39 replies to this topic

[CharlieBrown]

Day 15, Saturday 7th Aug 2010 Atyrau, Kazakhstan

We woke to breakfast, got ready and then headed out into the city. We stopped at their parent’s cafe and had a nice cold drink which after all our time on the road felt little odd. We then went further into town and outside one of the main hotels we spotted some rally cars. So we pulled over and had a chat with them and heard some of their stories of adventure. It was then back to the house for lunch.

Earning my keep, babysitting

Rain in 40 degree heat!

After lunch we helped out with some finishing touches on their house. This involved driving round the corner from their house to a small workshop where they made tiles for wall finishing. We stacked up the truck with a whole load of the tiles and then went back to the house and unloaded them.

The mini waiting to be fixed

Manual labour

Local wildlife

We got a chance to check on the progress of the part delivery and found it was already in Germany so things were looking good.

We also did a bit of gardening then tidied ourselves up and it was off to the sister’s house where we spoke to their son some more to improve his English. It turned out that the husband Oralbeck used to be in the Russian army (When Kazakhstan was part of Russia), he then became a singer then recording studio owner.

Atyrau, Kazakhstan
Received by SMS at 7th August 2010 at 17:36
got up at 9. Had a good breakfast. Then went to their cafe for a drink. Then tour of town. Saw 4 rally teams at a hotel and had a quick chat and road advice. Then lunch and then helped our hosts with moving flashing bricks for the house and did a bit of gardening. Oh big news, it rained here today, actual rain! From the sky. Cold rain on a hot day is so good. Now at our hosts sisters house teaching their son some English. Earning our keep. Mini part now in Germany. So still waiting. Hoping it comes quickly. Love to all. All a bit surreal!

We stayed with them for the night and to make sure we were comfortable they helpfully turned off the air conditioning for the night. This ended up with Jev and being baking hot and the room being about 28 degrees! Not sure if it was going to be an issue turning it back on, we left it and got to sleep eventually.

[CharlieBrown]

Day 16, Sunday 8th Aug 2010 Atyrau, Kazakhstan

Atyrau, Kazakhstan
Received by SMS at 8th August 2010 at 12:16
last night we stayed at the sisters and they very kindly turned off their aircon so we wouldn't be cold. It was 29C! Too kind . This morning they showed us their restaurant and recording studio. The husband is a singer. We heard the tragic news and our thoughts are with the families. Tonight we have been invited to a friend’s house so have a bit of down time until then. Both still being very well looked after.

In the morning we were shown round the sister restaurant which was just over the road from their house, the restaurant was big and at the time being set up for a wedding reception later that day. We wandered through the kitchens and through to a courtyard. The other side was the husband’s recording studio so we had a look in there and we listened to some of the husband’s songs and then some of their oldest daughter’s songs.
We then headed back to the house and got some work done on the mini to prepare it for when part arrived. As we were working away a friend of Salamat and Tabys arrive. Moulin worked for Chevron oil so he spoke good English so we were able to chat to Salamat and Tabys a bit better with Moulin’s help. However it soon became evident that the lads were getting a bit bored and decided on a better plan, we would go to the beach. We were soon piled into the cars with the kids and before we know it we were driving to a beach on the side of the river running through the city. Going for a cool swim in 47 degree heat was amazing. I think we could have stayed there all day.

At the beach

Later in the day we were told we were going to Moulin’s for the evening to have dinner. So we got ready and Tabys dropped us and Salamat (and family) off. We were welcomed into the flat and sat down for a lovely evening meal with some added toasts (this time I kept the drinking to a minimum though).

Family friend's house

It was then time to head back home, we soon realised that the night was going to carry on and once the kids and wives were dropped off at home it was time for a boys night out.

Heading home

We sat back at the house and soon some beer arrived. It seems that an empty bottle is taken to the local bar and filled up there.

Kitten againn

We set off for a walk with our beer and ended up in the local park. I hadn’t done this since I was 16! Although we soon discovered that Kazakh parks have that little something extra...Russian military vehicles and artillery guns!

In the park

Had to be done

The gang

[CharlieBrown]

Day 17, Monday 9th Aug 2010 Atyrau, Kazakhstan

Good news
Posted by Charlie at 9th August 2010 at 10:15
Right, first things first, the part for the mini is now in Kaz!!! In Almaty but we have no idea how long it will take to get here (but we have been told it will probably fly). So it may even get here tomorrow but we’re trying not to get our hopes up too much.

Anyway, back to blogging. After our last blog we returned to our host’s house and repacked the mini to get more of the weight in the middle of the car. Our hosts (and another friend that arrived - Moulin) soon got bored of watching us do this in the 47 degree heat (47 degrees!!!!!!!) so took us off to the beach! It was nothing short of amazing. Swimming in the Ural River was so cooling, we could have stayed in there forever.

We returned to the house and were then taken to Moulin (the friends' flat), Salamat (our host) and his children and wife got very smartly dressed and we went in our shorts and flip flops, nice!

We ate a lovely meal and had Kazakh vodka for a toast to the kindness of Salamat. Several toasts later and we were onto international friendship (something the lonely planet guide had warned us about). We then headed back to our hosts house and got some local beer on the way. Then it was time to stroll around the town drinking our beer and chatting with the lads (Salamat (host/rescuer no. 1), Tabys (hosts brother/rescuer no. 2 and Moulin). We visited a local park and sat on some Russian war machines. The chat got onto the differences between the UK and Kaz and the guys informed us that in one or two years they will be driving from Kaz to London so wanted to know prices etc. At 1am we found ourselves in a restaurant for one last drink. We then snuck in the house like naughty children and this morning had a bit of a lay in.

Today we checked the progress on the part and as it is nearing us we planned/checked the route to determine if we could still continue. If the part arrives tomorrow then there is still a chance we can get this thing done.

So we will do a bit more prep on the car so we are ready to fit the part and head off.

Prepping the mini

After we finished prepping and checking the mini it was back to the sister’s house for a nice big family get together. More eating good food so I was happy. We also popped into the recording studio where a local band was recording and decided it was a good photo op.

Recording studio

[CharlieBrown]

Day 18, Tuesday 10th Aug 2010 Atyrau, Kazakhstan

Still waiting
Posted by Charlie at 10th August 2010 at 07:56
We are still waiting for the part, it got stuck in customs yesterday. Hoping it will arrive later today but the tracking information has not been updated recently.

Today the brothers had some time off so we got stuck into some more English lessons.

Learning some English

Studying

Here endeth the journey (ish...)
Posted by Charlie at 10th August 2010 at 15:31
Hi all,

Well we have news, but not good. After not getting an update on the delivery of the radius arm we phoned UPS only to find out the package was still with customs and they wanted a fax of my passport and the V5 but had not bothered to inform us (even though they had contact details). So we frantically arranged to fax over the documents (thanks again to Salamat and friends) but they will now not process through customs till tomorrow and leave to fly here tomorrow night. So earliest we will get it is now the 12th.

Jev and I discussed carrying on but with this even tighter time scale (and in light of the recent event on this year’s rally) we have decided the risk is too high. This is a great shame, however every cloud has a silver lining and we have had a truly great time here in Kaz and been looked after by an unbelievable family.

We will still carry on with a trip but this one will be the drive back. Still quite a trip in it's self. Kaz, Russia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, (Holland), Belgium, France, UK. [A more direct route is prevented due to Visa requirements.]

So who knows, we may even be the first mini to drive to Kaz and back...maybe??

PS We will of course swing by the Nürburgring as it would be rude not to. (Sorry Luc, Jev is going to make me!)

This was a really hard decision for Jev and I but when we sat down and worked out the cost of the delay on the trip and the distance we had let to get to Mongolia we realised that to get there we would have to do 18/20 hour drives for the rest of the trip and rely on getting through the remaining Russian and Mongolian border quickly. This was a real shame but we decided to make the best of some bad luck and take in some sights on the way back. Salamat and Tabys were sad that we couldn’t carry on and offered some suggestions to help but we just didn’t have the time.

Later in the evening it was then decided that a bit of gardening would be good and as we ended up with a whole load of dried grass and dead wood there was only one sensible solution, a massive bonfire in the street. Jev and I enquired about the legalities of this but the boys said it was fine, no worries.

Burning stuff

More burning

A few minutes later and the police turned up, Jev and I made ourselves scarce but it soon became evident that it wasn’t an issue as they had a look what we were up to then wandered off again.

Today was another hot day in the high forties but as it is difficult to give you an understanding of what that was like have a look at the following photo. In case you’re wondering the white mark is, salt crystals from sweat, nice!

Jevbob sweat pants

[CharlieBrown]

Day 19, Wednesday 11th Aug 2010 Atyrau, Kazakhstan
Today we thought we would make the most of being in the city so we walked into town for a bit of sightseeing. We also got a text for the other mini team on the rally and they let us know they would be in the city today. We decided to meet up with them when they arrived.

Disabled ramp 1

Tower block – Russian styled

Disabled ramp 2

We got into town and managed to meet up with the yellow mini team, who we soon realised were travelling in convoy. They all looked very hot and in need of a nice cold beer and some good food. As Jev and I knew the city a bit by now we took them somewhere we thought they would like.

Other mini team

We arrived in the air conditioned Guns and Roses bar and we could see the look of surprise on their faces as they realised they had arrived in a proper pub. Beers were ordered, burgers were eaten and stories swapped. It was also a chance for the other teams to use the pubs Wi-Fi to post a blog and catch up with the rest of the world. We chatted to one of the teams and discovered that they clutch had failed in Russia and they managed to get to a Russian Toyota dealership where when they heard what they were doing fitted them a new clutch for free!

Guns & Roses pub

Chatting to the yellow mini team they told us of their trip so far and they explained that the journey had been especially hard on their tyres and they would soon need some more. As we had made the decision that Mongolia was now out of our reach I decided (still somewhat painfully as it seemed to make the decision more real) to let then have the rally wheels. So off we set in the mini to go and collect them. This involved weaving through the manic mid day traffic. We arrived at the house and Salamat found it rather funny to see another mini. The wheels were then loaded and once again we fought through the traffic back to the others. This involved being stuck in a cross road where there was no light system and everyone was going through at once. I wish I had caught the moment on film as the mayhem was incredible.

On route to get the wheels

We got back to the rest of the group and they asked us where the police station was to register to be in Kazakhstan. We looked at them blankly and asked them what they were on about. They explained and it soon became evident that we had missed a tiny bit of small print on the back of the entry visa that said that visitors must register in the country within 5 days. Today was our 6th day!!!! Aggghhh. We headed to the police station just as they were closing and managed to explain our situation but there response was to come back the following day with our interpreter to sort it!! Now this presented us with somewhat of a problem. We explained we didn’t have one and that we couldn’t really afford one and after some discussion they finally agreed that one would be provided for us, well at least that was one small mercy. Our passports were confiscated and we were told we had to be back at 9am the following morning. Tomorrow looked like it was going to be fun.

We then said goodbye to the guys (who luckily had just managed to get registered) and walked back to the house. When we got back it was time to get ready for another evening out at another of their friends houses. This involved another drive across the city to a new part we had not see before. It soon became evident that this was a part of town was where some pretty big houses were being build. We drove up to one of the big houses and were soon introduced to their friend who as it turned out was a pretty successful business man. Introductions were made and we sat down to a massive spread of food including lamb which we later found out had been slaughtered in our honour. Yikes. So we tucked into some good food and drank some nice beer, which inevitably included some toasts, one or two of which were for Liverpool football club?!

Dinner

Our new friends

[CharlieBrown]

Day 20, Thursday 12th Aug 2010 Atyrau, Kazakhstan

We decided to wander into the city early to make sure we got to the police station as soon as it opened, that had informed us to be there at 9am sharp. We arrived in good time and ended up waiting outside for the office to open.

An unusal fence

We soon got to speak to an officer behind a glass screen and after some confusion we were told to wait for our translator.

Atyrau, Kazakhstan
Received by SMS at 12th August 2010 at 07:13
Stuck in the police station. We should have registered in kaz by 5 days time. Only realised yesterday (day 6) looks like we may have to pay a fine. Waiting 4 a translator. May have to go and see a judge. More good luck. Part could arrive today as well. Rubbish.

After waiting for what seemed like hours (and it actually was) of watching other people come in and register etc. we got told that the translator wouldn’t be there until 3pm. So the only thing we could do is wander back to the house, get some more water and head back into the city. All in the sweltering heat. We got back to the police station and were told to wait some more, so we waited a bit more with still no action. Then as we sat there a very attractive young lady walked in and I jokingly said to Jev that it would be great if she was our translator. Well as it turned out this was where our luck started to change for the better.

We were ushered into a side room by one of the officers and introduced to our translator, the stunning young lady, this was a pleasant distraction until she kindly explained our predicament. It turned out that not registering within the 5 days was a pretty serious crime, we would have to complete a form explaining why we did not register within the five days, pay a fine and then sit in front of a judge and explain ourselves, great.

We sat in the side room and began the slow process of filling out forms with our details and an explanation of what we had done wrong and how sorry we were (it would have reminded me of being naughty back at school if I wasn’t such a good boy). This then had to be translated into Russian with even our names being translated into Cyrillic text. This was taking forever and also involved the officer in the room completing forms in triplicate. Jev and I were getting rather concerned that this was just the speed that things got done and began to get increasingly worried that this would take the entire day and we would have to come back again! Another stroke of luck was that the translator needed to get off for a court case and wanted to help us before she left. It seemed that the only thing that can speed up bureaucratic police processes is an attractive translator asking them to hurry up. So once the forms were done the translator had to go so we thanked her very much for all her help and off she went. The forms were then whisked off to what we later assumed was the scary judge lady as we were never brought in front of her and an officer came back and told us we were ok as long as we paid the fine. The fine turned out to be the equivalent of £60 each!!! But we had little choice but to pay it. So out came the cards but they helpfully informed us that they couldn’t accept payment, the process (another one) was to go to a national bank, use the fine slip that we were given to get money out from our account and pay the fine and return with a completed/approved form.

We were given directions to the bank so off we went. This resulted in us heading into the big bank down the road and asking to sort out the payment. Unfortunately the big bank wasn’t a national bank that was further down the road. So off we set again down the road, we got to the bank and I got in a queue to get out some money to pay the fine. I got to the desk and got the cash out only to be told I had to go to the other desk to actually pay the fine, the desk that was right next to cashier I had just been to. Brilliant, just brilliant. By the time we had sorted all this it was just past 5pm, panicking with the thought that the police station would close we ended up running back to the police station, well when I say running I mean Jev and I running then me doing less running and sending Jev on ahead. I finally got to the police station and Jev had handed the payment slips in. With the bit of running I had gone and combined with the heat all I could go when I got there was crouch down in the corridor and try to get an ounce of my breath back. Unfortunately for me this made the place look untidy so I was ushered out into the entrance. Thankfully I survived and no sooner had I got my breath back that we were presented with our stamped passports, finally! With that done we wandered back home.

We arrived back and were immediately cheered up by the sight of a big brown parcel sitting in the porch. The radius arm had arrived!!!

Part arrived!!

We soon had the part out and started it fitted to the mini right away.

Jev getting it on the mini

The old ‘fixed’ part, not the best welding ever

It wasn’t long before it was on and the mini nearly ready to go. We packed up the mini as much as we could and decided to spend one last evening with our host family before heading back home.

Atyrau, Kazakhstan
Received by SMS at 12th August 2010 at 18:25
Well today involved spending the whole working day at the police station. We got there at 9 waited 3 hours to be told come back at 3 when the translator would be there. It turned out the translator was stunning which was great as the police suddenly became more friendly and faster! Result. After paying the £60 fine we were done at 5.30pm. Passports back. Walked home to find the part had arrived. Now fitted. Brake bleeding tomorrow then homeward bound! Good luck to the other teams carrying on. Charlie and Jev

[CharlieBrown]

Day 21, Friday 13th Aug 2010 Atyrau, Kazakhstan to Pogodaevo, Kazakhstan

The next morning we finished the last little bits on the mini (bleeding the brakes), had some breakfast, said our goodbyes, thanked everyone and off we set. Back out into wild!

Ready for the off

It wasn’t long before we had left the city and we were back into the deserts of Kazakhstan.

More camels

We spotted a strip of desert road and couldn’t help but have a little bit of off road fun, it seemed rude not to.

Bit of a play off road

One for the album

Jev posing as well

Wrecked car

We headed north to the border with Russia along some very long and deserted roads.

Desert road

Dust devil

Questionable roadworks

It was then time to stop for the night. We were driving through rolling farmland so thought it best to try and get permission to see if we could camp in one of the fields. We spotted a small village so drove into the middle of the village. Jev jumped out and we tried our best to ask if we could camp somewhere. Either the translation didn’t work too well or they didn’t fancy two smelly English adventurers stopping for the night, their loss. So off we set again. It wasn’t long before we came across another village. Right by it was a large lake and with the sun just low in the sky it looked the perfect place to stop. We decided this time we would set up camp and if we were asked to move on we would do just that. We drove into the village on the pot holed road and as we drove through we spotted what looked like the village shop. We popped in and grabbed a drink and spotted some pie type things that we understood as being chicken so grabbed a few of those as well.

We found the track that lead to the lake and stopped in a spot that looked perfect for camping. As we set up camp a herd of cattle was driven past us by a farmer who seemed not to be interested in us a bit so we decided to tuck into our dinner of local shop pie. It turned out to be more like a donut filled with chicken but wasn’t at all bad.

As we sat chatting and watching the sun get lower we heard noises from the nearby lake. So we got out the binoculars (they did come in useful for something) and I could just spot some kids swimming and splashing in the lake. One of them seemed to be on a horse shaped inflatable. This inflatable then climbed out of the water with the boy on the back...it was a horse! An actual horse being ridden in the lake. Just when I thought I had see my fair share of surprises.

Campsite found

Enjoying the last of the days sun

Camping at its best

Pogodaevo, Kazakhstan
Received by SMS at 13th August 2010 at 16:23
Brakes bleed this morning. Farewells said to our host family. Finally back on the road. Now just outside the Russian boarder. Another hot one today. 46C in the mini. Seems we both have caught a cold from a Kaz family member. Set up camp just outside a village by a lake. Nice

The sun soon started to disappear so we got ourselves ready and virtually past out. It had been a long days driving.

[CharlieBrown]

Day 22, Saturday 14th Aug 2010 Pogodaevo, Kasakhstan to Cochobka, Russia

We woke to the sound of cattle being driven back out to another field. We got ourselves ready and packed up. Driving back out through the field we took a little bit more off road video footage. We were soon back on the road and stopped off get rid of our Kaz change in a petrol station before we got into Russia. We pulled into the garage and while Jev went in to buy some drinks I decided to do the daily checks on the mini. Jev was soon back but we had got the attention of the petrol station guard who wandered over to come and have a look at the mini. We were fairly used to this so I didn’t mind although I then noticed him pull his shotgun more onto his shoulder so he could have a better look at the mini….I just smiled and looked polite.

We were soon at the border and began the usual process of queuing up to get through. It wasn’t too long before we had our passports checked and made it to the next part of getting though the border, the car check. I had just got to the front of the queue and was waiting at the booth with the paperwork when the window was shut and the officer got up and wandered over to the main guard hut. I assumed that there was going to be a change in guard but nothing seemed to be happening. The locals were motioning to their watches and trying to say a time later in the day, it then slowly dawned on Jev and I that all the guards were stopping for lunch. This left us in the middle of the border complex unable to go anywhere with little idea of how long the lunch break was, great. There wasn’t much to do but relax and stay cool so Jev and I sat in a bench under the shelter of the checkpoint roof. I was happy relaxing when Jev shouted me and motioned towards a guard that was smoking outside the main hut. I soon realised he was beckoning me to take my feet off the bench, seriously! It seems there are jobsworths everywhere. So duly told off we waited slightly less relaxed. Finally and thankfully their lunch break wasn’t a full hour and we were soon allowed to get the vehicle documents get checked and we were on our way.

Open road

Motorbike and side car

Signs for Moscow again

Enjoying the ride

At yet another police checkpoint we were stopped as an officer had a look around the car, satisfied with everything we were then asked if we had any ‘gifts’. Jev and I quickly racked our brains and then very generously offered them some lovely ration packs. To our surprise they declined our offer! No pleasing some people. So Jev and I set off laughing and decided that we be our standard offer to anyone asking for a ‘gift’.

Old Russian houses

Parking?

After a massive days driving it was time to look for a place for the night. It seemed like there wasn’t much choice as towns were few and far between. We finally decided to check out a truck stop. There was a restaurant that seemed to have a motel as part of it. We wandered in and we informed that it would be 40 Rubles for car (less than pound) 100 for shower each 250 to stay. This was less that a tenner and at this point as long as it had beds we were happy. At this point I was absolutely shattered and it seemed I had effectively shut down with brain functions reducing to a minimum. Jev found this funny then irritation and I struggled to perform basic tasks like cleaning my teeth. As soon as my head hit the pillow/massive cushion I past out.

Luxury room

Broken Charlie

Cochobka, Russia
Received by SMS at 14th August 2010 at 18:20
about 660k from Moscow. Got to the border early but got a bit held up as the guards had their mid morning brake just as we were about to leave so stayed there another 30mins. Got stopped at police check points twice. Once they asked for presents but refused the ration packs! Managed to find a motel for £16 including an extra £2 each to shower. Basic is an understatement. Cheap though. Moscow tomorrow!

[CharlieBrown]

Day 23, Sunday 15th Aug 2010 Cochobka, Russia to xxxxxx. Russia

As usual we got up early and were on road by 8:10. The day was much cooler at a cool 36-38 degrees C. On our trip to the capital we did quite well and only got stopped at one checkpoint without any issue.

Mini with new trailer

Russian church

The boys

Boot stall

Lunch on the road – All day breakfast

Roads still cloaked in smog from the Russian forest fires

As we got closer to the city we realised that we may need a Moscow city map. We managed to get one but soon found out that it wasn’t the best as we struggled to find our way.

Jev planning the route

MakDoaldski

While trying to find the Red Square we pulled over to check our maps and ask a local for directions. While we were doing this a young chap wandered over to us and asked in really good English if he could help! Once we explained that we wanted to see the Red Square he was more than happy to help as he was just taking his relatives from Estonia there. He then explained he was a member of the Moscow mini club, Awesome! His car of choice, a tuned mini cooper, not bad at all. So all we had to do was keep up with him as he weaved through a load of back roads and found us a parking space really close to the square itself.

Getting some help from a fellow Mini owner - Mini convoy

Group pic

We walked into the square and were greeted by the famous seen that I remembered from one of the Bond films, we had made it!

Entering the Red Square

Definaly the Red Square

Just off the Red Square we found a smaller square where there were some bronze panels on the floor and our unofficial guide told us that people stand at the centre of the bronze panels and make a wish while throwing a coin over your shoulder. So of course I had a go and hoped we would get home ok!

Making a wish

I then found out that Jev gets distracted easily when he has the camera and I ask him to take pictures of famous sights.

Jev took this pic

Tourist pic

Jev’s fault again

Graves in the Kremlin wall

One for the book

Red Square, Russia
Received by SMS at 15th August 2010 at 17:22
Red Square, Russia. Red Square........done.

Unfortunately we still had quite a distance to cover that day so we said good bye to our guide and family, they wished us all the best and we headed back to the mini. While parked up we decided to top up the tank with one of the jerry cans. This ended up with us spilling some fuel outside shop front, ops.
We left the centre but again the map seemed a bit suspect. We stopped to ask for directions from a street seller but we soon became less convinced that they were the best. Once again we pulled over to ask for directions and a family walking past gave us brilliant directions so we finally got free but later than we wanted.

Whilst driving we stopped in a lay-by to will the car with one of the jerry cans. As we were about to fill up we noticed a car pull up near us and a massive old guy step out the car wearing some very small shorts and a weight lifting belt. He wandered straight over to us, this was a touch worrying at fist as the guy looked like a gladiator! He came over and said he had seen us drive past and follow us to say.....hello! Phew. It turned out that he had spent some of his childhood in Algeria and seen minis there so he wanted to find out why we were driving through Russia. We explained our trip and our little incident and he thought it was a great thing to do. He spoke extremely good English and we found out that he studied at Moscow University and was working for a Russian oil company.

We were soon making good time on the motorways but as the light faded we came across a rather odd part of a ‘Motorway’, road works were being done and the road didn’t have lines or central reservation! It was really difficult to judge where I was supposed to be driving but as there was a load of traffic on other side and non on ours I just kept out of there way and tried not to come off the tarmac.

It was then time to start looking for a hotel. We did our usual method of asking at a petrol station but it was not great response. We came off motorway to find a town with a hotel and as we did this Jev for some reason got on the wrong side of road. This was soon resolved as I yelled and an oncoming helpfully flashed us. It was time to get some sleep! We couldn’t find a hotel so got back on the motorway and hoped we would find something soon. We then saw another petrol station a bit further on and ask we pulled in to ask for a hotel realised that the petrol station had motel next to it, result.

We got into the hotel and a very reluctant receptionist eventually got us a room. This turned out to have no shower but there was a water dispenser in the corridor, winner. Jev ate his third ration pack of the day, pig. We had a look at the route through the rest of Russia and there were 3 pages of map to do the following day, another long day.

[CharlieBrown]

Day 24, Monday 16th Aug 2010 xxxxxx, Russia to Ludza, Latvia

We were up early keen to get to through the border before our allocated time to register was up (we didn’t want to make that mistake again!).

On the road again

Giant oil can

We were happily driving along making decent progress when we saw a small lorry absolutely fly past us taking corners faster than I would want to in the mini. It was a bit obvious that they were nutters though as we noticed they were a motocross side car team!

Motor cross team

As we got closer to the border we ended up driving past lorry after lorry parked up waiting to cross. We soon found the queue for the cars which seemed fairly small. This feeling was short lived as we realised that the cars were barely moving forward. There was no shade in the queue and the temperature was still nearly 40 degrees. The family in the car behind us soon got back in their car and put the a/c on. We were almost tempted to ask if we could climb in the boot but it didn’t have that in the phrase book. We managed as best we could by getting the camping chairs off the roof and hiding in the shade of the mini, not so easy when your 6 foot!

Boarder crossing joy

Enjoying the wait

By the time we eventually got through it had taken us 6 hours to cross with the first 3 hours queuing to get into border complex. By this time is had also got dark!

As soon as we had cleared the border the roads began to get nice and twisty, perfect mini territory. I was thoroughly enjoying the driving will every light on, all 6! (thinking I was on a night rally stage), that was until we turned one corner and I just managed to spot a woman wandering right in the middle of my lane, bottle in hand. I luckily managed to avoid her but it was a bit too close for comfort.

As it got later we looked for a town to find a hotel we used our tactic of asking at a petrol station and they quickly directed us into town. As we go into the town all of a sudden there were lots of road works to drive through which made it seem like we had taken a wrong turn into a derelict part of town. We weaved through regardless and soon found ourselves in a really nice town centre which just so happened to have 3 cash points and a hotel lit up with hotel on it, result! We parked the car and checked the price for the hotel which was nice and cheap s decided to stay. As we unpacked the car we caught the attention of two chaps sitting on a nearby park bench. They came over and in basic English introduced themselves and offered us a drink of their beer. A rather nice, but unusual welcome. We got in the room and discovered that we were covered in dust from the days driving and looked a bit of a state, ah well, off to bed.

Ludza, Latvia
Received by SMS at 16th August 2010 at 21:27
Just found a lovely hotel in town that is nice and cheap. The border crossing took 6 hours Latvia side very slow! Roads in Latvia are great, felt like a rally stage. Spot lights worked a treat. Almost hit a woman wandering in the middle of the road! Odd. Looking forward to tomorrow.

[CharlieBrown]

Day 25, Tuesday 17th Aug 2010 Ludza, Latvia to Zambrow, Poland

We woke up a bit later than usual, a well deserved break. We popped down for some breakfast and set off to enjoy more decent roads.
While on the road we spotted some nice scenery so I decided to take a few pictures. Some arty shots were in order so I decided to get the best shot I would need Jev on my shoulders. Unfortunately as I lifted him up I hear my back crunch, ouch! Maybe it wasn’t the best idea but we did get a good picture.

Nice

Kaunas, Lithuania
Received by SMS at 17th August 2010 at 14:32
Just got to the capital. Had to stop for quick food. Never been so excited to see mcdonalds. Yum. Also never seen a mcdonalds with so many attractive women in. Went through miles of roadworks to get here though. Slow going. On to Poland!

Due to the nice roads it wasn’t long before we found ourselves in Poland.

Awesome place name

Starting to look more European

In to the setting Sun

As usual as it began to get dark we started looking for a place to stop for the night. We soon spotted a fancy new hotel that looked a little out of our price range but we checked it out anyway. It turned out that although being new it was rather cheap so this was our home for the night. As we started unloading the car a fairly distinctive Yorkshire accent said “hello”. It turned out that this fellow travel was Shaun, a retired fireman who was travelling the same route we had just done to Latvia to deliver his son’s soon to be wife’s wedding dress! We chucked our stuff in the room and went back to the bar for a drink with Shaun.

We ordered some local Polish beer and Shaun soon joined us and was asking what number he had to dial to call the UK. It turned out that his mobile had been stolen in Berlin and the family was not sure how he was getting on with the important delivery! Jev had cheap calls back to the UK on his mobile so lent it to Shaun to check in with his family. With that done he came back and was so grateful for our help (and possible some English men to chat to) that he bought us drinks all night. Bonus!

Mazovia, Poland
Received by SMS at 18th August 2010 at 12:01
Spent the night in a really posh hotel that was cheap just outside the capital. Met an English chap taking a wedding dress to his son’s wedding in Latvia. He bought us drinks all night. Great guy. Just drove past Warsaw. On to Germany.

[CharlieBrown]

Day 26, Wednesday 18th Aug 2010 Zambrow, Poland to Ludwigsfelde, Germany

We got up at a reasonable time and I decided it was time for my impressive (but messy) beard to go, but rather than simply get rid of it there seemed much more sense in taking the opportunity to try out some beard styles. One was a winner...

Had to be done

Hotel room

The beard styling did make us a bit late setting off but we got on the road and headed towards Warsaw behind a long line of lorries. As we drove down the A roads we noticed some ladies at the side of the road waiting in the most random places and some were just dancing on the spot. We thought this really weird until we worked out that they were ladies of the night!

Stopping for a rest

After miles of being stuck behind lorries we then hit a new section of motorway and made up a fair bit of time.

Motorway!

It wasn’t long before we had blasted through Poland and hit the lovely autobahns of Germany.

Into the Sun once more

It soon started to get late and as you can imagine finding a hotel was not a problem. We booked into a lovely cheap Etap and crashed out.

[CharlieBrown]

Day 27, Thursday 19th Aug 2010 Ludwigsfelde, Germany to Amsterdam, Neatherlands

We got up early with our sights set on getting to Amsterdam. With the Etap right next to a McDonalds Jev began incessantly pestering me that we have breakfast there. It would after all be cheap and quick. I soon folded and we had a lovely breakfast.

The joys of low cost motels

Looking smart

We were soon back on the motorway making good time but somehow we managed to get lost. We took a detour back to motorway on some A roads but got lost again?!. We pulled over when we saw a local village map board and double checked where we were. Once we had realised how to get back on the motorway we set off again but with the distraction of looking for the correct route to drive I managed to start driving on wrong side of road. This resulted in me driving round a corner and coming face to face with another car on same side of the road with the driver looking equally confused as me. I quickly got on the correct side and waved an apology, ops. We the carefully headed back towards the motorway and as we got near we were passing through a small village and spotted a police car in the distance. We got waved over and stopped by what turned out to be three old police officers (armed of course). It was quite a pleasant change to find out that once they had checked our documents they just wanted to have a chat with us.

Brandenburg, Germany
Received by SMS at 19th August 2010 at 10:12
Well after driving for nearly 3 weeks on the wrong side of the road, Charles decided to switch back and cause a bit of rapid German head light flashing! We then got pulled over at a random German check point in a sleepy village! Awesome!

German road

Hesse, Germany
Received by SMS at 19th August 2010 at 15:48
Just got across into the fatherland. Nice new motorways in Poland, pity they don't go all the way. Last little bit was slow a road. Speeding along now at a lovely steady 70ish. Couple more days and we will be back in the uk! Fingers crossed (got some new rattles today)

Windmill!

We got into Amsterdam and travelled through the maze of streets and round the canals looking for a hotel. We finally found one and pulled over. I jumped out and went in to see how super expensive it was going to be but found out that they were completely full! All their sister hotels were as well. The receptionist informed we that there was some massive sail event on [we later found out it happens once every 5 years, just our luck] so the most of the hotels in the city were full, ah (although if I was being honest with the accent I thought she said Seal event, and I was a little confused as I didn’t think he was still that popular)..... So we decided our best bet was to head to the airport and get one of the hotels there. We drove into the hotel car park and it was full of very tall athletic looking young people. It turned out there was an international rowing event there that weekend and the cheap hotel we went to was fully booked, great! Luckily there was a slightly more expensive on just by so we hurried over there to get a room. The good news was that they had a room, the bad news was that it was a more expensive queen room (120 Euros!), ah well beggars can’t be choosers and we did have to get into town to do some sightseeing.

We got ready and headed out via bus and train and finally got into town at 10:20pm. We wandered straight to the famous district and decided to see the sights rather than have dinner. It was quite an enlightening sight to see a mixture of big groups of American/English lads, fellow tourists and even families all admiring the...architecture. A little bit later we saw a huge Dutch man wearing actual clogs round town, awesome! Due to the distractions of the beautiful city we still hadn’t got round to having something to eat, unfortunately all the nice looking restaurants we had seen previously we now closed so we ended up getting a hot dog at a fast food place and eat it sitting alongside one of the canals watching the locals meander past in a variety of small boats enjoying the evening with wine and food.

Heading into town

In the district

Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Received by SMS at 20th August 2010 at 00:02
A quick look around Amsterdam, including a certain eye opening district. Got into the city fairly late as a big event was going on and a lot of the hotels were full. Ferry re-booked for tomorrow back to the shores of sunny England.

[CharlieBrown]

Day 28, Friday 20th Aug 2010 – Amsterdam, Netherlands to Cambridge, UK

We woke up to the sight of aircraft coming into land on the nearby airfield and got ready and set off for home!

View from the Hotel

The mini was running well some rattles but the roads we going and the miles were going quickly. We came off the motorway and got on some of the a roads to enjoy the journey more. It wasn’t long before I spotted a photo opportunity that I had been hoping for since we got into Holland, an actual windmill. We pulled off the road and got some great shot, more for the album.

Photo op

Nice

It was then back on the road and before we knew it we found ourselves arriving at the ferry port queuing with ‘normal’ holiday makers giving us puzzled looks. We were soon on the ferry and enjoying the experience of someone else doing the driving for us. It seemed odd that after all the time on the road and all the experiences we were nearly home. The ferry was soon in Dover and we were back in the trusty mini, we headed off the ramps and got through customs without any trouble, we hadn’t experienced that in a while.

We headed for a petrol station to get some expensive UK fuel and some service station unhealthy food. To my horror they didn’t even have pork pies, rubbish so I settled for something less unhealthy. As we left the petrol station Jev was driving and decided to take a mini roundabout on the wrong side of the road, it was hilarious to see he face all puzzled as he began to realise what he had done wrong. Once we had that little incident out of the way it was onto the British motorways and straight into the strange sight of road works and heavy traffic!

Dartford, UK
Received by SMS at 20th August 2010 at 17:31
back in the lovely uk. In heavy traffic going to Dartford tunnel. Going to Jev's tonight then I will be home tomorrow. Fingers crossed.

Once we got clear of the M25 we were soon on the roads near Jev’s home and finally parked up outside his house. We went in and got a fine welcome of family, friends and food, perfect!

Cambridge, UK
Received by SMS at 20th August 2010 at 23:33
got to Jev's at 7 had some food and looked at some of the pics. Bristol tomorrow and the new finishing line for me.

[CharlieBrown]

Day 29, Saturday 21st Aug 2010 – Cambridge, UK to Bristol, UK

I woke up, had a fine breakfast, got the car sorted for the last journey and said my goodbyes (At this point Jev’s dog took a liking to the mini and had a go in it himself).

Pants – Jev’s dog

I headed back on the motorways with the car a bit lighter and running well, once again I hit more heavy traffic and road works, further confirming I was back in the UK. I then started to see the signs for Bristol and knew I was nearly there. I turned the last corner and pulled up outside my house and turned off the engine. I’d made it home! The only person more please I was back safe other than me was Luc. So as a treat I regaled my story of adventure well into the night, lucky her.

Finally home

Bristol, UK
Received by SMS at 21st August 2010 at 17:56
got back home at 3. Mini got me (and co-driver) to kaz and back, awesome. M25 was quite a contrast to the open roads I've been use to. Thanks to all those who have been following our adventure and here’s to the spirit of adventure (and things not always going to plan).

The journey took 7,550 miles in total and covered 8 countries raising over £2,500 for charity.

Thanks to: Lucy and Jev for coming with me on my little adventure. Salamat and Tabys (and family) for rescuing us and showing us such great hospitality. Simon at Mini Spares for getting the part to us. The yellow mini team for their help. Mak of MiniTec for sorting the engine. Sean (aka The Stig) for letting me know my mini was for sale. And all my sponsors: theminiforum, NGK, Muc-Off, Retro Retrims, Sticky Fingers, Turtle Wax, Wizards of NOS, WierdBlue photography, OBP, Ace Cafe, Haynes, Somerford minis, MRA minis, Davida and 123 ignition systems.