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.
3 comments:
Good luck with the river crossings! The pics look amazing - such a fantastic adventure! We now have a copy of the South China Morning Post article and will scan and post it asap. See you in Paris!
Nicola and Noel
What are the food plans on the "rough" route? Have you got a stash of pasta and condensed milk to keep you going?
T
I say old chums you will now regret dumping those hoods tut tut!!
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