julia & damian's rally blog - 2005

Where are all the photos ???

Yes, we are back and no we still haven't finished editing all of the 1,000+ photos Julia took throughout our trip. But we're nearly there. I think there are about 200 left to look at, edit and name before we can uplaod them all, so please bare with us. We should have them completed during the Christmas break.

Here are the two photos we used for our Christmas cards this year. The top one is a close-up of the spires of St. Sophia's Cathedral in the centre of Kiev, taken whilst we tried to sort out Moo Moo's broken piston rings.

And this one, of the Russian Orthodox Church, was taken whilst we were awaiting the outcome of our Russian visa dilema.

Merry Christmas.

D.

Without a Kazakh visa we cannot get to Russia ...

We are now in the position of not being able to get another Russian visa until next Tuesday. In the meantime time our Kazakh visa will run out tomorrow, the 4th September and Julia has to be back at work on the 8th September !!!

Our challenge. To get Moo Moo (whose sounding very, very rough at the moment) 1500km North through Kazakhstan to Semey, across the Russian border and then head due East across Russia to the Mongolian border crossing by midnight tomorrow. A minimum 7 day journey in less than 14 hours.

Ideas anyone ?

D.

A BIG thank you to ...

A BIG thank you to Matthias - for stopping by the side of the road when our car broke down on the way to Kiev from Lviv, for showing us the night life in Kiev, the city's great food and for organising an apartment for us (on two occasions !!!) - without which our stay in Kiev would have been much harder.

D.

Sorry - No pictures so far ...

Frustratingly, I have been unable to upload the software for our datacard on the laptop we have with us, and our vision of writing and posting blogs and pictures as we drove hasn't become reality yet. But never fear, Julia is taking pictures as we drive.

Now that we're in Kiev, trying to sort out Moo Moo's engine, we'll be able to use this inmternet cafe we found to sort out the datacard software. We'll keep you posted.

D.

The Honorary Consul and the Fat Boys Cafe

What I love about getting ready for this trip is that you come across some unexpected gems - firstly, it was the advice to women to wear sports bras when travelling around Mongolia, as the roads leave a lot to be desired.  Now, imagine my surprise when I discover that our man in Krygyzstan hangs out at the Fat Boys Cafe!  I honestly thought that it was a mistake in a usually reliable guidebook.  So I checked out the Foreign Office's website, and yes, the British Honorary Consul's address in Bishkek is care of the Fat Boys Cafe.  Even his email address is fatboys@.....  Now my imagination has gone into overdrive, grabbing images from old spy thrillers - is it a dark, seedy cafe where our man sits in a secluded corner, with rows of empty coffee cups or vodka glasses?  Or does he sit in the window, watching the world go by and making the occasional note in his little black book?  We'll just have to go there and find out what its really like.

While on the subject of Krygyzstan, thanks to Donald Rumsfeld's trip there this week, I caught my first glimpse of the country on the BBC news.  By the way, is it a good thing that Don has been there to sooth the way for our impending arrival?  Anyway, the scenery was spectacular - snow capped mountains in the background - ummmm.... those peaks must be mighty high.  And we're supposed to cross them in a 2CV - just hope Moo Moo is up to the job.

Now, what the heck am I going to wear?

J.

A BIG Thank You to Havant Motor Factors

A BIG thank you to HAVANT MOTOR FACTORS for their generosity over the last few days. They have very kindly donated a few spare parts and accessories to aid with the repair and maintenance of our car Moo Moo.

They have restored my faith in humanity again - and without even having been asked or begged. Plus, they actually provide a friendly, helpful and efficient service - THANK YOU GUYS.

D.

Plug into the Sun ...

One of our concerns has been our need to recharge a number of the gadgets that we're taking with us for the trip, such as our mobile phones and iPods. And with the prospect of temperatures reaching well into the 40c +, sunshine is going to be in plentiful supply.

So we'd like to thank one of our sponsors, Better Energy Systems Ltd, for supplying us with one of their lastest products the Solio - a small, beautifully designed solar power unit that will recharge our hand held gadgets as we're driving.

D.

Off to help some other 2CV'ers

It isn't often that one gets the chance to have a new body. And that's what I'm just off to do today - help a gang of other 2CV'ers swop over the old bodywork on a 2CV for a new body. Apparently it should only take a day !

I hope so, as I have spent the better part of this last week trying to get Moo Moo's body off, and I've only just managed to loosen some of the bolts. But at least I now know what WD40 does !

With any luck, I should be able to pick-up one or two useful tips on car restoration, engine tuning and rally preparation.

D.

Here's Moo Moo our rally car ..

As some of you will no doubt know, our original choice of rally car was a very smart looking Citroen 2CV6 Charleston called Charlie. Unfortunately, his chassis was completely shot to pieces.

After hunting about, we finally tracked down another donor car that we've nicknamed Moo Moo. She has a great looking chassis, in all the right places, so we've decided to rebuild most of her using dear old 'Charlie's' vital organs.

So here she is ... Moo Moo.

 

D.

More energy without viagra ...

No, I've never tried it (viagra), but whilst I was reading one of Julia's magazines, I came upon the perfect solution to one of our earlier blog dilemas - how on earth will we power all of our gadgets whilst we're on the move.

At one point we were seriously thinking of installing 'Moo Moo', our rally car, with 5 or 6 cigarette lighters to solve our re-charging requirements. Firstly there's our iPod, then a mobile phone each, plus our coffee maker, then of course the all important bloggers tool, the laptop, perhaps even an iron for the black tie party at the end of the trip, and lastly, our emergency satellite phone. We even had visions of sticking little name plates underneath each one to limit our confusion, when Julia's cousin Simon found another indispensible gadget for our trip - the 'American Hot Dog Maker', and at this point we ran out of space on the dashboard.

Now, back to Julia's magazine.

Which is where I found an article about a neat little gadget called the 'Solio', that could help solve our energy requirements, without having to install all those cigarette lighters. The Solio is an absolutely gorgeous looking little solar powered charger and perfect for recharging all of our hand held gadgets, even Julia's Blackberry!

I'm convinced the Solio's are going to be the next 'BIG' thing, probably even bigger than the item on every womens wishlist (a certain type of handbag that shall remain nameless here) or do I mean Brad Pitt. So if you're thinking of travelling outside the UK this year, don't even think of leaving home without your newly aquired Solio. And since 'Camping' is now the new black, apparently, the Solio will become even more indispensible whilst you're stuck in the middle of a field this summer, in the grounds of Babington House, sipping your champagne, whilst your kids are screaming away in the background.

The Solio is the brainchild of Christopher Hornor, who founded 'Better Energy Systems Ltd.' in 2001. I've just contacted them in the hope that they'll see how well the Mongol Rally would work as a promotional tool for the Solio. It would be great if they then lent us a few of the Solio's in return for us 'field' testing them and securing loads and loads of publicity ...

So here's your chance to be ahead of the crowd and buy one before Better Energy Systems can't keep up with the demand - www.solio.com

D.