tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-289777122012-01-26T06:07:52.595ZTo Mongolia and Beyond!Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.comBlogger241100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1157708650728639362006-09-08T10:40:00.000+01:002006-09-08T10:53:40.603+01:00

It was great to receive the following email from Tom, organiser of the Mongol Rally yesterday. Whilst in Ulan Bator we were saddened to meet a number of homeless children living in the city's sewers. Thankfully, one of them has been picked up by the Christina Noble Children's Foundation...A quick message to all those who made it to Dave's place this year. A load of you will have met the

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com28tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1157433473210781302006-09-05T05:43:00.000+01:002006-09-05T06:17:53.640+01:00

We've finally made it home safe and sound after spending a lot longer in China then we ever anticipated. It came as no surprise to us that it costs twice as much for the 2 hour train journey from Heathrow to Peterborough as it does to go from Beijing to Shanghai (12 hours overnight and about 10 times the distance)!The event had raised over quarter of a million pounds before we even set off and

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1157244243691010232006-09-03T01:39:00.000+01:002006-09-07T15:10:14.543+01:00

We've been living the high life (literally) in Beijing for a week now and are really grateful to Ben for his awesome hospitality. We're on the 20th floor of one of the many posh appartment buildings in the Pingod development, with such luxuries as a bed, separate bathroom and dvd player!This city is crazy. It seems to sprawl endlessly in every direction, but it could be a trick of the haze since

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1156136793537525482006-08-21T05:42:00.000+01:002006-08-21T06:06:33.546+01:00

The last few days have been highly random. We had the post rally party on Friday night at a Mongolian club called Strings. Tim immediately challenged the British Ambassador to a drinking competition and was subsequently found lying face down on the floor sleeping. Tom managed to get equally drunk, albeit in a more respectable timescale, and woke up on the floor of an unknown hotel room with hairy

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1155777751916492032006-08-17T01:59:00.000+01:002008-12-11T08:37:37.388Z

... is Operation Panda!We arrived in Mongolia on Tuesday at lunch time and could easily have been in UB that evening. It would have been a shame not to experience the Mongola countryside on the way though, so me, Tom and the two Daves we had bumped into in the middle of the Siberian forests set up a campsite in the hills and got a campfire going under the stars and played a little golf from the

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1155365052376733832006-08-12T07:38:00.000+01:002006-08-17T12:13:03.800+01:00

We are in the city of Barnauld in Siberia. It was a long trek across Kazakhstan with a few problems on the way. The red panda lost its exhaust 3 times in one day meaning we only covered about 300km and then we hit a pothole and mangled one of our rims. We were able to hammer it back into shape though and were soon back on the road.Kazakhstan was excellent and didn't deserve any of the bad press

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1155024070769584502006-08-08T08:18:00.002+01:002006-09-07T15:23:44.330+01:00

One of the easiest countries we've tackled so far, Uzbekistan was a nice experience. We'd had to hammer it through Turkmenistan in order to get ourselves into a position to leave Uzbek by 8pm Monday.Tom, Will, Felix and I set off for Samarkand from the Turkmen border at 9am and were there in good time without any problems from the police. They seemed more friendly and less corrupt than over the

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1155022618357966682006-08-08T08:18:00.001+01:002006-08-12T07:55:01.663+01:00

Our time at Camp Baku sadly came to an end after three nights and four days of sleeping on car bonnets at the port. We were relieved of $250 per vehicle in exchange for a space on the boat, which didn't seem to unreasonable considering they originally wanted $400. The captain was drunk and we had to climb what was basically a rope ladder to get aboard! After 20 hours at sea Turkmenistan appeared

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1154753324794413512006-08-05T05:44:00.000+01:002006-08-08T09:04:03.720+01:00

4 days at camp Baku, 20 hrs on a boat of greedy gits, 8 hrs in customs and $450 later and we're finally in Turkmenistan. We now have 3 days to do 2000km! Tom

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1154510049433138092006-08-02T10:06:00.000+01:002006-08-02T10:14:09.553+01:00

Time to update you on our progress. There has been none.We've been in Baku for 2 nights now, camping at the port customs area waiting for a fax to arrive from Turkmenistan confirming that we are allowed to get on the boat. This has finally arrive today at 13:00 after having to do a lot of chasing around to the British Embassy and making phone calls to the rally organisers. To be honest, I (Tim)

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1154349025794514902006-07-31T13:26:00.000+01:002006-07-31T13:30:25.803+01:00

...We made it across Azerbaijan with no detailed maps, using only a Collins Mini World Atlas (thanks for making us take that, Vanessa) and a compass. We're in Baku about to head to the port to see when the next ferry to Turkmenistan is.T&T

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1154324318527450062006-07-31T06:25:00.000+01:002008-12-11T08:37:37.649Z

Been a while since we had access to the internet so very few updates from us, but now that we are in Azerbaijan we have found some super-slow internet cafe in which to let you all know we are doing okay.Turkey was a major cause of delay in our route. The country is massive and we ended up climbing about 3000 feet into the mountains which took some time. Georgia was beautiful, some of the roads

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1154238336030984282006-07-30T06:41:00.000+01:002006-08-12T08:02:05.426+01:00

Progressing slowly but surely. Yesterday realised we've broken nearly all traffic laws in the maj of countries and 50 mph is standard for a wet mountain corner.

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1153998116252236852006-07-27T11:55:00.000+01:002006-08-12T07:59:11.090+01:00

So we made it to Istanbul last night at about 9pm. Over the last few days we have experienced the crtaziest driving ever. We thought Romanian's were going to be the worst after several hundred miles of everyone overtaking everyone and seeing numerous near-crashes in front of us. Then we got to Turkey!Turkey is ridiculous. On the way into Istanbul there are up to 5 lanes of traffic all doing about

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1153889020333255412006-07-26T05:39:00.000+01:002006-07-26T05:43:43.840+01:00

Covered some serious distance yesterday, crossing all of romania. It's 7.30am and we're just about to cross into bulgaria. Turkey by evening hopefully.

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1153779518696691932006-07-24T23:14:00.000+01:002006-07-24T23:18:38.903+01:00

Just passed budapest, sitting in a layby cooking on our stove. Our first cup of tea in eastern europe is on the way! Covered about 1400 miles so far. Tim

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1153674636542800232006-07-23T18:01:00.000+01:002006-07-23T18:10:36.546+01:00

We got to Prague at about 3pm today, having made several detours through the German countryside and into the mountains. Once a lovely couple who ran a local pub had sent us in the right direction we managed to find the main road to the Czech Republic. When we got there we were surprised to find that we were the first ones to arrive. We think some teams must have bypassed the stop-off in favour

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1153627916716704862006-07-23T05:07:00.000+01:002006-08-12T08:00:43.393+01:00

Day two, we're about 40k's from frankfurt on the A3. Tom's done a pretty massive driving shift overnight to get us here. Proper update to come soon, tim.

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1153584913808768182006-07-22T17:10:00.000+01:002006-07-22T17:15:13.966+01:00

After some navigational issues in central london we are finally on the m20. We have about 40 minutes until the ferry leaves. We are about 40 miles away!

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1153438621738071842006-07-21T00:29:00.000+01:002006-07-21T09:34:49.600+01:00

This morning at 9:20am Operation Panda got it's third and most important team member back - Mollyinha! Afforded a new lease of life thanks to the work of Roger and Richard at Roger's Bodyshop in Crowland, she's driving a lot better and seems to be more eager to get going than we are! This is very good news, meaning we have almost a whole day in which to prepare for the big departure tomorrow

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1153235093145596722006-07-18T16:00:00.000+01:002006-07-18T16:04:53.283+01:00

If this appears on the blog, then our sms updating service is working!

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1153142732584984672006-07-17T14:21:00.000+01:002006-07-17T14:25:32.593+01:00

With less than a week between us and the start of the event, I (Tim) have decided to sleep outside in preparation. I may even try and cook all my food on a small stove and only drink my cups of tea from a metal tin.

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1153065927726359662006-07-16T16:58:00.000+01:002006-07-16T17:06:27.360+01:00

An early start this morning as OP (featuring Thomas Andrew Glavina) headed down to the Peterborough Utd Football ground to sell everything we didn't really need.Once the initial morning blues had been combatted by drinking coffee we were on top form, developing the awesome game "Wheel of Deals" in which one child left our stall with 6 items for a pound! Eventually we gave pretty much everything

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28977712.post-1152888668184916392006-07-14T15:37:00.000+01:002006-07-14T15:51:08.193+01:00

With 8 days to go until we set off for Mongolia, we thought we had better get something like this sorted out. A place to let all those who have sponsored us and all those who care about our well-being know how we are getting on!Both Tom and I are currently in a state of limbo, unsure of whether to be excited or scared of the journey ahead. There's a lot to get done and not a lot of time to do it

Tim and Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17697808894572888804noreply@blogger.com0