Hey there folks
First I hope you bought some of the caviar toothpaste. I spend my life fixing teeth and the thought of smelly fish breath on top of all the other things we have to deal with as dentists could be interesting!!
The window of opportunity to do the ROB and the old summer road is running out. Are you late or just ramping up the excitement level a notch or two? Just how waterproof is a TLC?
Scott we talked of the fun with Russian bureaucracy!!! Hmmm. Indeed. We were supposed to ship out from Vladivostok at the end of August after our trip through Europe Russia Mongolia Siberia. As I write this sitting in a pub in Chamonix in the French Alps the words Russian Bureaucracy are fresh in my mind. As it turns out the APEC Summit (which we knew about) caused the harbour to be closed much sooner and for much longer than we had been told. We had no alternative than to drive all the way back to Europe from UB in Mongolia.Otherwise we would have faced an impossible drive from Ulaan Bataar to Vladivostok to ship early in an unrealistic time frame. We faced the possibility of being in Russia with an Australian registered vehicle and an expired visa. For those aware of the situation if you enter Russia with a foreign registered vehicle you cannot leave the country until the vehicle is also exported from the country. It has taken 17 days to reach Europe- and one speeding fine where I feigned ignorance(bearing in mind a rattly old Landrover travels slowly). Plans for a one way trip from Scotland to Vladivostok thrown into complete disarray!
So we have now retraced our steps about 8000km and are reflecting on why our whole trip plan has gone so AWOL. Perhaps we should have driven a Landcruiser instead of a Landrover ha ha ;-)
A friend of mine has just ridden to Magadan (solo KTM 990 and crossed Vitim river bridge in record time- Youtube for details) and river levels were still high. Isn't adventure travel so unpredictable. At least when you get to Australia I'll guaruntee you some sunshine.
Anyways I'm heading back to the UK to clean my Landrover with a toothbrush so I can get it back into Autralia. Be sure to keep some toothpaste handy. You might need it
Callum