China to Ulaan Bataar

Back in civilization as we know it.  No social networking in China so no access for technophobes like us to the blog site, and then 2 days in the Gobi Desert so no computor access at all. But wouldn't have missed it for the world.  We went from the fraught and hectic hustle and bustle of Beijing to the wilderness of the Gobi in 2 days - the sublime to the ridiculous, and then back to more madness in UB. 

Driving in built - up China was a bit seat of the pants at times, other traffic coming from all directions, obstacles (other vehicles, pedestrians, animals, bicycles and mopeds) to dodge, weaving in and out of the lanes - sometimes 4 in each direction, with no sort of lane control at all.  Then we went out into Inner Mongolia and quieter roads (we swear the police had cleared the roads of all heavy lorries for the rally), lined with smiling, waving locals and saluting policmen. And then into Outer Mongolia and the Gobi Desert and the odd 4 x 4, construction lorry, herdsman on horseback, camel rider and other rally cars hurtling past.  From the neon city through the rolling hills and steppes of rural north western China to the flat, sandy scrub land of the desert with it's inky night skies, crammed with stars.

And the driving - from tarmac (albeit far from perfect at times) to the ruts and rocks, sand and washboard en route to UB.  In the back of our minds were the memories of driving across the Gobi in 2007 with it's challenging terrain, and this time the reality was even worse.  Recent heavy rains had created mud baths everywhere, which had then dried into deep ruts baked hard by the hot sun.  Day 3 from the border with China to Sainshand was a real challenge.  Remembering the damage which we did to the car in 07 we were slow and careful this time and think we managed to make it to camp without doing too much damage to the car.  It certainly appeared so when David checked underneath before we set off again.  Then the driving on day 4, whilst still tough was much smoother and on the 3 time trials, the going was much better than day 3, and we had an absolute blast flying along with the other rally cars.  Given the road conditions (and I use the term road loosely - just tracks in the sand most of the time) and the tight time controls we had to meet, we had little chance to have a good look round and stop for photo opportunities or picnics.  So it's meals on wheels and wobbly shots as we drive along!!

And so into UB for some re-grouping.  We made contact with our old saviour from 2007, Rob from Major Drilling here in UB and David shot off at first light to his workshop to sort out the repairs on the car, and make sure everything is tightened up and straightened out.  Meanwhile I caught up on the laundry and restocking on essentials.  Left half an inch of sand in the bath after cleaning up and that's only after 2 days.  We now have 6 days of camping before another hotel stopover, how much sand will I wash out then!!  All being well, we will not have a repeat performance of 2007 and will make it to the other side of Mongolia with the rest of the rally and into Belokurikha in Russia, so no chance to blog again until then when hopefully more details of Mongolia and our journey.

sense or nonsense

in frankfurt airport just thinking about this'      we wanted a couple of cheap t shirts to wear to travel to china in and leave there so jo didnt have to wash every day before we set off, so i went to primark and bought 2, heres the rub,they were made in china,shipped across to england ,15000kms, i bought them for 1pound each and now they are flying home!!!
bit of a bugger tho,they wouldn,t let us into the business class lounge in our primark gear
comments please

On our way part 1

Welcome Spike.

Enjoying a glass of wine in the beer garden at Bewleys, twixt the railway lines and the runway.  Managed to get the WiFi working, so cause for celebration.  Don't think we've forgotten anything too vital and only vaguely worried that the suspension parts might tip our luggage allowance over the limit.  Brought some throw away clothes, but more about that later.

still practising

this is the first route book,
the photo is from last time
i'm trying with a new netbook which we are going to take with us

david n jo

mobile tme

Having a go at a mobile blog next

first photo

practising

still practising i am now going to have a go at a mobile blog and possibly a photo! the last time i tried to send a photo of a car it went through the same size as the actual car so this should be fun