From the Archives. Stage 2. Moscow to Beijing.

It all began on the 31st July with the passing of the baton (in our case truck keys) in Moscow’s Red square as the new stage 2 crew of Dave Orders, Ben Haselett and myself surprised the stage 1 crew after their mammoth over night drive from the Latvian border!

It’s been almost 4 months since stage 2 finished yet my memories of it are still as fresh as ever. Of all the countries I have visited in the past 6 months Mongolia has been my favourite. With Russia definitely being the most surprising! In order to sum up stage 2 quickly I thought I would list my highs and lows from each country

Russia

The highs;

1. Being waved on and saluted by most Police patrols, and when we were actually stopped we were sent on our way with a smile and a good luck message!!

2. The friendliness and help we received from normal Russians without whom we would never have found our way out of some towns or found a bed to sleep in.

3. Sleeping in a dormitory with 50 Russian girls after sitting in a traffic jam for 4 hours in Nishny Novgorod.

4. The official photographs of a Russian wedding being taken on Martha.

5. The sheer beauty of Russian Siberia with its stunning Mountains, Forests and Glacial Rivers!

And, the lows;

1. Russian Traffic in towns is appallingly bad and their driving is verging on suicidal, like when the young driver of a beat up old Lada drove into Martha while I was at the wheel.

2. Falling asleep with Steve on the floor of a Russian immigration office as 10 hour border crossings became the norm with the confusion of Martha and her Carne De Passage!

3. The ridiculous state of the roads that made driving Martha more like driving a scalecetric set! This should also be coupled with Ross’ persistent shouting of “snakey snakey”

4. Vodka…. more of a personal choice this one, but let’s just say never again please!

5. The architecture in Russian towns is uninspiring at best and downright ugly at worst.

Kazakhstan

The highs;

1. The first evening sunset drive we had in Kazakhstan, through the golden fields of corn, watching farmers on horseback gallop by was magical.

2. The lack of traffic compared to Russian roads made driving fun again rather than a battle with 60 tonne trucks!

3. The Random nightclub attended by the whole town (young and old) that we went to on our first night in Kazakhstan!

4. Out first taste of free camping was amazing with the sun setting over endless fields ablaze with orange light and a truly magical starry night.

5. Our amazing ability to use a “point it” book to order “5 chicken and 5 rice”

And, the lows;

1. Finding out at the border that we had NO maps and NO guide books for Kazakhstan! Bad bad Route Master General Benny

2. Camping in a private field with fear of being shot whilst trying to hide a massive red fire engine made for a sleepless night!

3. The fact we had to leave such a beautiful country so quickly after 5 days to enter back into Russia.

4. Our inability to stick to learning ONE new word a day meant conversations with locals were limited to “Stevie smiles” and basic gestures from Ross!

5. The fact we could only order “5 chicken and 5 rice” even from the point it book!

Mongolia

The highs;

1. Making it into Mongolia was a massive milestone for FTFE, it was both emotional and unforgettable. Even though we were only a third of the way on our journey it felt as though we had reached the end of the world!

2. Martha’s first truly off road experience was one she passed with flying colours. Nothing was too difficult for her as we drove over terrain varying from dessert to moonscape, and from dried up beds to flowing rivers. It was the most rewarding driving of stage 2!

3. Having dinner and spending a night in a traditional Ger with Mongolia’s champion “Eagle Hunter” and his family, and to cap it all off it was in a gorgeous setting surrounded by mountains, lakes and a high grassy steep. We each had a huge Eagle sit on our arms and stare down on us from a matter of inches.

4. Being able to camp anywhere in Mongolia at the world’s largest camp ground! Every morning was a delight to wake up to stunning vistas in all directions!

5. Mongolian karaoke, the crew proved how bad they were at singing in Mongolia’s capital Ulaanbaatar on a night out with our Mongolian fixers from Panoramic Journeys!

And, the lows;

1. The way the tarmac roads stopped abruptly as soon as we exited from Russia, I distinctly remember the look on Ross’ face after we worked out on day 2 in Mongolia that we had 9 more days of bone crunching roads ahead of us, and that was just to reach Ulaanbaatar!

2. Mongolian tea is laced with sour yaks milk, PG tips anyone??

3. My first encounter with Ross, Ben and Dave’s snoring made even the most serene places in Mongolia a challenge to sleep in.

4. Realising we had driven along with the main floodlight mast up 20 feet high above Martha through the entire length of a raucous version of Livin’ on a Prayer. Needless to say the mast didn’t survive and was found it lying broken half a mile back down the road!

5. Getting Martha stuck in the wet sand was both a small low but ultimately a massive high as we freed her with the help of a little English muscle and some solid sand boards.

There were far too many points to really put into this one recapping blog but I hope it gave all our new followers a taste of where we have been and what we’ve been through. FTFE will soon be in The U.S and Canada after 7 months on the road. I for one can’t wait to get back to Martha again and make sure we bring her, Steve and Amy home safely!

Now is the time when we really need all your help… so please tell your friends, tell your work colleagues and tell everyone you know about us so we can raise as much money and awareness of our three great charities. If one of your new year’s resolutions was to help others more, then I can’t think of a better start to the year than to help FTFE.

Happy New Year to you all!

James J

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