I have not posted anything on the blog for a couple of days, the reason I was too tired really tired we have had a few harrowing days.
We made it to Mongolia only to be told we would have to pay a temporary import deposit of nearly $6000 US dollars in cash, with the nearest bank a days drive away only we could not take the car and would have to either get a taxi, there were none, get a lift or walk.
It was an impossible situation which we had waited nearly 24 hrs for
Firstly the border was closed Sunday when we arrived and didn't open until 8 9 or 9:30 depending on whom you spoke to, it was actually 8:30 but it moved so slow you couldn't tell. We do however view some queue rage when the group of polish bikes were going to be let through a bit earlier much to the annoyance of the cars waiting.
Anyway having decided that to try and pay the tax was not viable we decided that we would have to continue to Ulan Ude via Russia so had to turn around and drive the 20 km back into Russia and then a 2000 km drive through Russia to get to Ulan Ude .
Backtracking over our exact previous route was not something I relished, however, we did see many things we had missed the two days and we passed through some truly beautiful scenery.
To say that it wasn't our best day was an understatement however the car ran like a dream which proved my assumption that part and probably the main problem that we have been having is the overheating of the fuel in the tank, the rain kept everything cooler, we covered over 330 km and eventually stopped at a delightful three storey log cabin, everything possible was made from wood including the light switches and electrical sockets.
The food was more than reasonable and after a good nights sleep, we again started heading as we had since leaving home, east.
Now just to bring you up to date we are currently further east than India, so for me, it's virgin longitude.
The car has started to show some strain the rear wheel bearing is becoming a real worry as its howling, although there is no sign or play.
Whilst we were travelling along, what is for Russia a relatively smooth, rough road, we had an unusually loud bang from the rear, now not only have I removed the rear seats, we unwashed unshaven sexagenarians were unlikely to "pull" on this trip, but we also had an enormous amount of rubbish in the back, but this was not an ordinary bang and when it was followed by the smell of burning rubber we thought we had better investigate and we found that a rear Spring had broken, fortunately at the bottom coils, so it was out with the tools to remove the rear shocker and dismantle the spring fortunately because we had played around with the springs before I had already worked a way of compressing the spring with the weight of the car + a bit more. In preparing the car Dave Holley had suggested fixing some eye bolts to the side of the car not only to secure our roof gear but to hang a hammock from, I was able to use a ratchet strap attached to this and the other end to the wheel to compress the spring enough to get the fixings on, sorted in less than 30 minutes thanks, Dave and Bertie, the pop rivets performed better than expected.
We did try and find a bearing shop but despite trying could not find what we needed. The following night after a frustrating search for hotels we found a large and by our standards expensive hotel in the centre of the city I am afraid to admit that night we ate Italian as it was the nearest restaurant and even had to resort to drinking Carlsberg as for some reason the waitress, Lisa, would not serve us with local beer and we were too tired to argue.
By now the bearing was getting more than desperate so making use of our luxury hotel Internet and front office staff, google translate and some useful drawings on paper we were able to get a map to a "bearing shop". The previous day we had been forced to look for a Kia pride wheel bearing but Enterprising Neil had managed to find the bearing sizes for the Euro parts website armed with this information we set off to the bearing shop only to find it didn't open until 10:00 o'clock so we spent and enjoyable 45 minutes in the local market, Neil the ever so conservative was worried about upsetting the local by taking photos but I wanted some to show My wife I forced his arm and borrowed his camera, camera shy was the last thing they were, all wanted their photo taken even the proprietor of the tea stall, who instantly became Neil's best friend and insisted I took a photo of them draped over each other.
This time at the bearing shop I was better prepared and had a script written out
"Мне нужнодва подшипникам колеса для моего автомобиля размер"
Which translates to "I want two bearings this size", the assistant looked, stared and then started into his computer after 5 minutes with a number scribbled on a piece of paper he disappeared and returned a short time later clutching two bearing. That certainly looked the job, so it was off to a nearby carpark wheel off and bearings checked and indeed they had the same numbers, jobs a good one!
When I packed tools for this venture it was difficult knowing what to take especially as I was going to have to sacrifice them along with poor old Katie, I had packed a set of metric ring spanners some sockets and a drift, how pleased I was with my selection I think I have used every spanner on this trip including the 6 mm I nearly didn't pack.
I think it probably took less than ten minutes working as a team to get the wheel off, unfortunately, the seal was ruined but the outer bearing was unmarked so Neil rushed back to the shop to swap the outer bearing for a new seal.
I don't think I have seen a bearing as badly chewed as the inner bearing, no wonder it was howling probably about ready to let go in a big way. By the time I had replaced the inner race Neil was back with the seal, so bobs your uncle wheel bearings replaced and on our way by 11:00.
Navigation has been a bit of a nightmare, Neil, rightly so, was not to pleased with the Sat Nav, I had forgotten to get maps of Russia downloaded and in any case would not have got them for the roads we were now forced to travel on. Having tried several different exits from the city we resorted to asking a local who once he understood what we wanted or at least gave the impression he did, jumped in his car along with his equally burly mate indicating we should follow, which we did, as the roads got smaller and smaller, bearing in mind we were looking for a motorway, the more I started to become anxious, I went through several scenarios in my mind and thought back to my anti-high jacking training and wondering if I could get Katie to perform a backwards J-turn. Neil I could tell was equally worried he does not give much away, but he was twitching more than usual, but just at the point of no return, we pulled out of a lane beside the motorway, for motorway read single carriageway road where turning right and even u-turns are allowed. With much relief and our faith in human nature restored we were on our way.
In fairness, touch wood, fingers crossed etc etc we have only had positives in Russia, I think it's at least four times now we have asked for directions only to have someone say follow me and they have led through a maze of junctions to our request venue.
Today whilst stopped on the main road for a kettle cup of soup, One of the many additions I put into the car was a secondary electrical system with for those technical propel a split charge diode, which basically means we can use the secondary system without affecting the main system. Even flattening it completely would have no effect on the car, it would simply recharge once the main battery was up to charge. Off this system we have a electrical kettle in the front foot well, and although it takes about 30 minutes to boil, makes a mean cup of tea or soup.
Today Friday we needed to crunch some miles so having got the old thing started and ready to go by eight thirty, Neil that is, I wanted to make the most of the day.
One of my concerns before leaving was the electrical system and more importantly the alternator. I knew we would be extremely unlikely to find a replacement on route and after some considerable searching online found QX Components Urmston where a very friendly Gary offered us sale or return on a reconditioned unit which sat under my seat, just in case, Thank you, Gary, I slept better knowing I had it should needs must. Ironically one of the Italian teams had blown their Alternator before leaving England and had wasted two days getting a replacement.
The normal pattern of our day, when the car is running right, is to take it turns starting in the morning and then drive for two hours and change, in the afternoon we swap more often. Today I got the timing a bit wrong and it meant that we had to stop on the side of the road for our soup, because we were on the main road and not wishing to upset the local police I pulled the bonnet up, whilst we drank our soup, in the minutes that we were stopped, we had two cars pull up to check we were ok, one had turned around to see if help with any problem the other was a polish driver who was with his family having visited Mongolia on the route we had planned just stopping in case.
Today the car ran like a dream for 350 km and then started playing up, Neil,has now learnt how to tease the car past the problem, carefully adjusting the revs to stay below the problem, we have also found kicking it into neutral on the long down hills also help.
We are now at 520 km about 300 miles into today's trip and shortly it's mine turn to drive so I will take a few random photos and post with this for today
We made it to Mongolia only to be told we would have to pay a temporary import deposit of nearly $6000 US dollars in cash, with the nearest bank a days drive away only we could not take the car and would have to either get a taxi, there were none, get a lift or walk.
It was an impossible situation which we had waited nearly 24 hrs for
Firstly the border was closed Sunday when we arrived and didn't open until 8 9 or 9:30 depending on whom you spoke to, it was actually 8:30 but it moved so slow you couldn't tell. We do however view some queue rage when the group of polish bikes were going to be let through a bit earlier much to the annoyance of the cars waiting.
Anyway having decided that to try and pay the tax was not viable we decided that we would have to continue to Ulan Ude via Russia so had to turn around and drive the 20 km back into Russia and then a 2000 km drive through Russia to get to Ulan Ude .
Backtracking over our exact previous route was not something I relished, however, we did see many things we had missed the two days and we passed through some truly beautiful scenery.
To say that it wasn't our best day was an understatement however the car ran like a dream which proved my assumption that part and probably the main problem that we have been having is the overheating of the fuel in the tank, the rain kept everything cooler, we covered over 330 km and eventually stopped at a delightful three storey log cabin, everything possible was made from wood including the light switches and electrical sockets.
The food was more than reasonable and after a good nights sleep, we again started heading as we had since leaving home, east.
Now just to bring you up to date we are currently further east than India, so for me, it's virgin longitude.
The car has started to show some strain the rear wheel bearing is becoming a real worry as its howling, although there is no sign or play.
Whilst we were travelling along, what is for Russia a relatively smooth, rough road, we had an unusually loud bang from the rear, now not only have I removed the rear seats, we unwashed unshaven sexagenarians were unlikely to "pull" on this trip, but we also had an enormous amount of rubbish in the back, but this was not an ordinary bang and when it was followed by the smell of burning rubber we thought we had better investigate and we found that a rear Spring had broken, fortunately at the bottom coils, so it was out with the tools to remove the rear shocker and dismantle the spring fortunately because we had played around with the springs before I had already worked a way of compressing the spring with the weight of the car + a bit more. In preparing the car Dave Holley had suggested fixing some eye bolts to the side of the car not only to secure our roof gear but to hang a hammock from, I was able to use a ratchet strap attached to this and the other end to the wheel to compress the spring enough to get the fixings on, sorted in less than 30 minutes thanks, Dave and Bertie, the pop rivets performed better than expected.
We did try and find a bearing shop but despite trying could not find what we needed. The following night after a frustrating search for hotels we found a large and by our standards expensive hotel in the centre of the city I am afraid to admit that night we ate Italian as it was the nearest restaurant and even had to resort to drinking Carlsberg as for some reason the waitress, Lisa, would not serve us with local beer and we were too tired to argue.
By now the bearing was getting more than desperate so making use of our luxury hotel Internet and front office staff, google translate and some useful drawings on paper we were able to get a map to a "bearing shop". The previous day we had been forced to look for a Kia pride wheel bearing but Enterprising Neil had managed to find the bearing sizes for the Euro parts website armed with this information we set off to the bearing shop only to find it didn't open until 10:00 o'clock so we spent and enjoyable 45 minutes in the local market, Neil the ever so conservative was worried about upsetting the local by taking photos but I wanted some to show My wife I forced his arm and borrowed his camera, camera shy was the last thing they were, all wanted their photo taken even the proprietor of the tea stall, who instantly became Neil's best friend and insisted I took a photo of them draped over each other.
This time at the bearing shop I was better prepared and had a script written out
"Мне нужнодва подшипникам колеса для моего автомобиля размер"
Which translates to "I want two bearings this size", the assistant looked, stared and then started into his computer after 5 minutes with a number scribbled on a piece of paper he disappeared and returned a short time later clutching two bearing. That certainly looked the job, so it was off to a nearby carpark wheel off and bearings checked and indeed they had the same numbers, jobs a good one!
When I packed tools for this venture it was difficult knowing what to take especially as I was going to have to sacrifice them along with poor old Katie, I had packed a set of metric ring spanners some sockets and a drift, how pleased I was with my selection I think I have used every spanner on this trip including the 6 mm I nearly didn't pack.
I think it probably took less than ten minutes working as a team to get the wheel off, unfortunately, the seal was ruined but the outer bearing was unmarked so Neil rushed back to the shop to swap the outer bearing for a new seal.
I don't think I have seen a bearing as badly chewed as the inner bearing, no wonder it was howling probably about ready to let go in a big way. By the time I had replaced the inner race Neil was back with the seal, so bobs your uncle wheel bearings replaced and on our way by 11:00.
Navigation has been a bit of a nightmare, Neil, rightly so, was not to pleased with the Sat Nav, I had forgotten to get maps of Russia downloaded and in any case would not have got them for the roads we were now forced to travel on. Having tried several different exits from the city we resorted to asking a local who once he understood what we wanted or at least gave the impression he did, jumped in his car along with his equally burly mate indicating we should follow, which we did, as the roads got smaller and smaller, bearing in mind we were looking for a motorway, the more I started to become anxious, I went through several scenarios in my mind and thought back to my anti-high jacking training and wondering if I could get Katie to perform a backwards J-turn. Neil I could tell was equally worried he does not give much away, but he was twitching more than usual, but just at the point of no return, we pulled out of a lane beside the motorway, for motorway read single carriageway road where turning right and even u-turns are allowed. With much relief and our faith in human nature restored we were on our way.
In fairness, touch wood, fingers crossed etc etc we have only had positives in Russia, I think it's at least four times now we have asked for directions only to have someone say follow me and they have led through a maze of junctions to our request venue.
Today whilst stopped on the main road for a kettle cup of soup, One of the many additions I put into the car was a secondary electrical system with for those technical propel a split charge diode, which basically means we can use the secondary system without affecting the main system. Even flattening it completely would have no effect on the car, it would simply recharge once the main battery was up to charge. Off this system we have a electrical kettle in the front foot well, and although it takes about 30 minutes to boil, makes a mean cup of tea or soup.
Today Friday we needed to crunch some miles so having got the old thing started and ready to go by eight thirty, Neil that is, I wanted to make the most of the day.
One of my concerns before leaving was the electrical system and more importantly the alternator. I knew we would be extremely unlikely to find a replacement on route and after some considerable searching online found QX Components Urmston where a very friendly Gary offered us sale or return on a reconditioned unit which sat under my seat, just in case, Thank you, Gary, I slept better knowing I had it should needs must. Ironically one of the Italian teams had blown their Alternator before leaving England and had wasted two days getting a replacement.
The normal pattern of our day, when the car is running right, is to take it turns starting in the morning and then drive for two hours and change, in the afternoon we swap more often. Today I got the timing a bit wrong and it meant that we had to stop on the side of the road for our soup, because we were on the main road and not wishing to upset the local police I pulled the bonnet up, whilst we drank our soup, in the minutes that we were stopped, we had two cars pull up to check we were ok, one had turned around to see if help with any problem the other was a polish driver who was with his family having visited Mongolia on the route we had planned just stopping in case.
Today the car ran like a dream for 350 km and then started playing up, Neil,has now learnt how to tease the car past the problem, carefully adjusting the revs to stay below the problem, we have also found kicking it into neutral on the long down hills also help.
We are now at 520 km about 300 miles into today's trip and shortly it's mine turn to drive so I will take a few random photos and post with this for today
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