en route from London to Ulaan Baatar

Food Glorious Food

We've had some good, great, bad and dreadful food on this trip. Some tastes still linger on while others have seriously challenged us, none more so that the little white ball we tried on stall selling apples and honey in Uzbekistan - Damian bit into it first and from the expression on his face I knew it wasn't what he was expecting, unfortunately I felt that I had to follow suit and little did I realise what I was about to sample. Being on a stall with apples and honey, one made the assumption that it would be sweet or at least sweetish. Oh no, weeks on I can still remember that first bite - it was something like dried fermented goats cheese and absolutely revolting!  At least we amused the girls on the stalls with our expressions!

The favourite dish in Kazakhstan involves sheeps' fat - its in everything and they even breed big bottomed sheep for this purpose with lamb's tail fat the real luxury!  We have given up on trying to work out what meat we're about to  eat - we've done the flapping arms routine (chicken), "baa-ing" for lamb and I can't bring myself to start neigh-ing for horse meat.  Nevertheless the shashlyk (kebab) are very tasty and have sustained us for much of the past few weeks.

If you're lucky enough to get a menu, and even luckier to be able to understand it, you're initially overwhelmed by the selection of dishes on offer, including "Grambled eggs" and "Cigarette Pie".  Ah, but this is illusion!  Most dishes are listed for show and more than likely they'll only have a handful dishes to serve up.  At a cluster of roadside stalls they'll be all serving the same food, no choice at all.

Full credit goes to the B&B in Samarkand who were very creative with breakfast - a rice pudding like dish one day and the best of all, fried eggs served on buckwheat, an acquired taste but very tasty.

My favourite brunch was in Russia, near the Kazak border, where the lady running the roadside cafe was so chuffed to have a couple of foreigners at her table she laid on, what felt like, a full banquet for us.  All freshly made, from borsch soup to stuffed peppers, we dined like kings.  She got around her disappointment that we had no room for the blinis with condensed milk that she insisted that we take them away with us!

None of these experiences have driven us to the nearest McDonalds which is just as well as we haven't seen them since Kiev.

J.

Money Money Money

I love Uzbekistan - the cym is so week against the dollar that you are given your currency in huge wads, tied up by elastic bands - well, at least it gave me a physical sense of wealth!  However, you've got to be on the ball as at the border we were nearly ripped off by 50% had we not insisted on counting every note - quite a task when 100 bucks is a 6 digit number.  In fact, in Samarkand the greenback ruled ok, even in the markets, as we were nearly always quoted in dollars - $1 equals apprx 1000 cym.

In Kazahkstan currency exchange booths greatly outnumber the bankomats (ATMs) and here they very rarely recognise the pound.  Once again the greenback rules okay.  This time you have to be on the ball as they have a great tendancy to round everything up, short changing you all the time.  This is particularly noticable at petrol stations, where more often than not, you have to pay in advance and then claim back what you haven't used - just imagine trying to explain that to the petrol attendant when you have no language in common!

Both Damian and I have completely lost the plot when it comes to working out the exchange rates - we can't even remember how many roubles to the dollar.  And in Ukraine it took us about 3 days to work out what the currency was!

All I can say is that this trip has made me appreciate the euro and its ability to be used in most European countries!

J.

Outdone in Samarkand

The highlight of the trip so far has been Samarkand - the heart of the Silk Road.  A city with spectacular buildings - the Registran is a must, especially at dawn (paid my first bribe to be allowed to climb to the top of one of the minarets to watch the sun rising over the nearby mountains).

Stayed in a great B&B with some fascinating travellers - a guy called Paul who's a travel writer and the Silk Road has been his obsession since the year dot, three French folk who had been camping and treking in Krygyzstan before doing the cultural highlights of Uzbekistan.  It made us realise that our travels to date, with the exception of the the Mongol Rally, have been decidedly tame. 

Everyone was in awe of our trip until the next day when a tuk tuk, yes, a Thai tuk tuk, turned up.  Suzy and Daniel have been travelling around the world for the past 3 years, first by bike where they cycled from Germany to Thailand via the whole length of the Americas as well as down under.  Then in February they bought a tuk tuk which they are driving back to Germany.  I am in AWE of them!!

One afternoon we took both the Moo Moo and the tuk tuk out for a spin around the sights of Samarkand - utter chaos ensued as the locals were not only startled by the sight of Moo Moo but they definitely couldn't make out the tuk tuk out at all.  With police out in force as the President of Uzbekistan turning up in shortly afterwards, we stopped the two cars in front of the Registan for a photo opportunity.... We were mobbed by the locals who were drawn to the 2 vehicles...  The police were completely bewildered! It'll be a memory that remain with us for a long time.

J.

Into Russia...

No news for so long as we're back on the road and internet access in the middle of the Kazakh desert isn't possible!

As soon as Moo Moo was given the all clear from the doctors in Kiev we hit the road - paying the garage was very strange as they wouldn't accept cash on the premises so we had to drive around the block before handing over the dosh (don't ask!)

We were aiming for the Russian border north of Kharkiv, about a 400km drive east, chasing another 2 teams. Chinggis Khann't and Pandamonia Panda (which was actually a Romahome!), who had just left Kiev that morning. 

We thought that we were doing well as we quickly got through the Ukrainian border, and then we had a couple of hours in no man's land before reaching the pleasures of the Russian border.  Cleared immigration in good time and we were beginning to feel chipper.  Little did we know what lay ahead of us - Russian customs and doing it in the dead of the night when you haven't had any sleep may not have been the best idea....  You try filling in a form in Russian with no knowledge of the language but a Ukrainian teenager with a smattering of English helped us through the torture.  Then we had to pay - in roubles of course - and hunting down a currency exchange became quite a task.  Forms were completed as dawn was breaking and we thought that we would be shortly on our way.  Oh no.... customs next and because we didn't want to partake in the local pecularities, we had to unpack the entire car before having every bag and box examined! 

Caught up with the other 2 teams just before 6am, having set off from Kiev at midday th previous day... 

Into Russia...

No news for so long as we're back on the road and internet access in the middle of the Kazakh desert isn't possible!

As soon as Moo Moo was given the all clear from the doctors in Kiev we hit the road - paying the garage was very strange as they wouldn't accept cash on the premises so we had to drive around the block before handing over the dosh (don't ask!)

We were aiming for the Russian border north of Kharkiv, about a 400km drive east, chasing another 2 teams. Chinggis Khann't and Pandamonia Panda (which was actually a Romahome!), who had just left Kiev that morning. 

We thought that we were doing well as we quickly got through the Ukrainian border, and then we had a couple of hours in no man's land before reaching the pleasures of the Russian border.  Cleared immigration in good time and we were beginning to feel chipper.  Little did we know what lay ahead of us - Russian customs and doing it in the dead of the night when you haven't had any sleep may not have been the best idea....  You try filling in a form in Russian with no knowledge of the language but a Ukrainian teenager with a smattering of English helped us through the torture.  Then we had to pay - in roubles of course - and hunting down a currency exchange became quite a task.  Forms were completed as dawn was breaking and we thought that we would be shortly on our way.  Oh no.... customs next and because we didn't want to partake in the local pecularities, we had to unpack the entire car before having every bag and box examined! 

Caught up with the other 2 teams just before 6am, having set off from Kiev at midday th previous day... 

The long straight road

Imagine coming over the brow of a hill and all that lies ahead of you is a dead straight road that goes as far as the eye can see.  But in Kazakhstan not everything is as it seems.  The road is straight alright but you try to drive it in a straight line .... On closer inspection, the tarmac has dissolved into the worst road that we've ever seen - potholes the size of Moo Moo have to be navigated. So, we did as the locals do, don't bother with the road and drive on the sand tracks which run parallel to the road from Aketobe to Aral.  I now know that Damian has aspirations to be a rally driver as we swerved to avoid ruts, sand dunes and anything else that the tracks could have thrown at us.  What should have been a long day's drive turned into 2 days of hell because of rain - yes, it rains in the desert. 

On the first morning we had a to be pulled out of mud so deep that Moo Moo's sills were covered.  A fantastic Turkish guy driving a grader towed 5km to the "road" and then he and his friends gave us a cup of tea and biscuits before arranging for us to drive along the track they're currently tarmacing (which only lasted another few km).

After a night's sleep in the car we woke up to witness a fantastic thunderstorm over the desert - fork lightening and deep rumbling thunder everywhere. What we didn't realise was that the sand turned into mud after the rain and we couldn't drive on the sandtracks as it was like driving on ice - no grip.  For the next 3 hours we slowly made our way across the worst roads, worrying all the time that Moo Moo would be sucked into one of the massive potholes and we certainly wouldn't be able to push her out of them.  24 miles and 3 hours later we finally found heaven - a tarmaced road with the occassional pothole! 

Breakfast in Kiev...

Breakfast - generally is my favourite meal of the day, especially when its a full English.  But here's its turned out to be quite a challenge....

Day 1 & 2 - Chickened out and had it in the Bookshop cafe.

Day 3 - Bought what I thought was yoghurt to make a fresh and dried fruit, nuts, seeds and yoghurt mix. Transpired that it wasn't yoghurt but sour cream - interesting.

Day 4 - Took the easy option and went to McDonald's (yup, I braved it through the Golden Arches doorway) but they don't serve breakfast options here. Damian had a "Supersize Me" moment and had 2 McChicken burgers and soon regretted it.  While I ploughed my way through a hard chocolate muffin.

Day 5 - Found yoghurt plus fantastic fruit danishes with sour cherries in.  Only snag was that the "milk" I bought for coffee turned out to be another form of sour cream - wasn't a very popular person!

Day 6 - Finally worked out what milk is in Cyrillic and we're now sorted.

J.

Moo Moo at the Doctors...

Written on 9th August:

We're sitting at the garage having just discovered the full extent of Moo Moo's illness - yes, the piston rings have blown on the right hand side (bet you never knew that I know so much about engines! nor did I until this trip).  This means that we'll have to replace them but more dramatically, the cylinder head.  Roy at ECAS has said that he can arrange for them to be couriered out here but it'll be a few days... Thanks Roy for all your help and advice (its been a bit like a telephone GP service, trying to diagnose the problem via text, mobile and email)

To cap it all we've just had a very sad text from our other 2CV friends on the Rally, Jan and Neil, who's car, Marvin III, has just died on them in the middle of nowhere in Kazakhstan.  Its so depressing as they've gallantly fought against adversity to get as far as they have.

Looks like we'll have to take up the challenge and be the first 2CV to Mongolia...

J.

Moo Moo is unwell

Written on 8th August:

We've been in emotional turmoil since Friday as Moo Moo hasn't been usual self.  But how do you find a garage in a city that you don't know, with a language you can neither understand or read, so everything is a huge challenge!  Luck was on our side as we ended up with two options - tracked down the local Citroen garage or help from one of the drivers at the British Embassy.  The former was found with a lot of help from the girl at the Internet Cafe in Kiev while the other was a very fortunate meeting in cafe with someone who works at the British Embassy.

On Sunday we decided to take the Embassy option which involved a jaunt to a part of the city which will never be on the tourist map - a lock up garage in the suburbs.  It was a fascinating place where creativity and ingenuity ruled the day as Sasha and Slava, with help from Damian, set about sorting Moo Moo out.  It was decided to give her a "bandage", and not fully operate to find the real problem (which meant going into parts of the engine which we didn't have the proper tools - for car enthusiasts out there, we think one of her piston rings has blown)

This morning we confidently left Kiev for the 500 mile to the Russian border.  Alas, we only made it 40km before Moo Moo showed signs of pain so we decided, after much soul searching, to return to Kiev and get to the root of the problem. With our tails between our legs, we returned to the Citroen garage where they'll strip her and we'll have the parts sent out from the UK.

J.

Kiev - the new Prague?

You heard it here first!  Because the Ukraine hosted the Eurovision Song  Contest earlier this year, the Ukrainian Government have waivered visa requirements for EU citizens resulting in an influx of tourists are now pounding the streets admiring the sights and enjoying the nightlife.

With Moo Moo in her current delicate state we're getting the chance to explore the old part of the city which has some fabulous buildings, especially St Sophia's Catherdra; with its majestic gilded domes and baroque campanile.  The other places to check out are the Cave Monastery ans St Michael's Catherdral.

We've already sampled the nighlife which is great: smoky cellars where you hear jazz and enjoy the loca beer (excellent) or cafes with live music most evenings.  The food we've sampled has been much better than I can remember of the former Eastern bloc but word of warning: watch the cholesterol levels as they like their fat!

All that needs to be sorted out is reasonably priced hotels and Kiev would be perfect for a long weekend.  Apartments are a much cheaper option - we're staying in one right in the city centre, but I wouldn't have the foggiest idea how to arrange this kind of accomodaton as one of our rescuers sorted it out for us - thanks Matze!

J.