... meanwhile in Mongolia

the first team made it to Mongolia and crossed the finish line ! Congratz go out to:

Vienna Calling
Location Ulaanbaatar(Mongolia) 10:37 on 03-08-2007
YESSS! WE DID IT!!!!! 12 Tage, 9250 km, 580 Liter Sprit. Special Thanks to our panda racing machine!!! YESS!

Driver Comments #6

Here we go with some new exciting events & comments:

• Muswell Mongols
  Location Tehran(Iran) 09:05 on 03-08-2007
  driving in Iran is survival of the biggest. Road markings and direction are irrelevant. Petrol 3p per litre. Water 5p per litre. Hottest day in the world ever!
• OMEYAS TO MONGOLIA
  Location Tashkent(Uzbekistan) 02:51 on 03-08-2007
  llegamos a tashkent despues dia solucion problemas mecanicos, avance ruta, otro mas segmento pegado(coche consume 1l aceite 100km...
• Land of Down
  Location Unknown 17:27 on 02-08-2007
  in @ss end of nowhere on way to irkutsk. Coping with roads, trains, trucks and not insignificant hangover. Kids do not try this at home!
• Team Mongu Mongu
  Location Irkutsk(Russia) 15:58 on 02-08-2007
  Been driving solidly since july on only bread, water and kebab. Currently playing dodge the cow on the road to Baku.
• Team Crazy Fools
  Location Baku(Azerbaijan) 09:36 on 02-08-2007
  headline on p7 of baku Post: Xtina Aguilera ill with the flu!
• The Dolly Mixtures
  Location Unknown 07:02 on 02-08-2007
  No mans land 4 teas and 2 pepsi's for 70p! We're also 2.7 million Iran dollars richer.
• Team Jackal
  Location Samarkand(Uzbekistan) 05:45 on 02-08-2007
  salimos hacia Toshkent. Otra frontera. Seguimos sin encontrar internet...
• hobo logistics
  Location Baku(Azerbaijan) 19:35 on 01-08-2007
  just had bottle of vodka and meal bought for us by locals. Amazing how far a smile and hello gets you in the world
• teamGoZzilla
  Location Mashhad(Iran) 16:11 on 01-08-2007
  still here, forgot about rally while doing studies of locals and sorroundig waiting the turkmn visas, maybe saturday
• The Goonies
  Location Unknown 14:54 on 01-08-2007
  Upon reflection, 'wind washing' just makes you dirtier.
• The Goonies
  Location Unknown 14:53 on 01-08-2007
  We're out of wet wipes.I cant describe how big a blow this is! We have resorted to 'wind washing' which involves sticking various body parts out the window.
• Mr. Dinosaur
  Location Astrahan(Russia) 13:58 on 01-08-2007
  outside of volgograd trying to avoid cops who tend to just laugh at us anyway...
  Starsky and Clutch
  Location Unknown 09:34 on 01-08-2007
  almost in Baku. Just saw a Larda hit a horse hard and the horse just got up and walked off. We love it
• ATOPOCU 2
  Location Istanbul(Turkey) 09:12 on 01-08-2007
  made it to istanbul. Big fat turquish man washes me in hammam. Guys from genghis kar have worms.
• The Goonies
  Location Unknown 06:40 on 01-08-2007
  woken by about a hundred wild horses going through our camp in the middle of the night.had to bribe some police this morning who wouldnt give documents back
• The Great Sandbadgers of the East
  Location Volgograd(Russia) 20:06 on 31-07-2007
  Mongol rally not welcome in volgograd. Avoid. Remove stickers. Head north. DO NOT STOP FOR POLICE
• ARE WE THERE YET?
  Location Luhansk(Ukraine) 19:11 on 31-07-2007
  just about 2 cross in2 russia. 46 degrees here
• The Kilmorie Gentlemen
  Location Turkmenbashi(Turkmenistan) 17:46 on 31-07-2007
  Yawn. 26 hours & counting. Hate the ferry. Hate Azerbaijan. Will murder the next person that asks for money. I hate Azerbaijan. I hate Azerbaijan. X Dom
• Rustbucket Express
  Location Tabriz(Iran) 17:18 on 31-07-2007
  Royally shafted at iran border - 70 dollars to get carnets back, really sure these guys were real. They were not.
• Mongolbikers.com
  Location Volgograd(Russia) 16:39 on 31-07-2007
  40°C on the road today. Have finally made it to volgograd with no money and having spent a night drinking vodka with a russian family. Great fun!
• We're Actuarially Going To Mongolia
  Location Atyrau(Kazakhstan) 15:32 on 31-07-2007
  after waitin 6 hrs on ferry to kazakh last night we finally experienced off roading, Me with b'day hangover! Jinst out tonight lookin for borat's sister!
• The Penelope Pitstops
  Location Volgograd(Russia) 14:47 on 31-07-2007
  Industrial hellhole, largest gas plant ever, never come here in your life...
• AKA Busters
  Location Unknown 14:00 on 31-07-2007
  correction. The border is closed for the night so we're stuck in no mans land till 8am!
• The Kilmorie Gentlemen
  Location Turkmenbashi(Turkmenistan) 13:38 on 31-07-2007
  Hour 22 of the ferry crossing... We've been at the port for 9 hours but the boat wont go to dock. Theyve conned us (7 teams) out of around $400. Fuckers
• Two Loose Screws
  Location Unknown 12:26 on 31-07-2007
  ed has ball rash. Ollie is going into arse labour. Can someone send us out some savlon & some immodium. Address is Renault 5, daka avenue, Baku

Keep on rollin'

Update #18 - Guess what happened...

they actually made it to Uzbekistan. Next question: will they make it out of it again ?

To get from where ever it was to Uzbekistan, our boys have driven all night through the desert and the land of bandits. They think they've mastered the most dangerous part of the rally. I don't think so. I guess getting the visa to Kazakhstan again will still pose a time consuming and maybe dangerous challenge: bribing officers or trying to illegally enter the country ? That is the question here. Let's see how they'll decide ;)

2007/08/02 7.29
Reaching Uzbekistan, mileage counter shows 7305 km

Update #17 - No news = good news ?

Hey there. I just got an SMS from Richard with an update and I'd like to quote Sean Connery in Indiana Jones III :"Our situation has not improved". They are still in the southern part of Kazakhstan. It took them 16 hours to pass the last 120 km. Fortunately they are not alone. A lot of sand is accompanying them. Along with 3 other teams, which is quite good. 'cause it seems that everyone gets stuck once in a (short) while. I was told that one time, they needed a digger to help them out. The desert is showing it's rough side, but our boys + company are still in a good mood.

Let's hope it stays that way