Tuesday 31 July 2007
SMS Update
At 10.30am we have finally arrived in Aqtobe, however we have been towing a broken Lada for the last 70 miles.
SMS Update
On the road again after spending the night in the car. 6 rough hours sleep obtained. Everything is covered in dust.
Monday 30 July 2007
SMS Update
We seem to be convoying in the middle of the night with the Kazaks we met earlier. We had a great dinner together.
SMS Update
Met some Kazaks on route who we stopped with to have thick warm milk and strong chilled vodka. 4000 miles completed.
SMS Update
We would really like to know who is visiting our blog, send us a text with any news. Thanks.
SMS Update
Still on route to Aqtobe on one of the worst roads so far. The road has craters in it, we can barely average 10mph.
Sunday 29 July 2007
SMS Update
Some good offroading today. Camped out a mile or so from a track. Cooking rice under moonlight.
SMS Update
We've been convoying with Team Clouseau from the Kazakhstan border to Atyrau. Now we're heading to Aqtobe alone.
SMS Update
Camped just over Kazak border last night. No sign of Borat, just mosquitos. Now off to find fuel and currency.
Saturday 28 July 2007
SMS Update
Alex is looking forward to eating slightly melted birthday cake once into Kazak later today :-)
SMS Update
While getting lost as well as the closed border last night, a petrol tanker driver helped by giving us free petrol.
SMS Update
After losing a day to a closed border, we are on route to Astrakhan to get to the Russian-Kazakhstan border.
Friday 27 July 2007
SMS Update
3.39am: police block. After reading passport upside down asked for one smallest english coin for his own collection.
Thursday 26 July 2007
SMS Update
Made through Russian border with no problems, but we had to pay a bribe to leave the Ukrainian border.
SMS Update
We were unavoidably pulled over again about 40 miles from Russian border by the police for speeding! He let us off.
SMS Update
Ukrainian police just attempted to pull us over, but we dodged them by ignoring them and driving on.
SMS Update
We spent the night in a quirky hotel in Kharkiv, we had a filling breakfast. Now on route to Doneck, Russian border.
Wednesday 25 July 2007
SMS Update
We made it to Kiev this morning, spent an hour getting lost. We're now hacking it through heavy rain to Khariv.
Tuesday 24 July 2007
SMS Update
Just crossed the Ukraineian border after an hour of security checks. We've met 2 other teams just before Ukraine.
SMS Update
After spending 3 hours finding a closed camp site, we drove through the night towards Krakov, then slept in the car.
SMS Update
We crossed into Poland from Czech Republic yesterday at 8.30pm. Border patrol were wary of us and checked our car.
Monday 23 July 2007
SMS Update
We were told there is no way we would make Prague last night going at 50mph but we did - at 10pm. Now to Krakov.
Sunday 22 July 2007
SMS Update
Still in Germany at 4pm -yawn- Actually it has been really good, we detoured through some windy hilly terrain.
SMS Update
We had 3 uncomfortable hours sleep in the car at a lay-by. Now at 7.30am 22nd July we're heading towards Dresden.
SMS Update
France, Belgium and Holland all clear, although we did spend an hour lost in a less desirable past of Brussels.
Saturday 21 July 2007
We're about to launch!
This is it! Saturday 21st July, we've loaded the car and about to set off for Hyde Park in only a matter of an hour. From now, we'll be updating our blog via SMS so you can follow our progress.
Thank to all the people who have supported us, made donations to the charities we've chosen and helped us in some way with the preparation for The Mongol Rally 2007.
Adam
Thank to all the people who have supported us, made donations to the charities we've chosen and helped us in some way with the preparation for The Mongol Rally 2007.
Adam
Saturday 14 July 2007
Rusty Rhino sorted, bring on The Mongol Rally 2007!
With just under a week to go and a near last minute problem with the fuel tank, we're all sorted and ready to go.
Alex came up with a superb quick fix to stop the leak and so far it seems to be holding. We (Alex) should be ready if the same problem reoccurs ;)
Our Eurotunnel tickets also arrived, we'll be on the tunnel around 6pm on the 21st of July. That should give us plenty of time to get to Folkstone from when we launch between 1 and 1.30pm from Hyde Park, London.
Adam
Alex came up with a superb quick fix to stop the leak and so far it seems to be holding. We (Alex) should be ready if the same problem reoccurs ;)
Our Eurotunnel tickets also arrived, we'll be on the tunnel around 6pm on the 21st of July. That should give us plenty of time to get to Folkstone from when we launch between 1 and 1.30pm from Hyde Park, London.
Adam
Friday 13 July 2007
Rusty Rhino turns leaky
It couldn't be any other way, a week before launch and ol' Rusty decides it is time to take a leak. The fuel tank appears to be leaking some amount of petrol, not good! Given the time left to launch, we are going to struggle to find a replacement fuel tank, so we'll be cladding it all up and monitoring it over the coming days.
Apart from the fuel leak problem, the rest of the Rusty Rhino is pretty much ready to go. We still need to get two more spares, a battery and a cam belt. The engine bay area modifications are complete, we have our toolbox bolted into the chassis and a foot pump.
Adam
Apart from the fuel leak problem, the rest of the Rusty Rhino is pretty much ready to go. We still need to get two more spares, a battery and a cam belt. The engine bay area modifications are complete, we have our toolbox bolted into the chassis and a foot pump.
Adam
Sunday 8 July 2007
Mongol Rally BBQ Meet
Following the cancellation of the Wales weekend due to bad weather, we decided we would go for the BBQ meet on Saturday 7th July.
The turnout wasn't huge, but there were 10 teams including us. There was another SJ and a few other interesting cars. It was good to find out more about every one's experiences and plans so far.
The guys from the Nissan2do team were extremely helpful, they were testing the ralliers' cars batteries and alternators. We discovered our battery is at 82% capacity which is not bad, however we do have a fault with the alternator. We are trying to decide what to do with it, as it is not recharging the battery correctly. Having said that, we have not had any problems yet, even when driving at night with the lights on.
We are currently carrying a spare alternator and are looking for a spare battery.
Apart from the BBQ meet, we've packed and finish the majority of equipment and supplies that we will need. These include (lots of) car spares, tools, medical supplies, water containers, portable solar shower, cooking and camping equipment and of course large amounts of water and food.
On the food front, we've tried to stick to dried and packaged foods as tinned food does weigh quite a bit. We have a good variety of food now, we even have some junk food to cheer us up when we need it! :)
Finally, we've decided to use the Euro tunnel to make our way to France, tickets all booked and we're ready to set off.
Less than two weeks to go!
Adam
The turnout wasn't huge, but there were 10 teams including us. There was another SJ and a few other interesting cars. It was good to find out more about every one's experiences and plans so far.
The guys from the Nissan2do team were extremely helpful, they were testing the ralliers' cars batteries and alternators. We discovered our battery is at 82% capacity which is not bad, however we do have a fault with the alternator. We are trying to decide what to do with it, as it is not recharging the battery correctly. Having said that, we have not had any problems yet, even when driving at night with the lights on.
We are currently carrying a spare alternator and are looking for a spare battery.
Apart from the BBQ meet, we've packed and finish the majority of equipment and supplies that we will need. These include (lots of) car spares, tools, medical supplies, water containers, portable solar shower, cooking and camping equipment and of course large amounts of water and food.
On the food front, we've tried to stick to dried and packaged foods as tinned food does weigh quite a bit. We have a good variety of food now, we even have some junk food to cheer us up when we need it! :)
Finally, we've decided to use the Euro tunnel to make our way to France, tickets all booked and we're ready to set off.
Less than two weeks to go!
Adam
Tuesday 3 July 2007
Return from Mongol Rally and final visa update
A few seconds into planning the return journey we decided the only way to come home is to plan it when we arrive in Ulan Bataar. We have a vague idea of routing. The plan is to "hop" onto the trans-Siberian (trans-Mongolian section) railway and go from Ulan Bataar to Beijing.
Spend sometime in Beijing, then catch another train to Shanghai and finish off there. We'll fly straight from Shanghai to London.
On the visa front, we had to get some Chinese visas for the return journey. We got these done through Real Russia again. Their service is excellent; we've already obtained our Russian and Kazakhstan visas through them.
The visa team at Real Russia remembered my passport from the last time it was at their office and spotted that I had been incorrectly issued with a single entry visa to Russia. They immediately sent my passport to the Russian embassy and I have now been issued with the must have double entry visa for Russia.
For anyone who has a Russian visa and can't read the language will soon realise it is impossible to identify if you have a single or double entry visa. Real Russia have an article at http://www.realrussia.co.uk/visa/how_to_read_visa2.asp which will help you interpret a Russian visa.
Adam
Spend sometime in Beijing, then catch another train to Shanghai and finish off there. We'll fly straight from Shanghai to London.
On the visa front, we had to get some Chinese visas for the return journey. We got these done through Real Russia again. Their service is excellent; we've already obtained our Russian and Kazakhstan visas through them.
The visa team at Real Russia remembered my passport from the last time it was at their office and spotted that I had been incorrectly issued with a single entry visa to Russia. They immediately sent my passport to the Russian embassy and I have now been issued with the must have double entry visa for Russia.
For anyone who has a Russian visa and can't read the language will soon realise it is impossible to identify if you have a single or double entry visa. Real Russia have an article at http://www.realrussia.co.uk/visa/how_to_read_visa2.asp which will help you interpret a Russian visa.
Adam
Monday 2 July 2007
The Mongol Rally 2007
On our postings there is a lot about the car but a few people have asked what we are actually doing as they can't find the information! So I have bumped some of the stuff from previous posts so you can see what we are about.
We are Alex and Adam aka Team Rusty Rhinos
On the 21st of July 2007 we will start our rally in Hyde Park, London, heading off into the unknown, with the intention of eventually reaching the finish line, in Ulan Bataar, Mongolia.
The challenge
Travel a third of the way around the earth, from London to Mongolia via a plethora of countries most people haven't heard of in any crap car that has an engine with no more than 1 litre of power.
We will be on our own, with no support team or backup of any kind and certainly no GPS or any hi-tech navigational equipment. In fact, nothing hi-tech will be anywhere near us! This should take 3 to 4 weeks, but judging by our vehicle, who knows when we will end up in Ulan Bataar!
Visit http://www.mongolrally.com for more information on the event.
Why on earth are we doing this?
Our aim is to raise money for two charities - Hopes and Homes for Children and Mercy Corps Mongolia. Mercy Corps works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against nearly impossible odds. Hope and Homes for Children has a mission to give hope to the poorest children in the world - those who are orphaned, abandoned or vulnerable - by enabling them to grow up within the love of a family and the security of a home, so that they can fulfill their potential.
You have all been very generous so far and we have raised over £1200 but we would like to raise more for the worthy charities. We hope that you will be generous with your donations, even if you can only afford £1, this will really help us reach our targets which we would love to exceed. You can dontate using the links on the right of the page. The big "Donate Now" buttons!
It goes without saying, that we also plan on having a great time on this amazing adventure while helping a worthwhile cause.
The car
A 1985 Suzuki SJ 410. That's a 1 litre engine, providing us with 45bhp of pure unadulterated power. The car is damp, rusty, slow and old (and it sometimes smells funny). It provides a comfort level similar to that of a camel. At the end of the rally we will sign the car over to a charity working with the children of Mongolia.
Thank you...
...for visiting our fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor us online. Any donation is much appreciated and welcomed. Check back at www.rustyrhinos.com to view our progress.
Donating through the links on the right is fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: The charities will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor us now!
Many thanks for your support.
Adam and Alex
We are Alex and Adam aka Team Rusty Rhinos
On the 21st of July 2007 we will start our rally in Hyde Park, London, heading off into the unknown, with the intention of eventually reaching the finish line, in Ulan Bataar, Mongolia.
The challenge
Travel a third of the way around the earth, from London to Mongolia via a plethora of countries most people haven't heard of in any crap car that has an engine with no more than 1 litre of power.
We will be on our own, with no support team or backup of any kind and certainly no GPS or any hi-tech navigational equipment. In fact, nothing hi-tech will be anywhere near us! This should take 3 to 4 weeks, but judging by our vehicle, who knows when we will end up in Ulan Bataar!
Visit http://www.mongolrally.com for more information on the event.
Why on earth are we doing this?
Our aim is to raise money for two charities - Hopes and Homes for Children and Mercy Corps Mongolia. Mercy Corps works amid disasters, conflicts, chronic poverty and instability to unleash the potential of people who can win against nearly impossible odds. Hope and Homes for Children has a mission to give hope to the poorest children in the world - those who are orphaned, abandoned or vulnerable - by enabling them to grow up within the love of a family and the security of a home, so that they can fulfill their potential.
You have all been very generous so far and we have raised over £1200 but we would like to raise more for the worthy charities. We hope that you will be generous with your donations, even if you can only afford £1, this will really help us reach our targets which we would love to exceed. You can dontate using the links on the right of the page. The big "Donate Now" buttons!
It goes without saying, that we also plan on having a great time on this amazing adventure while helping a worthwhile cause.
The car
A 1985 Suzuki SJ 410. That's a 1 litre engine, providing us with 45bhp of pure unadulterated power. The car is damp, rusty, slow and old (and it sometimes smells funny). It provides a comfort level similar to that of a camel. At the end of the rally we will sign the car over to a charity working with the children of Mongolia.
Thank you...
...for visiting our fundraising page. Please dig deep and sponsor us online. Any donation is much appreciated and welcomed. Check back at www.rustyrhinos.com to view our progress.
Donating through the links on the right is fast and totally secure. It is also the most efficient way to sponsor us: The charities will receive your money faster and, if you are a UK taxpayer, an extra 28% in tax will be added to your gift at no cost to you.
So please sponsor us now!
Many thanks for your support.
Adam and Alex
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