We have traversed much of the Gobi desert and against all expectations got to the Russian border. I gather that some of our organisers and fellow competitors have lost quite a lot of money shorting our likely distance..
No praise can be too high for Michael’s car management and driving. And also the sweeps who have fixed: a fuel tank with a hole the size of a foot in it (no they didn’t try welding it!); brakes that wouldn’t work; and exhaust pipe that had nearly fallen off, a car that was running on 3 cylinders and finally (again) the brakes which gave up completely last night. Some of the aluminium plates on the bottom of the car, after taking a fearsome pounding, gave given up the ghost.
Fig 1 I had to ‘swim’ across to take this photo!
Mike drove 50 k in the dark across the desert last night with no brakes at all. He had to stop once by reversing into a ditch so the back of the car doesn’t look to pretty. Fortunately the colour of the duct tape nearly matches.
Fig 2 The back of the car is starting to look pretty tattered….
But we are still hanging in there and have got here under our own steam in line with a diminishing number of other competitors.
Those of us who have made it this far have become fatalistic. Either we will make it or not. Allegedly we have covered the most difficult bits. But dangerous to be complacent. And some of the car problems are cumulative so will continue to worsen if vibration takes its toll. Mike has been brilliant at the mechanical bits, working 2-3 hours most days.
Fig 3. Not the best start to the day! And these tyres are meant to be guaranteed for 50,000 kilometres….
Sorry that this blog is all about the car. But that has become our major preoccupation.
The scenery is majestic. Camped by a beautiful lake, though sadly a lot of nature has made the same decision. At times the insects have covered 50% of any window. We climbed yesterday over a pass that peaked at 2600 metres with stunning views, much better in real life than on the phone.
Will post more on our rest day in two days time.