Gobi 1 Jimny 0.

posted by Gareth

Woke up bright and early got camp all packed up and hit the dirt track by 6.30am. Feeling optimistic and good about getting so far. Felt I could get a couple of hundred miles in today if no problems.

3 hours of good driving until the front axl snapped. I found a little ger village which had been funded by mercy corps but no electricity and thus no welder. To my dismay I discovered the next village was 100 miles away. I had to drive this with a very inportant metal bar missing. This bar helps me steer and without it the front wheels spin in a wibble wobble kinda way which is almost impossible to control. Still - nothing for it but to crack on and get going. Most of the journey was sand which actually helped immensely with steering and with tired arms and sore back, sides and chest from car wrestling I made it to the town. The toughest driving of the whole trip. Not good with my broken shoulder and recently cracked ribs! (Another story). I found a welder and with lots of faffing and lots of problems getting the work done it eventually got fixed. I was covered in sand from working on the car and needed a shower! No time. Needed to get going. Rush rush back to work.

Driving off from the welder it became apparent that the steering was no better. I ignored it for a while a thought it would go away. It did not. I looked at the weld and it was fine. That was it! All done. Can't go any further. Driving 400 more miles like this will kill me. I hit the lowest point of the trip. Couldn't believe I got this far and now I'm stuck. It was a horrible, horrible feeling. I desperately checked the work but it was OK. I decided to remove the metal bar and turn it around knowing inside it would make no difference. I removed the bar and discovered a piece missing.

I went back to the welder to show him. You may see in the photo that he does not have a neat workshop but he just sits in the sand at the side of the road. Miraculously he found the tiny part I need in the sand. He gave it to me and I got back in the sand under the car again. Got it fitted and tested and it worked!! Soooooo happy! Off to Ulan Bataar! 400 miles to go. That's only 8 more mechanics to visit on average. A cheeky bribe on the way out of town and I was off. Possibly the wrong way as usual. After 30 miles of driving the road just seemed wrong. I asked some bikers which way and they pointed a direction to UB that was perpendicular to the track I was on. Neither where I came from or where I was going, but into the desert of nothingness. I tried explaining to them that I'd need a track otherwise I may die. It didn't work. I drove a little further and made a turn. Worried I was lost and going the wrong way I set up camp for the night. Yet another beautiful spot. Cooked up another wayfayers special - chicken tikka masala - man I love having a stove! Could do with a mongolian meal really. Apart from mechanics and asking directions I'm somewhat missing out on Mongolian culture unfortunately. Its just wake up, drive, fix car, drive, sleep, rinse, repeat. No time to hang out with people and eat local food etc. Just a mission to get to UB and get back to work asap. Such a shame. But as I said before its not a holiday, its a mission to raise money for the kids that need it. Please donate no matter how small. 3 quid is plenty. The gesture will make me very happy and the money will go to a good cause. These low points I keep hitting will be worth it if I'm raising money.

Now I have to go I can hear creepy. Noises outside my tent.

Come on Jimny!

posted by Gareth

I woke this morning around 6 and felt immediately depressed. The car was broken - again - and I had to find a welder first thing and get some miles done. The breakdowns are just stopping me get miles done. My average speed is only around 20mph so every hour is needed for driving the length of Mongolia.

I headed back to the village I was in last night and managed to find a welder. I parked up and got under the car with my tools so I could remove the two halves of the broken bar. A chap saw me struggling with the rusty bolts and came to help. I thought this was just another helpful Mongolian - I was later to discover this was the village nutter. For later on he would get a bit crazy when the welder disappeared and ended up with us having a bit of a scuffle! He took my jack and wouldn't give iit back - I actually had to wrestle him to get it back - I'm sure it looked hilarious but at the time it was annoying and really weird. Anyway - to cut a long story short I got the car fixed by 10.30 - it took a lot longer. I prayed this time the weld would hold and hit the road. I was continually worrying about the car staying together - it felt terrible to drive. One rear shock was out and it handled badly. Nevertheless I had a great time driving through sand for a long stretch. Miles of sand - the Jimny was in its element - it was amazing to drive in and no pot holes! Just drifting and sliding along. Got up to 55mph too which was great. Since I left the welder, I was continally worried that I was going the wrong way. There was no-one to ask and sections of the road were so bad I thought I must be going the wrong way. After a many hours an actual road appeared. Well, concrete with gravel on it!! It was there with no pot holes for maybe 30 miles. Great stuff. I made it to Altai after around 6 hours of driving. Fixed the broken shock there (one mechanic wanted 60 quid to repair it. Another dude fixed it for 3 quid. Standard price for most things it seems. I drove out of Altai til dark. Needed to get closer to the next town 250 miles away.

Set up camp at sunset. Some amazingly nice Scottish fellas I met briefly gave me a cooker yesterday so I could cook my amazing wayfarers food in a bag. The good people at www.blacks.co.uk were amazing enough to give some of this amazing boil in the bag food. Tonight was Lancashire Hot Pot! Lush. I set up my tent, sleeping mat and sleeping bag (all from blacks.co.uk of course and amazingly good quality!). So now I sit snug and warm in the tent typing this.

Goodnight.

Need to be up early and head to the next town.

More Mongolia

posted by Gareth

Woke at 6.30 keen to get some miles in and establish if I'm going the right way.

Made it to Khovd in a couple of hours and found a mechanic to replace the spring. I also bought a spare one.

I had some breakfast and hit the road by 10.30 with a full tank of petrol, a full belly and some Jeep Beats. Happy that I was going the right way now I drove out of the city to find a mother and baby needing a lift. I pulled over and off we went. The cutest little baby would have a conversation with me by saying 'ba ba ba ba' in different ways. I would repeat these 'ba ba bas' much to her amusenment. The mother also found this funny. I guess I'm intelectually at the same level as a small baby.

After half an hour the front axl snapped again. The mother was obviously super impressed. The steering wheel would shake violently and I'd keep having to stop the car and try and straighten out. I had to turn around and very slowly head back to Khovd.

The mother helped me find a welder and get it fixed. She waited arounded and looked fairly happy. We just played with the baby while the work was being done. At 12.30pm all was well again and we headed off. I dropped off mother and baby and she thanked me by giving me a bottle of water. Random but appreciated.

I drove on and 3 hours into the drive. I felt a new wobble, never felt before. The back was fishtailing and felt very unstable as I was crossing some rivers. I stopped to find the rear axl had snapped. I pulled out a gun and shot myself in the face.

In reality I chuckled the laugh of a phsychotic serial kiiler and limped the car into a tiny village. I found a man and explained the problem. He took me to a welder. The welder had one leg. His son and understudy had only the use of one arm. I decided they would be Mongolia's greatest welders and was excited. They eventually got the work done for a fiver. It didn't look a great job if I'm honest and I suggested he weld it some more and use a extra bar as a brace. He did this and it looked a terrible job. I drove off regardless.

It lasted one hour. One freaking hour. The back axl had snapped and I had to wibble the car on to another village 20 miles on. It was getting late and proved difficult. With the help of a friendly man, we eventually found a kid with a welder. The cheeky kid wanted 6 times the going rate. I told him to stuff it and drove off. Cheeky little kid. Grrrr. Its not so much the money but the attitude.

Although I drove off to prove a point I couldn't go far as the car doesn't work properly. I drove 10 minutes and pulled over to sleep for the night. I will need to go back and get it welded I suppose. Grrrrrrr.