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Day 50 – There’s no place like home. There’s no place like home.
High Point: stretching my legs climbing to a peak overlooking Gorkhi-Terelj. Nice to get a bit of a sweat on and great to lap up the wonderful vista.
Low point: the last few days have been a real struggle. After 7 weeks on the road, momentum and purpose have done a magnificent job of masking the true pain to both body and mind. 3 days in UB and 2 slow days after opened the flood gates to the true agony. I was proper home sick for the first time as London felt an awfully long way away in either direction. Long haul flights, coupled with the digital age, have squashed most people’s perspectives of the size of this wonderful world of ours. Drive just a third of it in a silly red truck and you will feel every inch of its enormity!! A few restless nights and general poorly feeling was massively knocking my motivation. The road has become less desirable. A nice cup of tea and a little sit down sounds simply glorious. It would be nice to pop home for just a few days. I am sure that once we hit the road again in earnest, my enthusiasm will return in earnest. Read more →
Peter and Mongolian Star Melchers
It is people like Peter and Mongolian Star Melchers that not only helped Martha get on the road, but stay on the road. Peter didn’t know us from Adam as we turned up in Ulaan Bator all dirty and tired from 7 weeks on the road. Martha, the poor girl, was in a bit of a state and they very kindly donated their time and effort for free, to get her match fit to continue her journey. Now this wasn’t your usual service, we produced quite a long list of things that were wrong but Peter still took Martha in, top man. Read more →
Day 43 Moron
High Point.
I never thought I would love camping as much I do. Tonight was magnificent. As per normal in Mongolia, you simply drive until it gets dark, pull over in a cheeky valley and set camp. Nothing around as far as the eye can see. Wonderful. The temperature drops significantly at night here. By the time dinner is finished we are pretty much wearing every item of clothing we own. To help with the warming, and in keeping with the locals, we crack open a cheeky bottle of vodka and toast the highlights of the day. It’s moments like this I will cherish. The moon lighting up the fire engine, the mountains and our faces. A full debrief of the day and then onto the big subjects of the world. Lovely. Read more →
Follow That Fire Engine Podcast : Mongolia
Join the stage 2 boys in Mongolia for a quick recap of stage 2 so far Steve Moore, Ross Shepley-Smith, Dave Orders, James Morrow and Ben Haslett.
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Day 38 Altai Heading North
High Point: After a couple of grinding days of desert running it was truly stupendous day today. A day that will stay with me for many years. Heading North we were back where we love it the most, remote. There can’t be too many places on Earth where one can just crack open a compass, drive North East and conquer everything in your way. Our trusty torque-heavy beast rolled her sleeves up to show her true worth. With no roads to talk of, she wiggled and piggled her way through the big man’s back garden. The only people we saw all day was a Nomad family as our Nav (Ross) for the day was a little lost and needed reassurance we were heading in the right direction. To be fair, you cut your own route here, glorious. Read more →
Day 33 Ogii to The Eagle Hunters Lair
High Point: Our fixer from the border, Aggi, promised us a mini adventure and blimey did he deliver. As we set off from Oggii for two hours of crazy off road driving to visit his very good nomad friends. The route there had it all, with mountain climbs, river crossings, lunar surfaces and marsh land. The views were incredible, you can look for 50 km in each direction and see nothing but beauty. This was like no place we have been so far, and with the help of Aggi, we headed further and further into this wonderful world.
Day 24 – Darobestja to Orshhamomo
High point: The remoteness of the route. Bumping along down a dirt track that looks like she was made only for Martha. This is what she was made for and boy does it show. Boooo motorways, rejoice dirt tracks.
Day 19 – Chelny to Ufa.
High point: Today was exactly what the doctor ordered. After 18 days the agony was increasing exponentially. The constant view of gravestones and freshly crashed trucks by the side of the road, and near fatal accidents every 5 minutes was beginning to weigh heavy. Then today, out of nowhere, the roads stopped looking bombed, the skies cleared of smoke, and our fellow truck drivers almost started behaving themselves. Don’t get me wrong, we still have 40 tonne trucks coming at us head on, it just doesn’t happen as often. Awesome views, sweeping roads and big chat. Now this is what we signed up for. Love it !!!!
So far we have raised GBP £120,000
