On the 27th August, at around eight in the evening (a cold, dark, and gloomy evening) we willed the micra onto the abandoned finish line in Ulaan Baatar after having bounced over what felt like every rock between here and Almaty...

We have driven 9874 miles, through 14 countries and over some terrain that very nearly destroyed us and the car. After initial anticlimactic arrival we managed to find where the real finish line had been moved to- much more sensibly an English bar (as opposed to a large shop...), serving pints and stodgy food, which we tucked into whilst basking in the glory and relief of having made it here in one piece.

 From Almaty we journeyed into and through Russia with no problems. The car remained strong, the team managed to shake off all illness, and the scenery improved until the amazing Altay mountains in Russia; a fitting appertif for Mongolia. After bantering through the Mongolian boarder, staffed only by women due to the shockingly high rate of male alcoholism, we managed to find the right road, despite lack of map, and set up camp for the night content that we had at least made Mongolia, even if UB was still a long way off....

The roads over the next few days were very difficult. We took the Northern road, before moving more central before UB. Our lack of sump guard, combined with the narrow roads strewn with razor sharp rocks (loke Mordor...) made for a rather nerve wracking crawl from town to town.

Tom got ill again, but not too ill, we lost the rear bumper, and we had to change a tyre before reaching the finish. And it got very cold. Apart from these fairly minor hitches, Mongolia has been amazing. The most beautiful country we have driven through;...[Read More]