what they shall be known as for now) didn't have Uzbek visas anyway so essentially we faced the decision of splitting up the newly formed convoy of four to go down to Uzbekistan, or missing it out and continuing across Kaz with them.

We left that decision for later as we still had our broken battery to worry about. Eight heads better than two we checked the battery and concluded it had somehow been leaking and needed topping up with distilled battery water. Unsure how we would find this we called over another security guard from the hotel and began pointing and guesturing to the battery. Luckily we evetually got our point across and five mintues later he ran back with a bottle of just what we needed, not even wanting any money for it! We topped it up, hoped for the best and got on the road towards Kaz.

The border crossing was quite speedy as crossings go and we were out the other side by the afternoon. Things were going swimmingly until the roads took a sudden turn for the worse and I dropped the side of our car into a minature canyon. The hub cap went flying past the cars behind and upon inspection the wheel had incurred an almighty dent. Surprisingly the tyre did not appear to have been damaged so we performed a formula 1speedy wheel change,chucked the damaged tyre in the back and continued on with one eye open for a garage that might be able to knock the dent out.

We headed off the main road in search of the sea and came across the most picturesque beach (pictures to follow when we manage to get wifi) complete with crazing cattle and camels. Unfortunately the water was only ankle high as far as the eye could see, so there was no chance for swimming but it did make for some stunning photos.

Yesterday didn't start particularly early with everyone wanting to get more photos of everything but eventually we got on the road in our now standard formation: us leading, Dupont racing bringing up the rear (being the only teams with walkie talkies) and the others somewhere in the middle. We drove gingerly on the pitted roads eventually making our way to a town where we found a garage that mended our tyre free of charge,petrol,and a very friendly local who gave me a cowboy hat and drove us all into town to find a cafe,then back ouut onto the main road when we were done! He also gave us some extremeely valuable advice about the state of the roads and basically advised us to steer clear of a route we may have almost certainly taken.

By this point we came to the realisation that we were not going to make it down to Uzbek without extending our Russian visas (something we couldn't afford or be bothered to do) or seriously damaging our cars by driving as fast as the locals on the melted roads. Decision made to all stick together we made a plan to head north through Kaz, dip down to Almaty if we have the time then back up into Russia and so on.

Last night we were lucky enough to find a camping spot by a large river but we managed to tear ourselves away for a bit of an earlier start this morning.

We just stopped for petrol a few moments ago and attracted some interest from a couple of policemen who had also pulled in. They seemed friendly enough so we had a little chat told him of our plans,had some fun running infront of the fancy speed radar guns they had pointing out from behing the windscreen,then went on our merry way. Seconds from pulling out from the petrol station we passed some more policemen who pulled us over. We didn't have our lights on, a legal requirement that we were told about yesterday but Justin decided he'd rather ignore. We showed them all our documents but it appeared that all they wanted was $50. We played dumb guessing that there would not be a cash point that they could force us to take money from in the near vicinity, and tried to get away with giving them about £3 worth of local currency. It worked a treat, they obviously got bored and waved us on.

Motoring on once more our aim is to get to Oral in a few hours then maybe the capital later today or tomorrow morning. Just need to pick up some Vodka to soak in our watermelon and happy days.

Morale: Good
Car: Seemingly much happier and no longer requiging jump starts
Current Thought: There is a reason why all the locals drive 4x4s.
Miles: 5,197ish

Day Twenty-Five: Jeeps, Speedos and a penchant for Nudity

Russia: The land where no one is shy.

To briefly sum up the last few days: we got the ferry tickets, although after about an hour of waiting in the office whilst several turkmen came in and out shouting at each other they did ask us not to divulge the final price (we assummed this was what a finger to the lips was for) so my lips are sealed on that matter. The next few days we just spent chilling out on the beach until Ferry day - Saturday. We packed up, said our goodbyes to the lovely Turkish family that we befriended and made our way to the port.

Upon arrival we spotted a slightly newer version of our faithful Nissan Micra with its boot full of stuff jauntily propped open. With the boot open we couldn't see the number plate but it reaked of rally so we expectantly pulled up alongside it. Lo and behold, out popped the happy faces of JP and Dave of team, Dupont Racing, also glad not to be the last team left in Turkey. We discovered that they where planning on doing pretty much the same route as us and with that our third convoy was born.

Our ferry, due to leave at 17:00 according to our tickets, did not start boarding until 18:00 and we watched the sun set (as beautiful as it was) before actually departing at about eightish. it was quite a nauseating 12 hours that started well with Beer, Pimms, slideshows and stories of our journeys so far, but progressed quickly into the desire for travel sickness tablet induced slumber to shorten the length of the rocking jouney. We slept on the top deck finding it cooler and less crowded than inside, and I was lucky enough to be offered a mattress which almost made the night plesant. This was until I woke to the feeling of something dripping onto my feet and sat up to see we were in the middle of a thunderstorm and it was pissing down with rain as far as the eye could see in all directions. The deck did have a roof but this didn't stretch to the complete breadth of the boat leaving an ever increasing stream of water sloshing up and down the sides of the boat. None of us could be bothered to move so we all shuffled closer to the centre and tried to get back to sleep. The second time I woke up properly was to the smell of cigarette smoke and when i saw that most of the other passengers had joined us on the top deck and were wondering why there were four brits sleeping on the only tables I decided not to go back to sleep.

By the time the boat stopped it was about 12 noon (bearing in mind that had we left on time we shoud have arrived at 5am) but it had anchored itself about an hour away from the harbour with no explanation as to why. I believe this to be something we will have to get used to. About three hours later we continued to the port and were allowed off the ferry. Then we had to fill to several forms wait a bit, fill out the same form again, wait a bit more, then we were allowed to wait a bit more next to our cars.

To pass the time we played several games, fashioned a small set of dominoes out of paper, perfected the fine art of sunflower seed consumption and had a few rounds of the turkish game that was kindly donated to us on our departure from Trabzon. Eventually we were the only people left and at just gone 10pm we were allowed to leave. We had the honour of being offered one of Dupont Racing's walkie talkies making us a convoy to be reckoned with, and with that Black Raven and Great Tit hit the streets.

We drove round Sochi for a bit looking for a cheap hotel, deciding to get up early the next morning and eat up some of Russias finest miles, but finding that no such place existed in the lively seaside town we had to settle for a room costing £55 that had neither been redecorated nor cleaned since the 70's.

The next morning after a slightly better sleep than on the ferry we had the best intentions of reaching Volgograd by nightfall where we should have been able to meet up with part of our original convoy, Fear and Alex's in Mongolia! However the Russian roads were against us and we were stuck in horrendous traffic between about 10am and 5pm. Aware that we were already a few days behind schedule and had only done about 200km all day we toyed with the idea of a bit of night driving. By about seven we all decided that it would be a bit if a wasted day if we didn't cover more ground and with that we drove into the night. Our first few hours were severely thwarted by driving into a thunderstorm and encountering torrential rain too heavy for the wipers to clear forcing us to pull over. Eventually it subsided and we manage to join a bit of road resembling a dual carrdge way.

Halfway through our Pepsi-Cola fuelled motor to Volgograd we received a text from the Alex's strongly advising us to steer clear of it after they had just been fined three times and were now taking refuge in a petrol station on the outskirts ready to head to the Kasakhstan border in the morning. With this news and the time fast approaching 4am we decided to pull into the next petrol station, get some kip then head straight onto Astrakhan on the border to Kaz the next day, which is now today.

We upped and left at about 8 this morning and are now steaming along towards the border. The roads are not too bad but for the most part they are only single carridgeway so we can't travel as quickly as we might have liked. I've just been informed by Great Tit that we are 515 km away and as it is not yet midday it is looking likely that we can reach the border today. Whether we will get through it today is another question.

Morale: Average. Peaked at joining another convoy but dipped in the long delays and lack of sleep
Car: Beginning to rattle a little. The smell comes and goes but for now is vacant at least. The battery has also managed to run flat somehow three times but so far it has only needed a push start.
Current Thought: I hope we can make it to Kazakhstan without being pulled over by the police.
Country Count: 13 (below +Russia)
Miles: Around 4470

Day Nineteen: The Delay

After arriving in Trabzon we were told that the next ferry would sail on Saturday the 13th August which would get us into Russia two days after we had planned. Not only this but it would set us back $740 (£450)!

We had not budgeted for this in either the time or money, so decided to find somewhere to camp and mull it over. Remembering a camp site that we had passed a few kilometres previously we drove back along the coast and pitched our tent for a handsome 20 Turkish Lira per day (about £7.00).

We sat by the sea, made some pasta, and were just discussing our options when one of our Turkish neighbours very kindly brought us a tray of tea and baklava. Not really having anything substantial we could offer in return, we brewed a good old cup of Earl Grey and took this back over. Neither party could converse more efficiently than a few obvious hand gestures but we were certain they invited us to join them, so we pulled up some chairs. With the help of their daughter who spoke a handful of English words and good old fashioned charades we learnt that they were camping here for 7 days during Ramazan but lived in Trabzon. Also the Father owned a Restaurant in Trazbon serving a healthy blend of Tea and live music. Before I knew it, we had been invited to join them at the restaurant and a short trip back into Trazbon later we were seated at what I imagine was the 'owners' table and supplied with plenty of beverages (non-alcoholic being Ramazan). The night then led on to a Turkish game which unfortunately I have forgotten the name of now, but it involved several square counters with different numbers and colours on, and four counters holders, a bit like scrabble. Then after a lot of pointing, miming, and getting it wrong, we deduced that the aim of the game, similar to Rummy, was to obtain groups of numbers either by having a run of numbers in the same colour, or a set of the same number in different colours. We played until about 3am at which point we all declared it time for bed.

Waking up again on a deflated matress yesterday made patchwork our priority. We took the air bed down to the sea, pumped it up, laid it across some sun loungers and carefully doused it with water hoping that the hole would make itself obvious but not really expecting it to be fruitful. Lo and behold, the first dribble made the little blighter frothingly obvious and with a large glob of glue and some careful placement of a patch, it was mended. Touch wood it seems to have held up so far!

Net up, Ferry tickets. After the kind hospitality of our Turkish neighbours the day before yesterday, we thought we would pay them a visit, hoping perhaps that they might be able to advise if we would be able to get a better price elsewhere.

We arrived mid afternoon, and again did not end up leaving until late into the evening! The language barrier or fortified wall as it now appeared to be, having categorised everything we wanted to say into either pointing down or 'over there' and not getting very far, led us to resort to typing short phrases into Google translate, generally finding that the translation led to some incomprehensible broken English, but each phrase was slightly closer to the truth with each try.

After a few hours, our intentions now well understood, Hayrettin, the Patron of the Restaurant somehow managed to barter with the Ferry company, I believe by arguing that our Nissan was barely taking up more space than a rubber dingy and knocked $100 dollars off of the price.

We went back to the ticket office yesterday to shake hands, smile and nod, but for some reason we were not able to purchase the tickets there and then. We should be going back today to pay (I think?) and the Ferry leaves at 16:00 Saturday. This should get us into Russia at 04:00 Sunday Morning so we will have to do a bit of caffeine fuelled late night driving to catch up.

Unfortunately we have not come across any other ralliers in Trabzon, and cannot find anyone on the website headed this way, but we are still determined to convoy before the next week is out!

Off for a spot of swimming now. Cheerio!

Day Sixteen: All sorts of Turkish Delights

After the bustle of Istanbul we decided to take another slight detour to our route, and instead of heading inland to go down to Ankara we set off along the north coast expecting a pretty drive alongside the Black Sea.

It was a lot dirtier than expected, I think we passed several dumps along the way and a few people unloading garbage from their trucks onto the side of the road. Putting that aside the views were still amazing, and the roads were some of the windiest that I have ever driven.

We decided to try to find somewhere to camp for free spending more money in Istanbul than we had anticipated and searched the coast for an uninhabited spot of beach. Unfortunately such a thing did not seem to exist to the untrained eye, so we had to ask for directions. We beckoned a few friendly looking locals over to our car, and finding that they didn't speak English we drew a crude picture of a tent and they sent us on our merry way to a little village. Turning up in the dark we stumbled across a road that seemed to have several tents pitched on a more permanent basis. Not being sure if we would be aloud to snuggle up to the locals we pulled into a spare spot and went to search for someone to ask.

We spotted a large fire on the beach and made towards it, but suddenly became aware that we might be trampling into a private party. The fire was surrounded by about 20 Turkish women all singing, dancing and clapping and not far behind them was a long table laden with food and drinks, and beyond that some sofas and tables in a makeshift tarpaulin lounge. Not sure if we should make ourselves known or not we stood on the outskirts quite visible when one of the ladies broke away from the pack for refreshments... we rounded in.

She didn't speak any English but shouted loudly to the circle of women and a couple ran over. Within moments we had been ushered towards the fire for a photo, the ladies all hugging round us like long lost relatives! A couple of them spoke English and translated for those who insistently chatted to us in Turkish seemingly unaware of the fact that we couldn't understand. They sat us in the circle supplied us with baklava and danced round the fire singing what we can only assume were traditional Turkish songs. (I am pretty sure one of them was a love song as we were encouraged to get up and join the ladies swaying, hands on hearts, the in the circle, but politely declined)

Anyhow, after all this excitement, we excused ourselves and went to set up our tent (followed minutes later by a few of the ladies who apparently wanted to see us set up our temporary abode safely).

Some chap owning the cafe opposite tied to charge us but our new best friends were having none of that and promptly saw him off. Eventually we waved our tearful goodbyes and got into bed.

By the morning it became apparent that our air bed had a puncture as we woke flat on the sand squished between deflated folds of plastic. Guess we'll need to find a new one. We could mend it if we could find the damn hole, but it must be so small! The mending kit should really include a hole detector of some description...

That day we had a little swim in the sea, and over lunch came across the strange phenomenon of a rather undertall boy thrusting scales upon us nodding and grinning. He was very insistent but we declined several times and he moved onto the next table. Was he actually asking if we wanted to weigh ourselves? Did he expect money for this service? Or perhaps he was just trying to sell them... We were most perplexed. The owner of the eatery came out and did in fact proceed to weigh himself, which seemed to satisfy the boy enough for him to move on. I didn't see money exchanged so perhaps this is some tradition we have yet to uncover...

Last night we camped wild again in a little bay in front of some fisherman's houses it would seem! I must say that the all the Turkish people we have met so far are extremely friendly and hospitable.One of the ladies from the previous night did even offer for us to stay at her house and last night was practically in a back garden.

Today we drove to Samsun and deciding that we needed a shower and a decent bed for the night, we negotiated a very cheap hotel room in a newly opened hotel that seems desperate for guests (haven't actually seen another guest since arriving). Just managed to catch a bit of 'Turkeys got Talent' before bed.

Off to Trabzon tomorrow. The plan is to be in Russia by Friday but we'll see.

Morale: Better for showering :)
Car: Smelling like burnt eggs... It has been suggested to check that something hasn't crawled up into the air filter and died which we must remember to do tomorrow. Justin keeps blaming the smell on me...
Current Thought: We can't be the last team still in Turkey. Convoy anyone?
Country Count: Still 12
Miles: I believe over 3000 but I need to check

Day Thirteen: Quarter way point celebrations

Good news! We got the drugs! YAAAY!

The nice lady from the British Embassy phoned us back, perhaps deciding that we didn't sound too suspicious, and she said that as long as copies of the prescriptions were in the package (which they were, Thanks Mother Dowling!!) then they should not get held up by customs. If they did then we would have to deal with it at the time but there would be nothing we could do before hand.

We tracked the parcel after speaking to the British Embassy and it already appeared to have passed customs, so we speedily drove to just outside Komotini (where we were collecting) and set up camp for the night right next to the beach.

Next morning, (which was yesterday) we sped to Komontini, not quite sure how we would find the collection point, when we just happened to pass a DHL office as we pulled off the motorway for petrol! We popped in and I think the collections point must have been a few hundred meters away as the lady get on the phone to someone and about ten minutes later there was our enormous box of drugs! It is quite enormous, not quite sure how we will carry it without our trusty steed but we have them nevertheless!

It was at this point that we noticed a rather strange smell following us around. At first I thought it was the trees near the beach where we camped the other night, then I though it was the bustling city smells of Istanbul yesterday. But it wasn't until the smell had followed us nearly 500km that it dawned on me, it probably was the car. We've peeped under the bonnet and not being mechanics we can't see anything obviously leaking, hanging or dripping so we have concluded that it must just be a little smelly in the heat... Right? It smells a bit like burning. Also it's OK for the battery to hiss once you've stopped the engine isn't it?

Well just incase it's not, we've given our little Micra a whole day of rest! We arrived in Istanbul yesterday and booked two nights at the same Hostel which means a day without driving :) A well needed rest I must add after driving in Istanbul!

Firstly we managed to get onto a toll road without paying for it as there was no barrier, but when we got to the end there was not unly a barrier but endless amounts of fast moving traffic piling up behind us. In a space of a couple of seconds we were at the front of honking line of lorries hurriedly trying to convince the machine that it wanted to accept our visa card instead of the motorway card everyone else had previously purchased. Luckily we were causing the man at the booth to become so exasperated he let us go through for free.

When we reached Istanbul we encountered several wide roads, no markings, with cars, bikes, lorries and people just storming freely left and right without care nor regard for anyone else on the road! Trice I saw a car driving the wrong was up the motorway on the hard shoulder, and in the centre Taxis who clam they have right of way cut us up frequently with a loud honk and screech of tyres. Navigating through all this chaos caused us to drive in circles, taking the same road over the bridge about three times but eventually about 2 hours later we found our Hostel, tucked up a side street with no name outside or any indication that it even existed. Thanks.

Panic over we managed to hook up with three other teams on the rally who were in Istanbul for one night. Two of the teams are on Scooters and the other team are in a Suzuki. We spent the evening chatting over beer and Shisha, celebrating making it a quarter of the way, with plans of checking out the clubs in Taxim, but unfortunately a few drinks and green shots later that plan went out the window and at about 4am we got a taxi back to our hostel.

A couple of them are getting the Trabzon-Sochi ferry but I think they will be travelling slower then we are so not sure if we will be able to convoy (and scooters will be little help when we want a tow over a river...) Also our Russian visa does not start until Tuesday the 9th August I think, which is a lot later than most of the other teams we have met, and we've heard that there are only two ferries a week, either Sunday and Thursday, or Monday and Thursday, so it doesn't look like we will be on the ferry to Russia until next Thursday at the earliest!

Will have to delve deeper into the folds of Turkey for a few more days.

Morale: Good
Car: Resting
Current Thought: This room was supposed to be air conditioned. With the window open we have the chorus of angry horns to serenade us through the night...
Country Count: 12 (+ Turkey)
Miles: I'll get back to you

Day Eleven: Greek Chic

Bratislava was interesting. We decided to camp in a field just outside the city and seconds after trundling down the dirt track we got monumentally stuck! It had been raining all day and the track was like a deadly bog which was hungry for our car. Not quite sure why we decided it would be a good idea, but anyhow after about half an hour of shoving rocks under the wheels, twisting and turning and pulling the car with the tow rope we eventually manages to wriggle free. The car now looks like this:

It definitely looks like a rally car now! Although we are getting some strange looks still being in very well paved Europe..

Anyhow, since then we've stopped off in Budapest, Belgrade and Sofia but I must admit I am glazing over at the thought of Churches, Chapels and Monuments now... 

Trundling down the motorway yesterday we had our first run in with the Police! We were in Bulgaria and they pulled us over with their little stick resembling a giant lolly from Charlie and the Chocolate factory. The Policeman didn't speak any English but knew 'Passports' which we gave to him. He had a good look over them, then muttered something in Bulgarian. We shrugged and he made some hand gestures that I assume meant either 'slow down' or 'do more press ups'. We will bear both in mind.

We have had to make a slight detour to Greece and are currently hanging out in Thessaloniki. To try and cut a long story short we are going to Asia after the Rally and obviously need to have Malaria tablets, but 'someone' didn't get the prescription until the afternoon before we were supposed to leave the country and funnily enough we couldn't find any pharmacies within about 100 miles of our route from Cambridge to Dover that had 440 Doxycycline tablets stocked and ready to go. So we had to leave the prescriptions at home in the hope that the drugs could be sent on to us at some point on the journey. We thought that they could be sent directly to Ulaanbaatar which would give them plenty of time to arrive before we got there, however, we have now discovered that it would be near impossible to ship such a large amount of drugs outside the EU so we need to collect them before we leave Europe. We thought it might be nice to spend a couple of days on the Greek coast so asked if they could be shipped to Komotini in Greece where we should be able to pick it up on route to Istanbul. The package left England on Saturday and should be winging its way to us now but it's not that easy... In order for us to safely receive the package without being detained for importing copious amounts of drugs into the country we need to contact the national drug administrator in Greece to get them to issue us with a document that we can provide to customs should the drugs get held up. Unfortunately typing 'National Drug Administrator Greece' into Google doesn't show anything useful, so we have been on the phone to the British Embassy in Greece who appeared slightly suspicious ('why did you have to leave the country so quickly', 'why can't you stay in one place to wait for the prescriptions', 'why do you need so many!') but they have promised us a call back today, so hopefully they will have some good news, otherwise our slight detour might last longer than anticipated.

Morale: Pretty good

Car: Still going strong, except the muddy escapades in the field outside Bratislava have caused the passenger window to seize up so it needs to be nursed up and down by hand.

Current thought: I hope customs don't confiscate our drugs!

Country Count: 11 (6 below plus Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia, Bulgaria and Greece)

Miles: Not sure exactly but over 2,000