Peking to Paris 2007 by Austin Seven

Sunday 1st July - Arriving in London

2007-07-10T10:36:00.000Z

We arrived back in London on Sunday 1st July and as soon as I got home I found myself sucked back into normal life and work, with the expedition already receding into the distant past!

On the trip life was very simple - all we had to worry about each day was getting ourselves and the car another two or three hundred miles along the road. At home, life is much more complicated; requiring me to juggle priorities, commitments and future plans. I am enjoying my creature comforts, but missing the simplicity of life on the road.

Finally I've found time to add a few last photos of our arrival in London, which happened at the end of a long day. On Saturday June 30th, after some indecision as to whether or not to make inroads into the journey to London, it was decided to spend the night in Paris in a small backstreet hotel near Gare St Lazare. Sebastian walked by the river while I sat in a cafe, watching the world go by, and thinking about getting home.

Another early start (5.00) and we retrieved the Austin from Place Vendome, where we had discreetly freeloaded on the rally car security. We escaped from a still-sleeping Paris with only a couple of wrong turns, and set off for Calais.

After an uneventful journey, sharing the driving, and with mercifully few HGVs, we arrived at Calais in good time for our booked 14.20 Eurotunnel crossing. It was a good thing Sebastian had booked a place, as every train was fully booked, and even the Austin couldn't be squeezed onto an earlier crossing.

In England the forecast rain made only a brief appearance, and we arrived in London to a pleasant evening, and a great welcome from family and friends at the Leinster Arms. Many thanks to everyone who came to welcome us back, some travelling great distances.

Thanks also to all of those who have followed the blog, and encouraged us with your comments. It made it worth doing, to know that people were taking an interest in our trip. It's not too late to make a contribution to our Unicef fundraising efforts! You can donate online at www.justgiving.com/annabeljones or sebastianwelch.

Looking back
It has been the journey of a lifetime, and highlights which will stay with me include: Experiencing the great wildernesses of Mongolia and Siberia; receiving generous hospitality everywhere we went; discovering the beauty of Eastern European cities like Gdansk and Vilnius, and seeing the gradual changes in the landscape, the architecture, the wildlife and the people across 7,500 miles.

There have been low points in the trip, chief among which were: Attacks by the huge and silent Siberian mosquitoes; sandstorms - one of which blew away my tent; the Russian potholes, one of which launched the car into the air and broke its windscreen frame and glass on landing; and having with the split windscreen wide open when it rained, turning my skin to leather and the maps to papier mache.

The constant vibration over poor (or non-existent) roads led to everything working loose, and a few areas will now need attention. A week from Paris the starter motor stopped working, so we resorted to bump starting. By Europe we were using back axle oil at the rate of a pint every 100 miles. The fan housing and/or shaft became badly worn, and so had to be packed with grease at every stop. To everyone's surprise we only had one puncture, and returned with almost the entire collection of spares. Overall the car did superbly, proving the right choice for the journey - a testament to Herbert Austin and British engineering, as well as to its preparation and to Sebastian's maintenance en route.

Kip and Carmen took a different route to Paris, arrived safely and have now also returned to the UK, via celebrations in Normandy, where they have a house.

Statistics
Duration: 45 days (including 9 rest days)
Total distance: 7450 Peking to Paris, 7850 from Tanggu to London.
Average speed 27 mph - 17 mph in the Gobi Desert
Fuel consumption 37 mpg
Maximum altitude 8,800 ft (2,700 metres) near the Mongolia-Russia border

Some new pics

2007-06-30T19:55:00.000Z

I've finally been able to add a few pics to the last few days blogs - most notably Sanssouci in all its glory - page down to 27 June for a look.

Paris At Last

2007-06-30T14:26:00.000Z

Following much of the route Bourghese took almost 100 years ago from Reims we arrived at La Place de la Concorde ( La Automobile Club de France based in the square as well as the FIA) mid morning.
45 days ago we left Peking and everywhere the locals have been helpful and generous.
In Mongolia the hospitality was unbelievable.
My Chummy although worn out has performed extremely well.
The only outside help being a puncture repair and having the o.s.windscreen support welded up.
My thanks go to absolutely everyone who was involved with the car, gave advice, spares and help.
Thank you to all the sponsors, the trip could not have been done without them.
This has been a team effort so a big thank you to Annabel for all navigating, support and help.
Congratulations to K and C for making it and good luck to Jaap and Robert, Vince Leek and the saloons and all the Rally competitors.
Thank you to everyone who has donated to Unicef the charity we have been supporting.
The White Cliffs of Dover will room be in sight!

Saturday 30th June. PARIS!

2007-06-30T10:11:00.000Z

We have Arrived!

We left Reims at 7am and, after a bit of backtracking to find the right road out of town, followed Borghese's original route for the last 100 miles to Paris. It was a smooth, if wet run, through small villages and between fields of ripening wheat. I felt surprisingly emotional thinking how much of this would have looked the same 100 years ago.

After negotiating the traffic on the Peripherique (very different from 1907) we drove up Boulevard Voltaire, Place de la Republique, Boulevards St Martin, St Denis, de Bonne Nouvelle and Poissonniere (where Le Matin had offices), then on to Place de la Concorde, home of The Automobile Club of France, and Borghese's finishing place, at 10:30am.

Neither the Club (backdrop for the picture) nor the Hotel next door were interested in serving two bedraggled Brits with a celebratory cup of coffee, let alone a champagne lunch, so we went sightseeing instead. The Austin 7 proved a great way to see the city, and was appreciated by Parisiens and tourists alike, although I don't think many believed our story of driving it from Beijing.

Our total mileage for the route was 7475 miles, satisfyingly close to our prediction. We'll work out the other statistics of the journey later and post them here, for those interested in that sort of thing.

Friday 29th June; Olpe to Reims

2007-06-29T17:13:00.000Z

Up at 5am and, after Seb did a check over and I pushed the car down the road to start it (I am glad she starts so well) we were on our way by 6.50. West to Aachen on the motorway, then to Liège by more minor roads - a bit of an error as it turned out, since we got stuck in traffic, had a fruitless hunt for gear oil, and fun and games navigating the back streets with a compass and a road atlas that just showed Aachen as a big blob of pink.

We finally resolved the route, and we had our easiest border crossing ever - just a sign by the road that I didn't recognise as a border until the street signs changed style. There we were in Belgium and still hadn't stopped for breakfast.

From Liege we followed Borghese's route up the pituresque valley of the Meuse, via Namur, Dinant, Rocroi, Revin and Rethel to Reims. Apart from another almost unnoticed border crossing into France, and lots of rain, it was uneventful. I let the Regenmeister do the driving, which he seemed to enjoy - screen fully open, while I tried to get as low as possible to miss the worst of the water. I did notice at one point that the temperature guage had gone so high that the needle was up against the stop pin at zero, from the wrong direction!

Now in Reims - a change of plan, and a little further from Paris than Meaux, but we were persuaded by rallyists to come here for a drink or two en route.

A bit demob happy now, and looking forward to seeing friends and family in London on Sunday. Still nearly 400 miles and a channel crossing to go before then though.

Many thanks for all the supportive comments people have left. Ruairidh and Tanya I hope you have a great time in Norway in your Chummy. Also all the best to the Frazer Nash Raiders, off to the Alps.

Thursday 28th June Porters knife sets Austin free.

2007-06-28T21:34:00.001Z

Had to park the 7 in the underground car park near the Branden Burg Gate to avoid a €15 fine if parked on the road. At 0515 the car park was locked, fortunately the hotel porter picked the lock. Another wet day but the car goes better, running with the top screen open adds another 3mph to the top speed. The twisty hilly road between Braunlage and Herzberg was glorious with all the weight in the back it is quite tail happy. Bumped into Paul Carter and Vincent Fairclough in a garage south of Potsdam. Paul driving his Derby Special (in the past known as the Cockroach). After 12 hours and 306 miles ready for a break and Annabel drove the last 47 miles. As we approached Olpe we were flagged down by Nick Bailey and Margaret in Nicks very original LWB 3 Litre. A few beers and they were on there way to Koblenz. Car went well again but german traffic police unimpressed by oil leaks.

Service at pit stop.

2007-06-28T21:33:00.001Z

When I stopped here for oil this morning 3 mechanics very interested in the Austin, in exchange for a photo taken by phone the oil was given free of charge.

Thursday 28th June, Rain

2007-06-28T20:26:00.000Z

AM: Miserable day here - on a motorway in driving rain. Couldn't be wetter!

PM: 50 miles east of Cologne. Wet, but fine.

Evening: At Olpe, a small place for the night, after a 350 mile day - our biggest yet. At least the rain cleared for me to have a drive this afternoon. Now fallen into bad company in a local pub!

Wednesday 27th June, Potsdam

2007-06-27T15:35:00.000Z

Pic 1. Cloisters at Sanssouci

Pic 2. The palace and its fig terraces

Pic 3. Formal gardens.

Pic 4. Chinese summerhouse

This morning Sebastian went on a hunt for gear oil (to replenish the back axle's constantly leaking supply) and found a friendly garage, which gave him some free of charge in exchange for taking a photo of the car!

This afternoon I explored Parc Sanssouci - a flight of fancy of a summer palace, built by Friedrich the Great in 1745. On the south side there is a series of terraces growing figs, grapes and plums, with large formal gardens studded with fountains.

The fountains are fed by a large storage pool to the north of the palace, which is surrounded by fake classical ruins - Greek, Roman, Tuscan, Norman and Egyptian all tumbled together. The formal gardens are stunning, with long vistas and classical statues, urns and follies to draw the eye into the distance.

I was just thinking that Friedrich needed a pagoda to complete his collection of classical styles when I came across a Chinese summerhouse - a ridiculous confection of green and gold with statues, some of whose features bore a passing resemblance to Chinese.

The weather all day has been blustery, changing conditions quickly between warm sun, black clouds and sudden cloudbursts.

Tomorrow we drive towards Liege. We'll probably stop for the night somewhere between there and Cologne, and then drive on to Meaux on Friday. Two long (over 300 mile) days ahead of us. I hope the car holds together, and that the weather is kind.

Tuesday 26th June - more

2007-06-27T06:55:00.000Z

Pic 1. en route, in the rain.

Pic 2. The German-Polish border.

And see below for newly-added Gdansk photos.

We experienced something of what the UK has been having, with the wettest day of the journey by far. Sebastian is a Regenmeister in the Schumacher mould, and relished it - throwing the car around in a way I wouldn't have been able to do.

Without windscreen wipers we had to run with the top screen completely open, meaning that the rain hit us full in the face. Seb has decent goggles which, with his hood pulled tight, made it bearable. With only sunglasses I just hunkered down and concentrated on trying to stop the maps from turning to papier mache (only partly successful) and finding us a route around Berlin to Potsdam, avoiding both rush hour traffic and motorways. After sitting in puddles all day I worry about getting nappy rash - still, it soothes the mosquito bites!

At the German border we were kept waiting for longer than at either Latvia or Lithuania but, with the rain hammering on the roof of the customs shed we didn't mind too much.

As Seb says, the end is in sight now, and I can't wait to get back to my long-suffering and patient better half, Kevin, who has been trying to organise a welcome party for us despite our changes of timetable. Our return is badly timed from the point of view of crossing the channel, as apparently everything is fully booked, so no big reception in Paris. The party will have to wait until London on Sunday night, assuming we can squeeze the Austin into a corner on a Eurotunnel train.

Making time to put fingers to keyboard

2007-06-26T21:31:00.000Z

Left Gdansk at 05.45 (the town was quite busy) 13 hours later drove into Potsdam after very wet drive and being in the driving seat for 326 miles.

The reupholsted seat squab now comfortable at the end of the day. PN went well due to cooler weather and possibly the 4 hour service yesterday. Mountain Equipment jacket kept out the elements but waterproof trousers never seem to be waterproof!

Paris almost in sight!

Sebastian

Tuesday 26th June - Rain, and into Germany.

2007-06-26T16:49:00.000Z

PM: It has rained very hard today on and off (the hood is back in England). Now at the German Border - Euro Zone and all the mystery has gone. Breakfast this morning was at a BP wild bean cafe! Getting demob happy, looking forward to finishing.

Planning to stay in Potsdam tonight - Paris side of Berlin. Should be easier for traffic and hotels.

Monday 25th June - Gdansk

2007-06-25T16:47:00.000Z

Pic 1 - overheating engine - this is what the temperature guage looks like most of the time!

Pic 2 - arriving in Gdansk

Pic 3 - one of the pictures at the Roads to Freedom exhibition in the Gdansk shipyards.

Gdansk is another pleasant surprise of a city. I only knew it as a place of shipyards and Solidarity, but it has a beautiful, compact Old Town with cobbled streets, pedestrianised areas and historic buildings.

Unfortunately the only internet cafe we can find is running Windows 98 and I can't put up any pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for the delights of Gdansk for the time being. [edited to add - pictures now added].

This morning Seb had a long fettle of the car, trying to get the starter motor to work. The commutator was full of carbon - now cleaned out, but we will be push starting the car for the next few days.

Thank you David for your suggestion about the fan belt, but Seb has tried different settings and reckons it is beyond that.

Tomorrow to Berlin - or probably just beyond, to Potsdam. We've found the smaller cities easier from many points of view - getting into the centre with a vintage car, finding accommodation (with parking) and being able to see something of the city without being overwhelmed.

For the last run in to Paris we will try to follow Borghese's route of 1907 as far as possible, via Liege, Reims and Meaux. If we stay at Meaux on Friday and make an early start we will be in Paris for breakfast and to celebrate. We're both really looking forward to getting to Paris, and then back home. I should be home on Sunday night, while Seb has the extra drive to Staffordshire to do on Monday, before he and the Austin can really relax.

Sunday 24th June - to Gdansk

2007-06-24T21:01:00.000Z

Long Day -13 hours on the road. Now in Gdansk where we found a studentish bar where we've just ordered food. We've just had our last time zone change until the Channel.

Great roads, and managed to stay on B-roads most of the way. Tarmac seems to be courtesy of the EU, here and in Lithuania. Lakes and scenery Poland's own.

A nasty noise from the engine diagnosed as a worn fan pulley. Packing it with grease has quietened it, which will do for now.

Text received from K&C: We are staying just by the Polish/German boarder. berlin very early tomorrow morning then on towards Reims. Meeting up with A and S on saturday for a photo session at 8am so we can get to Falaise for midday on Saturday

Saturday 23rd - Sightseeing day

2007-06-23T17:17:00.000Z

Pic 1. One of the day's many weddings.

Pic 2. The old town from Gedimino's Tower

Pic 3. Gedimino's Tower

Pic 4. the only memorial in the world to Frank Zappa

Pic 5. Gates of Dawn Chapel

Pic 6. Devotees of the Vilnius Madonna - renowned for her healing ability.

Pic 7. St Anne's Church, of which Napoleon said that he would like to take it in his hands home to France.

Vilnius is highly recommended. The Old town is relatively unspoilt, and quiet. This was quite different from the crowds of tourists in St Petersburg. It's also a manageable size - everything accessible on foot, and some real gems of churches.

Lithuania has a vibrant religious life. Every church I went into had a service going on, and was full. In St Anne's Church there was sublime singing from the congregation, and a choir out of sight in a gallery. All the churches are richly decorated with icons, frescoes, statues, paintings and acres of gold leaf.

At the Ausros Vartai (Gates of Dawn) Chapel the painting of the Madonna was covered with gold, all except her face and hands. There was a steady stream of devotees asking her to intercede for them. Apparently here it is considered to be the picture that has the power to heal, and the women were very fervent. I hope they get what they were asking for - it seemed almost pagan to me.

The city was full of brides and grooms - at the main cathedral (the Archcathedral Basilica) there were four couple - one inside, two outside waiting, and one leaving for the bridge. There is a tradition that newlyweds lock a padlock onto the bridge, and throw the key in the river, to 'eternalise' their marriage.

Lunch consisted of zepellins - the local speciality. Meat inside zepellin-shaped moulds of mashed potato. It was a bit stodgy, but good.

Seb and I arranged to meet at Gedimino's tower, on a hill overlooking the town. From the park at its foot I found a steep and winding path, which seemed to match the guidebook description. Arriving at the top out of breath, but on time, I found that I had climbed the wrong hill - the Hill of Three Crosses instead. Quickly down, found the right one, and climbed that, arriving less than half an hour after our due time (the hills aren't as large as the guidebooks would have one believe), but no Seb. It turned out that he climbed Gedimino's hill, then the Three Crosses one, and we had failed to meet each other on the paths between! Off to a bar now to find beer - maybe I'll bump into Seb on the same search!

Tomorrow we head for Gdansk, and it will be a long day.

Saturday 23rd June - day off in Vilnius

2007-06-23T06:58:00.000Z

Only a week to go now until we expect to get to Paris and, after a long day driving yesterday and two border crossings (the second one only taking a matter of minutes as both Latvia and Lithuania are in the EU) we are having a day off in Vilnius.

We find ourselves in a country (Lithuania) of which we have no knowledge - no guide books, only a very small scale map as part of our European road atlas, and we arrived not even knowing what the currency is called, or what language is spoken! No problem though, as everyone so far is friendly and able to speak either English or German, so we may not have to mime everything. We've seen our last Cyrillic script too, so reading road signs will be much easier. Last night in the street we met a very helpful man called Martin, on his way to pick up his father from a Joe Cocker concert, who did a detour to find us a hotel. Unfortunately I have yet to find internet access that will let me upload pictures, but will keep trying.

Today will be sightseeing, and a brief immersion in Lithuanian culture before heading on to Poland - Gdansk is the plan, followed by Berlin, then Paris.

To Class P5 - Well done Katie and Shona. You were the closest, by saying a Kremlin is a castle. It is a fortified area at the centre of a town. It would originally have been a place to which the people of the town would retreat (probably with possessions and animals) if they were under attack. There were similar fortifications for some British medieval towns, which were used the same way. Over time the space has become filled with buildings of importance to the town - usually including a church and government offices. Often the Russian centre of government in Moscow is referred to as 'The Kremlin' for this reason, but every old town has its own Kremlin.

Friday 22nd June - Over the border to Vilnius

2007-06-22T23:21:00.000Z

Pic 1 - stork on telegraph pole.

Pic 2 almost our last Cyrillic before leaving Russia (pronounced something like Vyishgorodok - my ability to read this has now become redundant)

Pic 3. Latvian entry border control

Pic 4. Seb feeling the cold, and about to check the plugs

Am: On our way out of Pskov we stopped at a post office and illegally parked on the pavement. A police 4x4 pulled up. Four cops jumped out and stopped all the traffic - to get the best shots on their cameras.

We had a reasonably easy drive to the Border, though lush meadows. The only problem- no signposting of border, or of the next large town which is on the other side, so presumably it's of no interest. We drove past a line of telegraph poles by the road, each topped with a storks nest. They were rather camera shy, but stunning. Flying overhead they looked ungainly - legs dangling. Stopped for pictures to a chorus of crickets and cuckoos and it feels very summery.

Lunch time: We may not make it to Vilnius tonight as we are still at the border and 200 miles to go. It's after 1pm and Seb's stomach is demanding lunch - won't be fobbed off with bananas!

Evening: Vilnius is very civilised. Nice city, hotel staff smile and speak English, allow you to pay on departure, and don't keep your passport! So far so good.

Hello to Class P5!

Text from K & C, " just crossed into Lithuania. Yet another currency! We are only 2 hours ahead now. We are going to meet A and S in Berlin. "

Thursday 21st June - St Petersburg to Pskov

2007-06-21T18:46:00.000Z

Pic 1. Picnic spot with not too much rubbish, where we cooked up meals from our supply of army rations.

Pic 2. Stopped by the police.

Pic 3. Pskov Kremlin.

Pic 4. me and Kremlin

Pic 5. Three generations of Russians out walking.

Pic 6. The ubiquitous Lenin statue.

Congratulations to Gordon and Sandy of P5 for their answer to the question about St Petersburg. Quite right, and I hope you enjoyed the school trip.

Thank you Paul for letting us know the cricket result - we were able to pass this on to the errant 30-98 in St Petersburg. They took it very well.

This morning we set off early, with the rally traffic, but soon lost them as they were heading to Tallinn in Estonia, while we were going south towards Vilnius, in Lithuania, but with a night's stop in Pskov en route.

A few miles outside St Petersburg we stopped for a mini service in a lay-by - oil change, cleaning the distributor, and changing spark plugs. The car seemed to go better after the attention.

The road was good - reasonable tarmac, and hardly any trucks, with attractive woodland - scabius, hare bells and monster cow parsley on the verges, along with the usual collection of rubbish. We were only stopped by the police three times - the first two at regular checkpoints, where they wanted to see our documents and chat. The third time a police car came up on our tail, siren and lights going, and pulled us over. I was nervous, but the two policemen climbed out of the car smiling, camera phone in hand, asking if they could take a picture.

We filled up with petrol just outside Pskov, and calculated our fuel consumption for the day at 45 mpg - pretty good, and gives us a range of 427.5 miles. Not that we've needed that much anywhere on our route. Our distance today was just over 200 miles, giving us a total so far of 5,800 and, on the shortest route, only about 1,000 to go.

Pskov is an attractive small city, with a historic Kremlin (Class P5, do you know, or can you find out what a Kremlin is?). After the St Petersburg traffic we've decided that this is a better size of city to visit with a vintage car, and enjoyed strolling around the streets, taking in the views along the river.

Tomorrow we have a border crossing and just over 200 miles to do in order to reach Vilnius. The other Austin crossed the border into Estonia today and got through smoothly, only taking 2.5 hours, so we hope to do no worse. They are now planning to miss Vilnius and go straight to Poland, so it seems we will be playing leapfrog across Europe!

Wednesday 20th June - St Petersburg

2007-06-20T15:16:00.000Z

Pic 1. Sky over St Petersburg at 2am.

Pic 2. a woman in costume near the Hermitage.

Last night we went to the hotel where the rally is based (it was 9pm by the time we arrived, after a two hour slog through St Petersburg rush hour traffic) and hung around in the bar catching up with friends and waiting to hear about a room. Finally after 11pm we were told they could fit us in. A huge relief, as the alternative would have been to pitch our tents in the car park. The hotel is a huge improvement on Moscow's Hotel Cosmos, which seems to have employed KGB agents to guard the lifts and restaurants, and prevent guests from eating or getting to their rooms without proper ID.

It has been a very pleasant surprise to find out, both here and in Moscow, how many of the rally competitors were aware of us doing the same route, and they have been looking out for us. In Moscow we were asked; "When did we overtake you?" The reply being; "You haven't yet - we arrived yesterday." They are all astonished to see how small and fragile the Austin looks, and can't believe we've come the same route as them.

Many of the rally cars have suffered badly, and been trucked or towed for large portions of the route. Adam Hartley and Jonathan Turner's Itala (which has done the journey once already, driven by Lang Kidby) broke its crankshaft before Ulaan Baatur, and now has a Russian Volga engine. It's running again, but they missed 16 days of the rally. Many competitors have damaged their suspension by trying to maintain high speeds on unsurfaced roads - we've told them our secret; to do it slowly.

We've been thinking of Vince Leek and his team - three Austin 7 saloons who were scheduled to leave Beijing on 10th June, and wonder how they're getting on. I think they should be in the Gobi by now, and hope that everyone (cars and people) is well.

Today has been very civilised and car-free; lunch with and farewell to the Beijing to Norwich team, and a very quick trip to the Hermitage Museum. I concentrated on the Renaissance and Impressionist collections, and didn't even scratch the surface of the collection. It was difficult to decide how to divide my attention between the artwork and the buildings.

Now we have to decide on our route and timing from St Petersburg to Paris/England. We're well ahead of schedule, and the cars are running well, so we could arrive in Paris much sooner than our original plan. Alternatively we could dawdle through Europe, sightseeing en route. Whatever we decide, we'll be leaving St Petersburg very early tomorrow, to try to beat the traffic.

Tuesday 19th June - to St Petersburg

2007-06-19T07:39:00.000Z

Pic 1 - Rainbow over Tver

Pic 2 - Cathedral at Novgorod - the frescoes and icons inside were spectacular (but no photos I'm afraid)

Pic 3 and 4 - in St Petersburg traffic we met people from the large rally doing the same route. The Vauxhall 30-98 of Michael Power and Johnny Green is bruised but running fine. Looks to me like they have too much luggage - and I wonder if they've ever used the hood.

Pic 5. The convoy stopped outside the Hermitage for a photo opportunity and for the Bentley to pump up a flat tyre.

Pic 6. the local police disapproved of our parking style - or the various fluids we were dropping and asked to see everyone's documents. In Moscow two days ago we were asked for original documents, but had left them in the hotel. The police threatened to arrest the car, but finally let us off.

Am: Yesterday we left Moscow in the afternoon and managed about 100 miles to Tver.
Stared driving at 5:45am to try to do the just over 300 miles and get to St Petersburg for this evening and meet up with Kip & Carmen.

PM: 40 miles to go and pouring with rain. Just heard that the hotels are all apparently full for midsummer. May be sleeping on the street! A question for Clober Primary School, Glasgow: Why is midsummer special here in St Petersburg?

Later: Driving though St Petersburg rush hour traffic, 3 litre Bentley in front, Vauxhall 30-98 behind, both filming us. Not something you do everyday!

Pictures from Moscow

2007-06-18T09:40:00.002Z

Pic 1. - windscreen lashed together with tyre irons, cable ties and birch twigs.

Pic 2. the constant attention of the papparazi has lost its novelty.

Pic 3. the mad architecture and colours of St Basils.

2007-06-18T09:40:00.001Z

Pic 4. Moscow by night.

Pic 5. Sebastian at Oldtimer Garage - considering this Russian 4 x 4 for his next trip.

Pic 6. Mobile workshop of one of the rally cars.

2007-06-18T09:40:00.000Z

Pic 7 on the ferry on the way to Kazan.

Pic 8. me at the Kazan Kremlin

Pic 9. the huge hotel Cosmos, with inexplicable statue of Charles de Gaulle in front.

Pic 10. Dmitry and Irina, who have looked after us in Moscow, and arranged windscreen repair.

Monday 18th June - Update on the week

2007-06-18T08:17:00.000Z

We arrived in Moscow yesterday – a watershed for our journey, as we leave behind the open spaces, mountains, wilderness and hundreds of miles of silver birch forest. We've come across our first McDonalds and Ikea and ahead of us we expect to find better roads but also traffic, which brings its own challenges. The elegance of some Russian cities has been a pleasant surprise, and the colours of Moscow buildings and churches are pleasantly out of step with the images I still held from Cold War era films.

In the last week the roads have been very variable, with some long stretches of dirt track – one of over 20km, which included an hour-long wait for a ferry crossing. The tarmac is not much better, being riddled with potholes between which we have to try to pick a route.

A few days ago, between Perm and Kazan, we hit a vicious ramp at speed. It launched us into the air and when we landed the offside windscreen upright (already cracked) snapped, and the lower pane of glass fractured. I was very glad that Sebastian was driving at the time, as I wouldn’t have wanted to do this to his car! I was also grateful for the laminated safety glass, although it didn’t prevent me from getting a mouthful of sharp splinters. A temporary repair, with tyre levers, cable ties and birch twigs held the screen together as far as Moscow, where the engineers at Oldtimer Garage kindly welded the frame together, free of charge and on a Sunday. Apart from this, the Austin has held up well - a tribute to the many hours of preparation put in by Sebastian and several others who helped.

Our accommodation has been a mix of large Soviet era hotels, small guest houses and, most memorably, staying with a family in the small town of Syumsi, who fired up the sauna at the end of the garden in our honour and fed us bortsch and chicken for breakfast before we were allowed to leave.

The police seem to be losing their sense of humour as we head westwards. In Moscow we have been asked for original documents for the first time – including insurance. Not knowing it was compulsory to carry them, we’d left them in the hotel, and the car was threatened with arrest.

Pic 1 Concours winner - a Cadillac that used to belong to Prince Rainier of Monaco, the Austin dropping oil in the background.

We seem to be minor celebrities, photographed with thousands of mobile phones. On our arrival in Moscow we were whisked to a local ‘Oldtimer’ car event, where we found ourselves an incongruous part of a concours d’elegance – our broken windscreen was certainly not traditional concours material, but speeches were made and people seemed happy to let us drop oil on their red carpet.

Sunday 16th June - Moscow

2007-06-18T06:04:00.000Z

K & C have left for St. Petersburg while we went to Oldtimers garage where we got the windscreen frame welded. We met old and new friends from the big rally that has once again caught us up and will be overtaking us here in Moscow. Took Brian Larkin and his Sunbeam diff cage to the garage and hope they can help him. Brian is suffering from a bad leg so we lent him our telescopic the walking pole. Had a bit of a late night with the rallyiests.

Saturday 16th June - to Moscow

2007-06-16T15:12:00.000Z

On our way in to Moscow and hope to make it by 3pm to meet Dimitry and his sister who have arranged a reception for us. We left at 6am, so late night vodka session may do us in!

Evening: Arrived Ok, and now we find ourselves accidentally on the podium at a Russian concours d'elegance! Speeches, press, drinks, banquet...

Friday 15th June - pushing on... to Novgorod

2007-06-15T20:00:00.000Z

Set off early from Kazan to push on. Hopefully we can get ahead of ourselves enough to not only do repairs, but spend a couple of days seeing Moscow, and then St. Petersburg.

4pm: Thirty miles from Novgorod. Heavy traffic and pot holes roads, also glorious weather and a very hot engine. Scenery of forests, villages and herds of cows.

Thursday 14th June - to Kazan

2007-06-14T14:30:00.000Z

Morning: A few miles into the day we hit a ramp hard and became airborne. . On landing the windscreen mounting gave way completely, and the lower glass fractured. Now held together with tyre irons and cable ties, until we can weld it .

Wednesday 13th June - another time zone crossed.

2007-06-13T10:43:00.000Z

So far a beautiful day, against forecast. Mileage now 4260, and just crossed another time zone, so now only 4 hours ahead.. Will drive for 2 hours more and stop for the night.

We now have a long list of repairs to be done: Windscreen support, rear axle oil seal, rad mounting, oil change, clean, check and tighten everything.

Later: We've just enjoyed a deserted, good road through lush forest in warm sun. Now we've stopped for the night between Perm and Kazan, but there is no hotel in the village however we've been taken in by a family to sleep on the floor. Fantastic.

Tomorrow should be a short day.

Much Later: Just had a traditional Banya (sauna), and were beaten with birch twigs by the hosts. Kip retaliated with bagpipes. All settled over vodka and tea.

Updates added

2007-06-12T03:36:00.000Z

I've added a few pictures and some more words to the last few days. Will try to put more on tonight, if it stops raining for long enough to take any pictures!

Tuesday 12th June - into the Urals

2007-06-12T03:21:00.001Z

Woke at 5.30 to bright sunshine (no Russian hotel seems to have curtains at the windows).

Unfortunately it was too good to last, and by 8.00 the rain had set in. I just checked the weather forecast for the next week, and it looks as if we can expect almost constant rain, and cold weather. Seb may be trying to buy a jumper this morning before we set off.

We're now starting to rise into the Urals, and I do hope the Mossies thin out. I got 9 bites on my bottom in 1 very quick pee stop!

Only about 235 miles to Perm today, to our next stop, so we're having a leisurely start - makes a change from getting on the road for 6.30 as we've been doing for the last few days.

We've entirely run out of Roubles, so Seb and Kip have gone to the bank to change some dollars. We're wishing we'd brought a little less cash. ATMs are pretty ubiquitous, and available 24 hours a day, but to change dollars you have to find a bank that's open, and go through a long-winded process.

Another thing that we didn't predict was the almost total lack of English language here. I tend to assume that American TV, films and music leads to a little bit of the language getting everywhere, but Siberia seems to have resisted and even words like 'yes', 'no', 'English' and 'hotel' get completely blank looks. Most people assume we're German - in fact, a couple of days ago someone drew a swastika in the earth to ask the question. He seemed very pleased with the answer, when he understood it.

Evening: Sun and downpours today. The road was full of car breaking pot holes, but we've now successfully crossed the Urals, which means we are officially in Europe. Perm is an attractive affluent city, despite ugly industrial suburbs.

Monday 11th June - to Yekaterinburg

2007-06-11T07:04:00.000Z

Morning: So far rained all day ... still 137 miles to go Yekaterinburg - should make it.
Pic 1 - impressive set of metal teeth from man at our lunchtime cafe.

Pic 2 - changing the wheel

Pic 3: Fiat Bambino going around the world.

Pic 4: getting puncture fixed.

Today was a very long day, with rain all the way to Yekaterinburg. The landscape varies between agridesert and silver birch forest.

We met Lang and Bev Kidby on the road today in their round the world Bambino (first met them in Novosibirsk). We had heard they'd broken a halfshaft yesterday, but Lang managed to weld it up to get them moving and, hopefully, as far as the border. They're up against it because they have 30 day Russian visas, and yet the car was delayed arriving, taking at least a week out of their time here.

For supper we joined the diamond dealers at a very good restaurant called Dacha - Sturgeon pie was a favourite dish and, to Seb's delight, they had pudding - apple and cinnamon tart with ice cream. All the taxi drivers in this city fancy themselves as Michael Schumacher, and we had a high speed city tour.

Sunday 10th June - Siberia

2007-06-10T14:58:00.000Z

260 miles in rain today. Bored of silver birches after 1400 miles of Siberia. Now at a fuel station / B + B with hot water (but no web). Hope to do 300 miles to Yekaterinburg tomorrow. Have just met the rally advanced party again, and the Beijing -Norwich pair as well. Apparently of the 126 starters, 90 left Mongolia under their own power!
Pic 1: Annabel talked her way out of a speeding ticket.

Later: Just had a riotous evening. Shashliks and beer in a container - turned cafe. Best meal so far, and then joy-riding in a Lada to buy ice creams.

Saturday 9th June - Omsk and repairs

2007-06-09T14:09:00.000Z

Pic 1: 6:15am - Police escort out of town!

The police turned up at 6.15 to take Seb and Kip to collect the cars, and we left Tatarsk with a police escort - they evidently enjoy using their flashing lights, and decided to drive any other traffic off the road, and into ditches, so we could have all of the tarmac to ourselves.

Pic 2: What is the word for "propshaft"?

Midday: About 100 miles driving so far today and Kips's propshaft has worn out - it was apparently assembled without any bushes. Now we're in a bus garage in Omsk, for repairs. The mechanics have asked for the addresses of English newspapers to write about their lives.

Prop sorted and on our way again just four hours after the problem discovered. Natives very friendly and one has just handed me an Uzbek t-shirt from his car window at 35 mph! Seb has his eye on it for a rag.

Evening: Now staying in a motel just north of Omsk. Will start early in the morning aiming for Ykaterinberg by Monday night. Just had a good meal with lots of wine to celebrate Brian's return recovery.

Friday 8th June - From Novosibirisk to Tatarsk

2007-06-08T10:50:00.000Z

Brief update from K: Yesterday the two teams met up in Novosibirsk, and plan to leave together early this morning setting out for the next long section across Siberia to Moscow. They met up with the big P2P rally arriving in town from Mongolia (who seem to have had a tough time of it as a fair few are on tow ropes / trucks), and met lots of friendly faces. By all accounts it is quiet a party atmosphere.
Later in the evening Annabel had her mobile stolen while at the restaurant.

Evening: We have arrived at a hotel in Tatarsk after the highest mileage so far - 315 miles. All well and weather fine but not hot. The land is now flat and dull - could be Normandy, except for the lack of restaurants. Just had autograph signing from keen fans, and cooked supper from local supplies.
Just as we were going to bed, a deputation arrived, including the local English teacher. They told us that we must move the cars to the police station, as they were not safe in front of the hotel. The local young people would probably remove the wheels. From the charming ones who'd been collecting our autographs this seemed unlikely, but Kip and Seb buckled under pressure and drove the cars across town, with a police escort.

Navigation notes

2007-06-07T04:25:00.000Z

In Mongolia some things are fixed; generally mountains and towns with fuel stations. Pretty much everything else; villages, roads and rivers, is movable. Roads drift and migrate just like the nomadic herdsmen, who use them for their trucks (moving house and buying supplies) but horses, camels or motorbikes for everything else.

With the best maps available (1:500,000) and a good GPS we can always plot accurately where we are, but often there's no road shown at that point on the map. Despite this, by placing our trust in following the most-used track we've done well and only had to backtrack twice.

North of Hovd we had to use conjecture and lateral thinking to find the right route. Both the Garmin basemap and the 1: 500,000 (published 2003) showed the major road going North, while the dominant tracks headed West. We decided that a new road must have been made - a logical place to put one as it cut a corner and saved ten or fifteen kilometres.

Russia, with Cyrillic roadsigns, should be a doddle from a navigation point of view, although we found last night that navigating in a city, in rush hour, to find a hotel is far from easy. Even with a city map (not really designed for driving by) it took us and hour and several stops. The hotel when we did find it, was friendly and good value, with even a garage for the car.

Wednesday 6th June - Barnaul.

2007-06-06T14:18:00.000Z

Today a bit of a grind and stopped by all cops - just to take photos! Now done just over 2500 miles, and have arrived at Barnaul so should rejoin with Kip & Carmen tomorrow up in Novosibirsk. Have just spent a frustrating 2 hours searching for the promised Internet cafes - no joy, and will try again in the morning.

Pic 1. Siberia - Chuysky Trakt - through Altai Province

Pic 2. Lunch stop, with friendly Russians who invited us to stay, but need to push on to Barnaul.

Pic 3. Attractive church in Barnaul.

Danica says: text from Mum and Dad... "We have done 3002 miles and are at Novosibirsk. Brian going well (I assume that's the car!). Staying in a loovely hotel in a lane full of log houses."

Tuesday 5th June - Onguday - on the road to Bijsk

2007-06-05T13:53:00.000Z

All well. We've arrived at Onguday, and have reached civilisation as used an ATM! Stunning scenery here - roaring river of meltwater, steep, forested mountains, like the Alps. Couldn't be more different from the Gobi a couple of days ago. Charming B&B.

Just had supper of soup and chicken, the same as yesterday. After mutton at every meal in Mongolia, maybe similar variety here!

Pic 2 Seb at evening prayers (cleaning plugs)

Pic 3. View from the B&B

Monday 4th June - Siberian border crossing

2007-06-04T12:07:00.000Z

Pic 1. Mongolian roadbuilding.

Pic 2. herdsman (on bicycle) with goats.

Pic 3. queue to exit Mongolia

Pic 4. Border marker post.

Pic 5. Siberian building techniques - massive chunks of wood everywhere.

Pic 6. Friendly guard dog.

Pic 7. Lenin under ominous skies.

Pic 8. Welcome to Russia

Pic 9. Me sampling the local produce.

Pic 10. Seb writing his journal.

Left Olgiy at 5.30 (had to rouse someone to open the gate for us) and started out on a good road, with tarmac. Unfortunately, after just a few miles, the road was blocked with piles of earth, as roadbuilding was in progress. This pushed us back to finding our way on the side tracks. However, we still had a wonderful, steep (I had to walk for a long section) climb to 8802ft (our highest point yet). Then we dropped down the other side, watching large numbers of a chubby rodent (like a ginger groundhog, with a bushy tail) waddle away to their burrows just in time to miss having their picture taken.

The border processes were Kafkaesque, with queues to join queues, and then a queue in a holding bay while the Russian entry post finished their lunch. No mans land was 28km of perfect tarmac, and no traffic. We crossed the border in only 6 hours. The guards were confused we were not 130 cars! It was sad to leave Mongolia but at least Russia has tarmac & hot water.

Should get to Bijsk tomorrow where I hope to upload some photos, and be in Novosibirsk by Thursday. Now among the mountains - the change of scenery is good.

Update from Kip & Carmen in Siberia: " Had a very wet and cold day. Ended up in a small town 230 miles west from Karasnoyarsk, where we were yesterday. The hotel we are staying in is 3 months old and we have rest for 3days. Have had fabulous food and all 5 staff attention. Feel fat!"

Further Update: (Email sent to VSCC office)
Dear Sirs,
What a surprise, on a rainy Siberian Monday morning….just as I pull to my trusted gas station….what do I see ??? a British vintage car with non-Russian plate numbers…

I couldn’t but stop for a chat, is not that often that I’ve met other Europeans in Krasnoyarsk since I’m here…. As you can see, both Kip & Carmen are alive and kicking.

Best regards from Krasnoyarsk !!
Gonzalo

Sunday 3nd June - Over the mountains.

2007-06-03T16:28:00.000Z

Pics all out of order - from the top though:

Pic 1, Ger camp at Olgiy;

Pic 2, Yaks;

Pic 3, a lake;

Pic 4, unexplained guardian at entrance to Olgiy;

Pic 5, Birds - black kites I think, guarding the exit from Hovd;

Pic 6, over the pass, snowy mountains ahead;

Pic 7, our lunch stop

We left Hovd with some trepidation as we set out on what we've been warned is the most challenging road. As it turned out, the road was fine - it took us twelve hours to cover the 145 miles to Olgiy, but there was a defined (albeit rocky and corrugated) dirt road all the way, with bridges over all the rivers. The mountains gave us a welcome change after the desert sameness, and at times the snow came down to the road.

It was almost an anticlimax not to use the snorkel.

As we approached Olgiy we found a road block, with a small hut and a length of motorcycle chain across the road. A man sat on a rug listening to music, with a large book by his side. He demanded our signature in a book and 5,000 Togrogs (approx. $5). When another car arrived and paid him the T5k we were reassured and followed suit.

After an hour or more searching for the 'Eco Ger Camp' mentioned in our Lonely Planet guide, we settled for a small and pleasant Kazakh ger camp in the centre of town. Its drawback was that there was a beer guarden/disco on the same site, and there would be music until midnight. The plumbing was close to non-existent; long-drop loos we've come to expect, but there was a basin with the waste just flowing onto the mud floor, and the hose to the one tap was leaking in a high pressure spray of water that soaked anyone coming near. The staff reassuringly told us that the plumbing would be finished in two days (by when we'd be long gone). I got out a spanner and started to attack the hose myself, which galvanised them into action, and soon we had not only working water supply but also the basin connected to the waste, and electric light in our ger.

It was 9pm by the time we were ready to eat, and we had to persuade a Turkish restaurant nearby to re-open for us.

Should be at the border tomorrow.

Saturday 2nd June - Dzereg to Hovd

2007-06-02T13:58:00.001Z

Pic 1: A rare (and unusually detailed) road sign.

Pic 2: The state of the air filter

Pic 3: The state of the rear of the car

Pic 4: Arriving in Hovd - snowy mountains ahead of us.

Pic 5: A chance meeting with other Brits (possessing more suitable transport and cruising tunes on the stereo)

All is well.

We have arrived in Hovd one day ahead of Schedule after 88 Miles today and earlier we met a Brit and a Dutchman doing Beijing to Norwich! Their guide says the road ahead is good but snowy peaks in view though...

If all goes well (early start tomorrow and a good forecast) we should get to Novo by next Friday or Saturday.

Total mileage so far just under 2000 miles. Thinking of Jim Diffey today.

News from Kip and Carmen: "We nearly camped when a local man and his son asked us to stay with his family. they have a beautiful wooden typical russian house. We are so lucky! We broke down again and some Russians replaced all sorts before they thought it may be bad petrol."

Friday 1st May - from Altai to Dzereg

2007-06-02T13:56:00.000Z

Today was a very long day - 15.5 hours and 186 miles. We left Altai through green hills but were soon back to desert.

Later: We've rescued a Mongol motorcyclist who had run out of fuel, and was then invited to tea and stay. Took tea, but it was too early for bed and pushed on...

Evening: We were in a sandstorm looking for a place to pitch tents when we were invited in by a family and given a Ger of our own.

News from Kip & Carmen via Danica: "Just had a text message... they have ended up going to a Russian wedding. I asked how on earth they got invited and they said you have to have a lot of luck and an old car! No other news."

Thursday 31st May - to Altai

2007-05-31T07:33:00.000Z

Midday: We were on the road again by 7:15am, with only 100 miles to Altai. Now stopped for lunch - not hungry but will try. On Schedule, and car going well.

Later: We have arrived in Altai. Seb did a heroic 9 hour drive through a featureless desert. Now looking for somewhere to wash up and internet access.

Later still: I've got some great pics to post, but after a frustrating half hour or so I've given up on the technology here. They'll have to wait.

Text just received from Kip and Carmen: " We just spent 2 hours to get out of Mongolia and 6 hours to get into Russia. Then still drove 230 km to big town. Arrived 9.30 pm (30th May). Had yet another fright as car made terrible noise but suddenly it stopped."

Meanwhile, more on the route: Effectively we're driving Mongolia's M4 - the only road west from the capital, and yet we've hardly seen any other traffic - today I think it was 3 or 4 jeeps/minivans and a couple of motorcycles- one of which was ridden by a herdsman who was showing us onto the right road after we had followed the wrong one for eight miles - it turned out to end at an oasis, with some very scenic camels. Even with GPS and the best maps UB could supply (1:500,000) it's a challenge to stay on route. The correct route is usually a braided lattice of tracks which fan out over several miles. The 'main' one is usually so corrugated that the side ones are kinder on the car, but there is always the risk of inadvertently taking a fork as we did today.

The desert is bleak and beautiful, but there's a lot of it. I think we're ready for a change, even if it does mean fording rivers of meltwater. The flora mostly consists of miserable scrubby bushes hanging on to a grim existence, but there are patches of colour with purple irises and a pinky gorse-type flower. Sometimes there is something very fragrant underfoot and we drive through a beautiful scent. The hundreds of gerbils that scattered in front of us a couple of days ago have disappeared, to be replaced by much less frequent marmots, who seem to choose to build their burrows in the middle of the road. Otherwise there are domestic animals; bactrian camels, horses, sheep, goats and occasional cows. These seem to roam freely, but sometimes you'll see a lone herder riding a horse, camel or motorbike- no sign of any gers or anyone else for miles. The birdlife is sparse - one small brown bird with a white rump is ubiquitous, and there are large numbers of eagles - a majestic sight.

We've been following the progress of other drivers bringing up the rear and, if we can make good time for the next few days, there is a good chance that we'll be in Novosibirsk to share a beer with them on their rest day. It sounds as if many of them have had greater problems than us. The Austin 7 engine hasn't objected to the low octane fuel we're feeding it and, having lightened the load a lot in UB, and taken an angle grinder to the bodywork at the rear where it was bottoming out, the suspension seems to be fine. We've got a rigorous schedule of daily greasing to try to prevent the desert sand (which gets everywhere) from causing too many problems.

Must go now - beer calling.

Further update from Kip & Carmen from the road north(via daughter Danica)
They had to drive 90 miles back as they forgot their passports!!
They visited main Buddhist monastery in Siberia for morning service. Had lots of mobile photos taken by passing motorists then they stopped further on and tried to waive folks down to take more pictures. Some huge potholes appeared which were difficult to see. Could break axle or tear wheel. Very steep up and down.

Wednesday 30th May - Long, wet day

2007-05-30T22:27:00.000Z

5am: and woken by the sound of rain. This will make it harder going for us and the car. The big problem we expect to face is rivers with no bridges. It will be a long drive across the desert today.

Evening: Tough day today.. rained all morning. Drove for 9 hours and then camped in the desert. It is very cold. I was sick for much of the night.

Tuesday 29th May. Pushing on

2007-05-30T22:25:00.000Z

Have arrived in Bayanhonger after 8 hours driving - 10 hours with stops.

Now driving in the mountains - 7800 feet of vertical. 155 miles of which less than 15 were tarmac.

Ready for a beer!

Monday 28th May - Long day to Arvayheer

2007-05-30T22:12:00.000Z

Today so far missed a crucial turning and ran out of fuel!

Evening: Arrived in Arvayheer - back on schedule but suffering a little from driving all day with no break. It was very hot and we both flaked out by 7:30.

There are rumours of tarmac tomorrow, which would be welcome. Have bought some supplies now for en route snacking too.

Sunday 27th May Kip and Carmen depart, we party in the desert

2007-05-27T01:52:00.001Z

Full of high spirits, Kip and Carmen leave UB to head north for Lake Baikal. Amazing how your luggage shrinks when you wear all your clothes. (pic below, out of order)

We'll be doing a final pack (again) and heading off soon.

Left UB and got 116 miles under our belt. Spent the evening with a road crew (the promised tarmac was not laid yet). Had mutton/noodle stew. went joy riding in trucks, played basketball, vodka drinking in a Ger, then open air disco by JCB hazard lights. Finally camped with horses grazing nearby.

Pic 1: just a few miles outside UB. Pic 2: with new friend from Mongol roadbuilding crew.
Pic 3: Seb's HGV driving lesson from road crew. Pic 4: Basketball in the Gobi. Pic 5: Camping with the road crew (after disco by the lights of the JCB)

Sunday 27th May Undrakh the hero

2007-05-27T01:01:00.000Z

Seb's phone was ringing when I came up from breakfast, and it was Undrakh, saying; where are you? A few minutes later she arrived, carrying Seb's camera. The police had phoned her at 5am and drove around the city to get it. Seb's now gone with her to the police station to confirm that it's been returned, so they don't suspect her of keeping it.

Fantastic result, and we've learnt our lesson. We'll be more careful, and will download the pictures when we can, as we would have lost these (fortunately not much film)

Saturday 26th May Heading West - Bad start.

2007-05-26T02:19:00.000Z

Pic 1. Old car fans, who tracked us down at the hotel. Pic 2. Team Nissan, who have worked hard on Kip's car for three days. Pic 3. Where UB residents go for car spares and accessories - huge area of stalls in old containers. Pic 4. At the police station.

First thing: We're now doing a final pack and parcelling up things to send home with DHL. Stocked up with instant noodles, which seem to be available at every corner shop, but we will probably get very bored with them.

Today is pretty grey, so we're hoping not to have our first rain on the day we wave goodbye to the hood!

We'll be heading towards the ancient capital of Kharkhorin, and apparently there is tarmac all the way, so it should be a smooth start.

It will probably be a while before we can add more photos, but will when we can.

Later: After a lot of faffing, including making a snorkel for the exhaust pipe, and finding the tiny offices of a local TV station to get a DVD of the news segment they broadcast on us, we finally headed out of UB. Stopped briefly to try to buy a newspaper which supposedly had us in it, and people crowded round the car. One stole Sebs's film camera and ran. I gave chase, joined by others. Suspect apprehended, no camera though. Now at police station.

Later still: Spent 3 hours at a police station, with a very helpful woman called Undrakh. It was her husband who apprehended the villain, and she works as a translator, so helped with police statements. Seb wants to buy another camera tomorrow - Sunday and shops won't open until late, so unlikely to leave UB until tomorrow afternoon. The schedule is slipping.

Friday 25th May - Planning

2007-05-25T10:24:00.000Z

Pic 1: Mongol and Russian (with beard) mechanics set to PN6583 in the Nissan garage. Pic 2: Irises - these were an occasional welcome surprise scattered through the Gobi. These in our UB hotel car park! Pic 3: Sukhbaatar Square - the centre of UB.
Pic 4: Mongol women exude a self-assurance which sets them completely apart from their Chinese neighbours. You don't see shoes and outfits like this in Beijing!

AM. Spent yesterday evening with the agent who arranged our visas/permits for here. A German who has a business running tours all over the country. He told us that to the West it is mostly fine, but there is a section between Hovd and Olgiy where it will be muddy and we are likely to encounter rivers which we may have trouble crossing. The fallback position being to find a truck to take us across - either towing us across individual crossings, or putting the car in the back of a flatbed and driving the 300km or so that way. Doesn't sound too bad. He also said that the alternative route through Russia involves dicing with trucks all doing 90kph.

We'd prefer to take our chances with the rivers, but do need to be as light as possible to skip over the mud. Currently working on what we can do to waterproof the car - snorkel on the exhaust, silicon over the electrical terminals, condoms for oil filler etc. Definitely shipping hood back, but we have good goretex waterproofs, now also half of Kip's groundsheet. Will keep front sidescreens which give a lot of protection and, combined with the groundsheet we could rig up something resembling a hood in the worst case.

Will meet the German chap this afternoon to discuss backup plans - what he can do to help us get a truck if necessary.

PM: The condition of the roads to the west will depend on the weather so the two cars have decided to take different routes - Sebastian and I, in the more rugged car, will go through western Mongolia, approaching Novosibirsk from the South. Kip and Carmen, in the car which prefers tarmac, will go north to Lake Baikal, and then to Novosibirsk from the East.

We will stay in touch with each other by text message, and Sebastian and I will update the website with our progress, so we will try to co-ordinate our arrival in Novosibirsk.

The team in the garage were interviewed by local TV and newspapers today, so we will try to get copies before we leave town tomorrow.

New pictures

2007-05-24T15:48:00.000Z

In UB and with direct access to the internet, we've now added pictures to the last several days of posts.

This evening we heard more detail of the challenges further west - deep water, with no bridges, being the main concern. We're considering how far we can go in waterproofing the car - snorkel on the exhaust etc.

Thursday 24th May - Ulaan Baatar

2007-05-24T10:55:00.000Z

Pic 1: Kip and Carmen's discard pile. Pic 2: UB in the rain. Pic 3: UB skyline.

After three and a half days on unsurfaced roads, this morning we made the decision to reduce weight, by throwing out about half our luggage and sending home (if we can) our hood and rear side screens. I already threw away my tent in the Gobi (not deliberately - I just got out of it, and it blew away).

Since we decided this it has snowed, hailed and rained on us - someone up there trying to make sure we've thought hard about our decision.

Other than that the cars are going well. We have found that doing 25 mph, with a 25mph tailwind leads to the engines overheating and so frequent stops (parked facing the wind) become necessary.

Wednesday 23rd May - Gales, and a hard drive

2007-05-23T07:35:00.000Z

Pic 1: First Mongolian Tarmac. Pic 2: A real explorer. Pic 3: At 6,100ft.

A howling gale blew all night - I hardly slept and was convinced the tent was going to take off. Then my tent blew away because I got out of it! Will try to buy a new one in Ulaan Baatar.

Morning: Hope to arrive at UB tonight. Set off into sand storm - finally on tarmac after 3.5 days. 36 miles this morning, with 150 to do this afternoon. I can't believe we've been on the road for only just over a week. It seems much longer.

6pm: Arrived at Ulaan Baatar after a hard 11 hours driving. Kip seems worried about doing more off road for the remainder of Mongolia. Scheduled to have a couple of days here now to re-stock and take stock.

Tuesday 22nd May - The Gobi Desert

2007-05-22T12:31:00.000Z

Pic 1: Only two wheels, but three up. Pic 2: Bactrian camels. Pic 3: Seb cooking supper

Did 101 miles today. Total in Mongolia 252 miles in 3 days. No tarmac yet! behind schedule, but all well - thanks to all who helped prep the car, and having a blast.

Camping in the Gobi, in high winds. Supper being cooked, tents pitched, (thanks to Mountain Equipment).

Monday 21st May - First night under the stars

2007-05-21T18:09:00.000Z

Pic 1: Erdene children. Pic 2: Mongol herdsmen - why does everyone look underneath?

Pic 3: Trans-Mongolian Railway. Pic 4: Local fans in Saynshand.

Seb & I camped for the first time, found a spot by a station. Fortunately not many trains. Another stunning morning - no clouds. Slept well except when trains came past.

Later managed to find Saynshand's best hotel, and first wash since Saturday am. No hot water.

We've managed a 150 mile trials section in 2 days. Average speed 12mph! The main road from China to the capital of Mongolia Ulaan Baatar consists of deep sand, corrugated hard stuff, and stones.

Sunday 20th May - The road has run out

2007-05-21T18:08:00.001Z

Pic 1: Seb at morning prayers. Pic 2: The main (only) road from China to UB. Pic 3: A warning about taking the Gobi seriously. Pic 4: At a cairn, gathering luck for the journey.

Morning: Sandstorms over and a beautiful morning. Seb helped adjust the brakes on Kip's car, while I greased ours everywhere, ready for what may be a tough drive today.

Unexpectedly no tarmac. Drove for 7 hours and managed 80 miles - never fully confident that the tracks we were following were the right ones, but a navigator has to appear to know what she's doing. Arrived late afternoon in the small railway town of Erdene. Found food (a restaurant reopened specially for us) and beer, then turned our attention to looking for a bed. The desert does turn chilly at night.

Saturday 19th May - China / Mongolia Border

2007-05-21T18:04:00.000Z

Pic 1: at the border - 1st hour, and still cheerful. Pic 2: Mongolian minibus loaded with Chinese goods. Pic 3: Carmen - in the fifth hour of waiting. Pic 4: Setting off from the Erenhot hotel.

Morning: At the border crossing first thing. It took 7 hours to exit from China (apparently all the fault of the computer), and 50 minutes to Enter Mongolia (where, wisely, they use a paper-based system).
Slight clutch problems - making some unhappy noises.

Evening: In Dzamin Uud, famous for being the most southern and the hottest place in Mongolia. Fierce sand storm blowing, which makes us almost grateful for the Chinese delay - otherwise we'd be driving through it, instead of just walking to a restaurant for supper.

At the hotel by the railway station we asked for rooms, and they said yes, but not until 10pm - that's when the train leaves, so it's when people check out.

Friday 18th may - to the border

2007-05-21T18:01:00.000Z

Repaired Kip's car - broken distributor.
Chilly mornings in the shade and dazzling bright sun.

At 4600 feet and the altitude is noticeable. Kips car now running well.

A 207 Mile slog to the Border today. We have to do the crossing into Mongolia in the morning.

Thursday 17th May - On route to the border.

2007-05-21T17:57:00.000Z

Made it to Jining on schedule although Kip did the last 70 miles on a tow rope. His car was rather sick. Initially we thought he was going on a tow rope just to get off the motorway to a safe place, but the driver and guide didn't want to be late for their supper, so gave Kip a cold and rather hairy journey the whole way to the hotel. We're now concerned that, if we can't fix the car in good time, we won't make our crossing by Saturday when our Mongolian entry papers run out.

Hotel in Zhaingjakou: State owned and very communist in style

Wednesday 16th May - The Start. Tiananmen Square

2007-05-21T17:46:00.000Z

An early start and fine weather we set off from Tianan'men square after a photo session with Nicola and Noel. We also gave an interview to South China Post, met pupils at Harrow school & even managed a visit to the Great Wall.

: Fuelling up for the long journey ahead

:Dicing with Traffic in Tianamen square

Seb makes friends with the locals at the great wall at Badaling:

Nicola & Noel wrote: Nicola and Noel were in Beijing to see the 'Famous Four Conquer The Gobi Desert'. (Timmy's not yet been released from quarentine at Tienjing). After two days of copious help from the authorities they finally managed to get started on new Chinese number plates (nos A0000004 and A0000005:1-3 got lost in translation). After two laps of Tiananmen Square and no clear leader the pack retired for breakfast. The initial burst of enthusiasm and subsequent restart is depicted in photos at
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2390&l=3a26a&id=513161662

Evening: We've arrived in rain/sun at Zhangiakhou, tonight's stop, having covered 170 miles & tested our guides tolerance with off piste behaviour.

Tuesday 15th May

2007-05-21T17:26:00.000Z

Today we finally collected our permits, retrieved the cars, then a drive of 40 km to a police station in Tianjin, where they issued our driving licence, and licence for the car.

After a long day of bureaucracy we left docks at 5pm in the rain for the 100 mile drive into Beijing. The speed difference on the roads into Beijing is worrying.

Then on to Beijing where we have leaving parties arranged and press awaiting some photo opportunities.

The cars arrived safely

2007-05-14T10:54:00.000Z

Tanggu (port)

:Which one are they in?

We took the cars out of their container today, and both fired up first time:

Customs officer phoning for orders:

:Kip gave a celebratory tootle on his bagpipes to the bemusement of the Chinese port workers, who wondered what they'd done wrong!

We're now spending an unscheduled second night here as one day wasn't enough to do all the paperwork. Still, the food and the beer are good, and so is the weather.

2007-05-13T10:21:00.000Z

Sebastian goes first... in the end it was just eyes and ears.

Hong Kong ... Beijing .... paperwork

2007-05-13T10:16:00.000Z

Arrived in Beijing via Hong Kong this morning, and about to set off for the port to collect the cars. However...it is now apparent that in order to collect a Chinese driving licence we have to be 'examined'....

Heathrow terminal 3

2007-05-12T10:19:00.000Z

Kip, Carmen & Annabel checkin for their flight to Beijing.

Sebastian flew ahead 2 days ago to be the advance guard and is busy arranging a social whirl for their arrival.

Balloon Sacrifice

2007-05-05T19:30:00.000Z

A few weeks ago we visited famous balloonist Robin Batchelor, who made a generous contribution to our trip equipment. The balloon called GBNAG, in which he taught Richard Branson to fly before Branson's record-breaking Atlantic crossing, had been languishing in his shed, and he decided to finally decommission it by giving us a section to use as a lightweight tarp.

Choosing a colour:

Cutting into ballooning history:

We hit the national press

2007-05-05T07:53:00.000Z

The Telegraph article is in today's paper. You can see it at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/main.jhtml?xml=/motoring/2007/05/05/nosplit/mfpek05.xml

Shipping the cars - April 3rd/4th

2007-05-03T23:51:00.000Z

With arrangements in place to deliver the cars to DHL on the morning of 4th April, on the 3rd we brought the two cars together for the first time since October. Having carefully stowed everything in the car (Kip and Carmen) or just thrown a pile of stuff in the back (Seb and me), we
took everything out for a photo session and interview with Andrew English of The Telegraph and photographer Graham Jepson.

We look relatively relaxed in the professional pictures, but as soon as the press left we got out the files, spanners and welding kit to try to finish a few last jobs. This continued until midnight, when Sebastian decided to split the rear axle and replace a gasket!

After too brief a night's sleep we loaded the cars on trailers and made the short journey to Hayes, managing to both get lost and run out of fuel en route - not an auspicious start.

The Austins looked rather forlorn, left in the corner of a car park, but we were assured they would be safely packed in their container. PN 6583 also seemed alarmingly full considering that she didn't yet contain Seb's tent or sleeping bag, our medical kit, maps or any clothes. But there was no time to dwell on this as we all dispersed rather quickly - I took a tube to work while the others headed for Hereford and Shropshire.

Car preparation

2007-04-27T11:30:00.000Z

Six months ago, PN 6583 was a well-used, and rather tired trials car, with no creature comforts. When we spent a weekend doing a test drive in Wales the seats, floors and internal bodywork were bare metal, there was no weather protection, cracks in the bodywork and only a very small competition fuel tank – we ran out of petrol before we’d covered 100 miles!

Since then the car has been transformed. It now has a hood and sidescreens, a smart new tonneau cover, comfortable reupholstered front seats and capacity for over ten gallons of petrol, spread around three tanks, with lockable filler caps on the outside of the car. We also have rubber floor mats and lots of places to stow gear within the cockpit – a glovebox, map box, door pockets and neat little compartments for tools and documents.

Following advice from epic Austin 7 adventurer Graham Rankin, we also now have a lid to cover the back seats – a large sheet of metal, hinged at the back, which we will padlock at the front. This should give us a bit of protection for our kit when we have to leave the car.

The car has been completely rewired, and now boasts indicators and brake lights, as well as the ability to run plug-in lighting and to charge our phones, batteries and various gadgets via cigarette lighter sockets, a DIN plug, and an inverter.

The wheels have been completely rebuilt, with the generous help of Specialised Automotive Services. We’re only taking one spare wheel and tyre (which has been spaced back from the body to give extra luggage space), but are carrying spare spokes and tubes, which are much more space efficient.

Other work includes: a new radiator core; a complete engine rebuild, checking that our spares are all correct, and fitting a lower compression head; gearbox rebuild and rear axle rebuild.

It was all hands to the pump to get the car ready for delivery to DHL on April 4^th, but we managed it – including a late night back axle rebuild by Sebastian to replace an oil seal, just hours before we handed the cars over. There are still one or two details to attend to in Beijing e.g. fitting a speedo cable, which hadn’t arrived in time, but I think we’re ready and that the car is as good as it can be.

18th March - Two weeks before shipping

2007-04-26T17:12:00.000Z

The first words to our blog.

2007-04-17T19:11:00.000Z

The Austins are both on the high seas now and we will be reunited with them in 4 weeks time! Much to do before then....