Ending Point: N49°29 E89°43
Distance Traveled: 328.4 miles
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At sunrise we were on the road again and heading into the Altai Mountains. The road we were driving was a stunning road that clung to the side of mountains as roaring rivers flowed beneath us in deep valleys. In the brief interludes when the pouring rain stopped, the low-hanging clouds enshrined everything in mist and gave an eerie quality to the beauty we were witnessing. We discovered later this afternoon that the road we had driven was supposed to be the nicest drive in Siberia according to Lonely Planet, and I believe it! By early afternoon we had reached the border to exit Russia, and we were all ecstatic. For weeks Mongolia had been a theoretical concept; sure, it was always our goal, but it was also so far away. All of a sudden we were knocking on Mongolia’s door, and the years of dreaming and months of planning had actually paid off! Now we just had to get let in. While we were waiting in line in Russia we met Team Detour, a Swedish team in a snazzy new Škoda, and they decided they’d stick with us through the border crossing as well. It only took us two hours to get out of Russia, and with no idea what to expect we pulled out of Customs Control. As we were pulling out Charla asked Chase at what point he thought the paved road would end; before he could even answer, we realized that the pavement literally stopped at Russia’s legal edge. Welcome to Mongolia! After we spent many hours waiting for Mongolia to process our paperwork, all four teams legally entered the country at around 8PM. We had no intention of driving in the dark, so we drove about five kilometers away from the border and set up a massive camp on the side of the road. That night we cooked a giant camp stove feast and passed around a few bottles to celebrate that we had made it! Although we definitely knew that the hardest part of the trip was yet to come… Starting Point: N51°40 E85°46
Ending Point: N49°29 E89°43 Distance Traveled: 328.4 miles
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It didn’t take long for us to reach the Russian border once we left Semey this morning. Funnily enough, that actually was a bit of a problem for us because we didn’t have a chance to blow our last remaining tenge on candy and beer at the last shop before the border, as was our custom. We did have the pleasure of meeting Raf at the border, who was a Belgian bicyclist riding from Brussels to Ulaanbataar. We were stuck at the border with Raf because we had the unfortunate timing to arrive as the night shift of border patrol was ending. At 8:30AM the border officer told Raf that he only had thirty minutes left on his shift and he wanted to spend those relaxing rather than working. We all waited for thirty minutes, and we excitedly greeted the new border officer who showed up exactly at 9 o’clock. Imagine our chagrin when he told us he had just woken up, and it would probably be about half an hour until he got his coffee and had some food. Exactly an hour after we arrived at 8:30, the morning shift finally took our paperwork and admitted us at 9:30. For the second time on our journey, we were back in Russia! Pretty soon over the border we recognized two other Rally cars even though we couldn’t tell who was in them, so we pulled them over discover our crazy South Africans who had cooked up breakfast back in Almaty! They were a part of There and Bactrian, a team of two South Africans, a Brit, and an Aussie, and they were convoying with Geographically Displaced, a team of large Norwegian men in a very small car. We quickly joined their convoy, and made the all-important stop of the day: the tire shop. The Mongol Rally can be described as a tour of the world’s tire shops, and somehow we had made it this far without getting to visit any ourselves. For the exorbitant price of 100 rubles (a little over $3) we got our tire fixed, while each of the other teams also got their tires in tip-top shape in preparation of entering Mongolia tomorrow. After a longer stop than was expected, we were on our way towards the Altai Mountains with our new friends! Starting Point: N46°04 E80°46
Ending Point: N51°40 E85°46 Distance Traveled: 481.0 miles We woke up to another incredible breakfast at An Artisan’s Guesthouse and then squeezed in a yoga session before heading out of town. On our way to Karakol Coffee, we passed a parking lot full of Mongol Rally cars and invited the ones that were ready to go to join us. Our last stop at Karakol Coffee was just as perfect as the first—good times with good people. We are so thankful to Aikerim. She said that she didn’t do anything, but she really did everything to make our time in Karakol wonderful just by being there and being her (and in doing so attracting a great group of people). Team Turnagain headed out of Karakol in convoy with the Elephants and the Lumberyaks. Together, we passed some of the most beautiful landscape of our trip. Yes, some of that journey was the most technically demanding driving of the Rally—we took the Panda across a gravel mountain pass that was over 6,000 feet in elevation where cows, sheep, and goats roam about and are herded by the folks living in the surrounding yurts—but those few hours were unforgettable. From the pass, we re-joined the main road leading us to the eastern border crossing of Lake Issyk Kul. As far as border crossings go, it was a good one: all three teams made it across in a fairly timely order, the Kyrgyz guards called us “G-Unit” and “Pamela Anderson,” and the Kazakh guard went through Chase’s passport and pointed to the landscape photos to indicate whether or not Kazakhstan had the featured animal or type of monument. From the border, we traveled across more breathtaking mountains until the sun set. It was our first time driving west, and we were driving into the sunset (either we’re doing something very right or very wrong). Not long after sunset, the Elephants blew a tire, and we had a bit of roadside repair by flashlight to prepare for the last stretch into Almaty. As we entered the city, the Elephants, our lead car, separated from us and the Lumberyaks, leaving us a little lost. As luck would have it, the five star Rixos Hotel was nearby, and they allowed us to use their wifi and complimentary city maps to find our way to the Almaty Backpackers’ Hostel. Now, the décor of the hostel in no way compared to that of the Rixos, but the people there absolutely made our evening—other Mongol Ralliers! We grabbed supplies from a nearby shop and made dinner with the Lumberyaks, which led to a late-night session with the Rally crew. Starting Point: N42°29E78°22
Ending Point: N43°13E76°56 Distance Traveled: 248.9 miles We woke up very early with hopes to recover some of the delay we experienced the day before due to the horrendous road conditions, and we set off for Bishkek. Our first town on the day’s route was Turkestan, which we had heard great things about from our French backpacker friend in Aralsk. The city’s architecture was stunning and a glimpse into the Uzbek architecture we wouldn’t get to see on this journey (why didn’t we get Uzbek visas again?). We met a couple of wonderful people at the Gazprom station in town who shared a bit more about the city and region with us; the conversation started when one said in perfect English that he spoke Kazakh but not English. We were incredibly excited about this part of the country as we left. Then, driving through town, a dog doubled back on its trip across the street at the same time that we were crossing. We were horrified when we heard it, but then amazed when we stopped and found it still running and seemingly OK and on its way to care from a couple of locals, including a man we played charades with on the side of the road. After a bit of shock, things got better when we were pulled over yet again by the police for a curiosity stop. Just after we left the police, we passed another Rally team heading in the opposite direction and on the other side of a concrete barrier. We honked, and they honked; yet, we couldn’t seem to find a place to talk to each other and kept going. After an insane fifteen miles through Turkestan, the rest of the drive through the small part of southern Kazakhstan we crossed was uneventful. We were pulled over again, and we stopped to ask a couple policemen for directions in Shymkent. We grew to like the Kazakh police; they were by far the most friendly police on our journey and some of the most pleasant (and smiling!) people we talked to in all of Kazakhstan. In Shymkent, we also came very close to adopting a pet for our journey when we saw a small puppy outside of a shop; fortunately/unfortunately, he was well cared for by everyone working there. Leaving Kazakhstan through the border crossing after Merki, we had a surprisingly easy, dare we say enjoyable border experience. Leaving Kazakhstan was a breeze, and then entering Kyrgyzstan, we encountered border officials who were excited about our journey and the charities we were benefiting. (Did you forget about them? Check out Cool Earth and the Lotus Children’s Centre, and help us on our campaign!) One guard even rose to shake Chase’s hand twice and offer him a cigarette—a meaningful gesture even though he doesn’t smoke—while the guards laughed and passed around Charla’s thick passport. The drive between the border and Bishkek was a short one, and though unsure where we were in the city, the place we found for the evening was a good one. While looking for wifi in the area between the bazaar and a park-lined street, we chance upon the Koisha Hotel, where Rashid came to meet us. As we walked through the city center, he gave us a quick overview of the main sights, including the opera house, UN house, and Bishkek University. Our walk ended at a nice coffee shop that served quality drinks and café food where we were able to catch up with Rashid on his exciting career in international relations and his thoughts on Kyrgyzstan. Starting Point: N43°56 E67°14
Ending Point: N42°53 E74°36 Distance Traveled: 478.3 miles There are so many wonderful things about traveling with a big convoy. Getting a timely start in the morning/early afternoon after a party is not one of them. It must have been 2:00 or 3:00 PM by the time we rolled out of Astrakhan, but we made it out of the city eventually and on our way towards the Kazakh border. The unmarked and slightly confusing roads were a hint of what lay ahead, but we enjoyed traveling over a floating bridge to cross a river that we followed south then north then south again before making the turn that led to forward progress. Just before the border, we made a shockingly efficient gas stop (though I’m sure it did not seem that way to the Russian family waiting for a pump behind us). While all of the passengers got out of their cars and meandered about as usual, the drivers took care of business until George of Sitting Thunder pulled out the megaphone and encouraged, “Please return to your vehicles! Please return to your vehicles!” A-ha, the organization/cat-herding we had needed all day! We arrived to lines at the border on the Russian side and took it as an opportunity to play with our convoy. The Frisbees, footballs (in both the American and British senses), and GoPros came out, and we no longer cared about the lines. To advance the Panda in line, Charla even attempted driving! With ease, even though everyone was filming, she put the Panda into first gear and inched forward. When she didn’t stall, the cameras went away and the toys came back out until it was our time to cross. After officially leaving Russia and a fairly long no-man’s-land, we arrived on the Kazakh side of the border. Even though the border guard found Charla’s passport too thick and annoying, we were soon into Kazakhstan and a whole different phase of the Rally. The road quality changed immediately, and we found ourselves faced with some sizable potholes, broken pavement, and uncertainty with directions (not to mention with the animals being herded past). The Cads had struggled with clutch issues for most of the Rally, and the first 100 kilometers into Kazakhstan were no exception. We trailed behind as they made it to a mechanic, who upon inspecting the situation, pulled out their snatched clutch cable. Unfortunately, the mechanic did not have a replacement nor was one available for some time. Three aggressive, homophobic Russian young men got involved as well and kept asking us for iPhones, which they argued would also be a payment for the clutch cable, though they had no relationship to the Kazakh mechanic. So, we got out of town without a clutch cable for the Cads but with everything else luckily intact. The sun was setting as we dealt with the difficult situation, but the convoy agreed to push on to Atyrau that night. It was a late night of driving on some pretty iffy roads, but we made it with the help of walkie-talkie conversations and a bag of chocolate croissants. Today’s lesson: Kazakh policemen are some of the nicest people in the country. Chocolate croissants from Kazakh gas stations are surprisingly tasty. Starting Point: N46°80 E48°00
Ending Point: N47°07 E51°55 Distance Traveled: 236.9 miles After last night's gray and rainy weather, we were extremely pleased to wake up to sunshine! We took a leisurely cruise through Konotop, and enjoyed the smiling people, the colorful train station, and Konotop's local trams hurrying people throughout the city. It was an entirely different city to the evening before! Unfortunately, there still was a tiny bit of Ukraine's ugly side on our way towards the border: Chase got stopped for speeding, but after negotiating the bribe down to ₴210 we were on our way to the border! Welcome to Russia! Post-Soviet industrial archeology! After the nightmare of getting into Ukraine, we were imagining the Ukrainian/Russian border to be extremely difficult; luckily, we found the opposite to be true! On the Ukrainian side Chase purchased our car insurance for Russia, and when the insurance salesman figured out we were driving the Mongol Rally she got excited! She left her booth and walked our paperwork to the Ukrainian officials for us to leave the country, thus allowing us to skip the line and just drive the car right out with very few questions. The Russian side was even better! All of the customs paperwork was in Russian, and of course we didn't understand a word of it. (And, of course, there is a lot of customs paperwork to bring a car into the country.) The poor border patrol officer, who didn't speak English, had to help us answer every question one by one, which took a lot of charades and miming. Eventually we got all of our paperwork ready to go, but it was quite the project. Right as we finished, an Italian woman who was riding a motorcycle into Russia and also didn't speak Russian asked the officer for help; Charla intervened, and using her Italian she instructed the woman on how to fill out the customs forms for her motorcycle the way we did for our car. The officer was so happy he didn't have to translate the whole thing again, he expedited our entry and waved us right through! Once we were in Russia, we knew we weren't going to make it all the way to Moscow before dark, so we starting hunting for a place to camp. We found a very nice monument in Khatsun, and cooked our dinner at the monument as the sun set. Khatsun was a tiny, tiny village, as we were surprised to find the massive "Khatsun" memorial clean and in wonderful shape. Even more surprising, while we were cooking dinner two memorial guards who were doing their rounds stopped to say hello and see what we were up to. Though we just entered Russia, it was immediately obvious that Russia took its history very seriously; it was nice to see that Russia truly respected its monuments and memorials, even in small out-of-the-way towns where very few people would see them. Starting Point: N51°16 E33°22
Ending Point: N53°07 E34°36 Distance Traveled: 219.6 miles After three and a half hours of sleeping soundly in the Panda on the roadside, we woke up to Faye tapping on the window about an hour before sunrise. Good morning! As the sun was rising, we found our way back to the main road and turned east to Odessa. As we passed through Tatarbunary, Pandaland dropped back down to one as the girls stopped at a garage to try and get their car fixed up. As we continued on, we wanted to avoid entering Moldova (and thus re-entering Ukraine) at all costs. Oddly enough, every main road connecting Odessa to southwest Ukraine was through Moldova; luckily for us there was one minor coastal road that would stay in the country. Let’s do it! Even by Eastern European standards, this road ranked poorly. On the side of the road there was a wide off-road path that had been created by people who chose to drive off the road rather than face the potholes; on the side of that was a second off-road path that had been carved by people who didn’t want to face the potholes or the mudpuddles of the first path. Factor in all the heavy truck traffic (because truckers love avoiding border crossings), and it was an adventure of a road. The nice thing about the road is that it did allow us to cruise through a few beautiful beach towns along the Black Sea. By the time we got to Odessa we weren’t really interested in exploring the city anymore, and decided to get out in the country. We headed north out of Odessa and just kept on driving. By four in the afternoon we realized we had been on the road for over 25 of the last 29 hours, and it was time for a well-earned break. By exploring the town of Bila Tserkva, and with some excited hand gestures from a Ukrainian woman at a Lukoil gas station, we found ourselves the City Park Hotel; luckily for us, City Park was so interested in the Mongol Rally they offered us a cheap rate for the night, including a light breakfast. (Two ragged Americans with a good story must be a lot more interesting than their usual clientele of Ukrainian businessmen visiting their satellite offices.) Across the street was a delicious restaurant, and after a bit of dinner (well, maybe a feast) we chose an early bedtime and called it a night. Today's lesson: Food and sleep are very important. Also, things often look better in daylight. Starting Point: N45°35 E28°35
Ending Point: N49°47 E30°06 Distance Traveled: 453.3 miles We woke up with a plan to head a little further south to Vama Veche, a hippie beach town we had heard good things about from Rally Veterans (the beach party used to be there) and from current Ralliers who had somehow already stopped there. With itchy feet to be on the road again, we talked to the Long Time No Sea girls and decided to go north for what we thought would be an easy day trip to Odessa. We couldn’t have been more wrong, but we’ll get to that later… The day started out wonderfully. Charla made her scrambled eggs, and we packed up camp. We left Oha Beach and drove through scenic coastal Romania. Reaching the town with thought would lead into a National Park and a border crossing into the Ukraine, we realized the crossing was impassable by car with the help of a kind couple in a Lidl parking lot. So, we headed to Galati for the nearest border crossing, after discovering the boat at Isaccea was just for commercial purposes and then taking a different boat across the Danube and into Galati—this just after the “highway” dead-ended into a ferry terminal. Getting on the ferry was an orderly, timely affair. You could tell the ferrymen had arranged cars on a boat a time or two. Getting off the ferry was every-man-for-himself with every car driving quickly to get through the small space and onto the dock. We’re surprised we didn’t get separated from the girls then. There had been no street signs to indicate major highways in Bucharest, so why did we hope to see them here? We passed Around the World by Trike as we entered downtown Galati, and seeing both team members throw up their arms in a “Where the hell are we?” gesture was not inspiring, neither was the fact that we couldn’t physically get across enough lanes of traffic to talk to them about the journey. We made two stops in town—one at a nice hotel and one at a duty free shop on the Danube—and received contradicting directions. Somehow, we made sense of them and got onto the road out of the city, which soon led us out of the country. Getting out of Romania was a breeze for our EU pals, but we had to wait about an hour. The funny thing about waiting an hour at the Romanian border was that we had no idea whether we were going into Moldova or the Ukraine based on the maps we had, in which the three countries converge at one point. Then we had to wait another half an hour to get into Moldova. The two miles we drove in Moldova were quite nice. Then, the real adventure began. We’re not sure we even have words to describe the Moldovan-Ukrainian border. Our first indications were talking to Ralliers already at the border that had been there for between two to thirty hours. We certainly did not want to fall into the latter group’s case. In the three hours we were at the border, we managed to have the car fully searched, sign legal documents under duress without knowing what they said, nearly go to prison, and run out of cash. We finally crossed much too late in the night and found the girls anxiously awaiting us a few miles away. They had talked to another Rally team for part of the time we were stuck at the border and were hoping to meet up with them. In the dark, a wrong turn led us off into the middle of nowhere, so Pandaland stopped and cooled it for a couple hours. Today’s lesson: If you hear it’s an “easy day trip”—whether from fellow Ralliers or Google Maps—it’s not. Prepare for hell. Starting Point: N44°16 E28°37
Ending Point: N45°35 E28°35 Distance Traveled: 453.3 miles After a good night’s sleep at the campground, we woke up ready for a full day thanks to the tolling of the town’s bells right at 6:00 AM. While Chase packed up the tent and arranged the car, Charla made her now world-famous scrambled eggs on the camp stove. Pandaland approved! (Yes, now they are even more famous! Or was it the Nutella bread on the side?) We crossed the border into Slovakia with ease, leaving us time for a photo shoot with the country’s welcome sign and to purchase the necessary vignette for our vehicles; the former was much more exciting than the latter. Despite a couple of stops in search of postcards, we came up empty-handed and pushed on to the Hungarian border. Not too far from the border, we had a Panda convoy mishap and watched as the yellow Panda headed down the wrong highway. We pulled over with the leading team to search for them—more or less staying still until they could circle around to find us. We made signs for passersby on the road and even tried hitchhiking to Mongolia. We couldn’t find anyone to pick the six of us up, however, and so we were thrilled to see the yellow Panda come around. From there, we headed into Hungary, where the border crossing followed a similar pattern of photos and vignettes. Just inside the border, we found ourselves driving alongside row after row of sunflowers. Who knew Hungary was famous for its sunflowers? As appropriate for the name, a few of our teammates were hungry, and we found a local café for lunch. While it was nice to take a rest from time in the car, the long lunch unfortunately put us much behind our schedule. We pushed on, though, as we took the lead and finally made the Romanian border. We’ve been talking for a while about when we will feel a change—about when we will start to feel like we are at the end of Europe. It happened today. The Romanian border was easy for the EU Ralliers, but we were held up for a while as they checked our documents and stamped appropriately. As the border foreshadowed, entering Romania was pretty hectic. We first went through the city of Oradea, where we’re really surprised we didn’t lose the other two cars in traffic. Then, we set off on by far the worst road we’ve been on yet. There were sheep that came out of nowhere. At one point, the road functioned as a cow path. Then, we got into the mountains. The scenery was breathtaking, as were the sizes of the potholes in which we nearly lost a couple of Fiats. The crazy road made for slow traveling time. We had hoped to make it to a Pit Stop party in Sibiu, but we settled in Halmagel after finding a Pensiunea Minerva that was coincidentally hosting the R.A.T. (the Romanian Adventure Trophy, an off-road navigation rally) We got a good deal as a different kind of Rally group and settled in for the night with a local dinner of meats, cheese, tomatoes, potatoes, and bread. Today’s lesson: Minimize stopping time or you miss the party. Starting Point: N49°37 E20°42
Ending Point: N46°16 E22°36 Distance Traveled: 341.9 miles For some reason late nights seem to be followed by early mornings, and we got up in time to see the massive Klenová Castle campground strewn with tents, sleeping bodies, and Rally cars everywhere. Breakfast was lacking, the toilets were in poor shape, and the drinking water tanks had run dry; but that’s what happens when the Adventurists invade the ruins of a castle that was built in 1291. While walking around Chase wandered into the camp of the PhilieasFog Reformers, and was quickly reminded that Charla had committed us to going to Poland today. Poland? Well, OK then, Poland it is. About five minutes before departure, the Long Time No Sea girls decided that Poland sounded fun too, and they jumped in their car to convoy. After a day of driving, and a day of GPS giving faulty directions to the lead car, we finally all rolled into Krakow hungry and cranky. After checking into Hostel Barok, it was time to tackle the city. Andrew, one of PhileasFog’s team members was Polish, and he was a great tour guide and translator for the entire group. We went straight to Krakow’s Main Square, the largest medieval town square in Europe, for a delicious dinner. The night started out very relaxed, but Andrew decided that since we were in Poland we needed a traditional Polish evening, so we headed to Do Zjedzenia. Do Zjedzenia is a bar that calls out to Krakow’s past; it’s more commonly just called The Communist Bar. The walls are covered in old newspapers, they have more vodkas than one can imagine, the bartenders are stern and slow-moving old women, and everything costs €1. We were having too much fun at the Communist bar, and we were shushed numerous times, but it was still a great night. Starting Point: N49°19 E13°13
Ending Point: N50°06 E19°93 Distance Traveled: 449.5 miles |