This is the place where you can keep up to date with your favourite Mongol Rally team - Blame it on Big Dave. Dave and Chris are travelling overland to Mongolia, 10000 miles, often without roads, to raise money for CNCF and Help for Heroes. Covering deserts and mountain ranges and in a vehicle totally unsuited to the task and no support crew. Just 2 big blokes in a 1 litre Suzuki Swift....

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we made it. Never in doubt...

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lost mario this morning. Panda has lost power. Making good progress but tank still leaking fuel...

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heavy couple of days. 12 breakdowns yesterday. Mo is out. Zoltan now running on a spring off the punto and we have just fixed a major fuel leak. Onwards...

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finally free after 3 days stuck in customs. No tarmac and only 80octane fuel...

Russia

We are in Russia. Mongolia on Monday if all goes well.

Kazakhstan proved interesting after Mario rejoined us with three corners of his suspension broken on the Panda. Chris sorted out the front end, but both rear leaf springs has snapped, and it was running on the stops. After a while, the driveshaft started complaining. We made a few goes at propping it up. First with tins of tomatoes (messy). Then with rubber bungs. We this worked on one side but the fuel tank pushed the right one into the whel and it rubbed itself to bits. So we lashed a piece of steel in there and tried to find a garage. 20 km and much local umming and ahhing and pointing left the car on a ramp being fitted at the rear with the front leafs from a 1970s Gaz truck that was rotting behind the petrol station. The locals worked into the night but it would not be finished, so we were put up in a cafe, where we were invited to drink vodka with a bunch of Kazakh army officers who were on a training exercise just up the road.

In the morning, the car was fixed. Mario was hungover and we set off to the border to cros into russia. The overnight border crossing was no fun, took 6 hours and we finally camped in a field at 5 am.

Yesterday we caught up Mojo and Mr E and 80 Clays at a nice riverside campsite south Bijsk. We are now 500km from the russian border, nursing holes in the roof for ourselves and 80 Clays, a suspect choke on the Mojo Skoda and a continual fuel leak from the Leopardy Panda. Curently debating hotel vs camping for tonight. Camp at the Mogol border tomorrow, before the most arduaous of final legs for the venerable Zoltan..... See you all in 2 weeks. Hopefully.

DH

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is ok... We're in russia now.

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vodka with Kazakh army a good idea...

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fixed marios panda with half a truck. On to russia...

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north of almaty. Just waiting for the real bad roads to start.

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north of almaty. Just waiting for the real bad roads to start.