MONGOLRALLY WEEK EIGHT: At last - across Siberia and into Mongolia. The Boghopper Express nears journey's end, says Guy Craigie
SIBERIA WAS cold, wet and miserable for the most part, and both Dave and myself came down with bad head colds that were not conducive to camping in the lashing rain. But the journey to the Mongolian border was spectacular, resembling the Swiss Alps, with snow-capped mountains and lush scenery.
It was with great excitement that we eventually arrived at the Mongolian border to find another three teams waiting to cross, one a Citroën 2CV that was being towed by another team. Crossing the border turned out to be a piece of cake, as the border control guards were about to finish for the day and as it was so cold, rushed us through, and within 20 minutes we had entered Mongolia.
Although we'd been told there were no roads in Mongolia, we didn't expect it to be as extreme as it has turned out to be. When in previous weeks we said the adventure had really begun, it was a serious misjudgement on our part. There are no roads. On crossing the border, the Citroën 2CV needed a tow to the town of Olgii to dump their car in a compound, and being the only team going the same way, we offered our services.
So we drove into the night along tracks that most would say were impassable unless you had a 4x4. We bedded down for the night, and had without doubt the coldest night of our lives. Ice was forming on the inside of the tent. But we made it, and the next day realising we had gone in completely the wrong direction, made our way back down, and after some deliberations and guessing, managed to find the right track. Unfortunately Boggy could no longer tow the crumbling 2CV up the mountain pass to Olgii and we had to abandon them.
In Olgii, we came across more ralliers, whom we have been convoying with since. We have literally been driving up mountains, through rivers, over crevasses in the ground a Range Rover would be proud of crossing. There have been punctures galore, our rear shock absorbers have disintegrated, the timing belt has snapped, and the handbrake has broken.
What makes up for it is that the scenery in Mongolia is truly spectacular. Vast plains bordered by snow capped mountains, beautiful lakes, as well as deserts where two-humped camels can be seen in their hundreds. Our progress has been on the slow, with each team incurring various engine and suspension problems, so we don't expect to be in Ulaanbaatar until Wednesday or Thursday. It is unfortunate for David as he has already booked his flight and will have less than a day in the city, so he will miss it unless we really push on. We are currently in Altay, halfway to Ulaanbaatar with another 950km to go, and are being delayed by other cars in the convoy who have more serious problems than ourselves.
There is a Mongol Rally compound here and it is sad to see about a dozen other cars abandoned.
It is our hope that we won't be one of them in many of the other compounds on the way to the finish line. We are reluctant to leave the convoy in case we end up stranded, so we are going by the motto - all for one, and one for all.
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