So after some very long days of driving back through the Ukraine, we tried our luck at getting into Romania and were met with the most laid back border guards yet. One short glance at our passport photo and a quick question of 'What's in the back?', which we responded with 'camping gear', and we were through.
The rain in Ukraine was constant and what were small streams on the way in were huge torrants of white water on our way back. We drove through village after village which were severely flooded and families were just stood around not knowing what to do. Some houses were completely under water and we could just see the tops of some cars. We didn't see any emergency services or help at all - it's a shame the police are only interested in stopping tourists to line their own pockets and not helping their own people. We have seen this sort of thing on TV before but seeing it first hand was a whole different story. Very sad.
Romania was very much like the Urkaine, with terrible roads and the driving standards seemed to deteriorate even further. Parts of the country were really beautiful, especially the mountains throughout Transylvania, but other areas were less spectacular - the Romanians seem to have a love of building giant concrete tower blocks everywhere. Brasov was a beautiful city and we stayed the night in the mountains above it. We visited Bran to do the tourist bit and took a trip around Dracula's Castle. All the locals we spoke to through Romania were very dismissive of the Legend of Dracula and warned us that it would be an anti-climax, which is a shame as it obviously brings a lot of tourism to the country, but it was worth visiting and we bought ourselves some Vampire blood wine! Romania was fantastic to experience, but there was something about the country we were not quite sure of, although everybody we met couldn't have been friendlier.
As we made it into Romania, the plan was to head to the Black Sea and into Bulgaria.
On Tuesday night we crossed the border into Bulgaria in yet another terrible storm. The border crossing was a very narrow metal bridge across the Danube River, which we drove across in a full fork lightning storm. Probably not the wisest! The border control here was very relaxed again and within half an hour of being in the country it seemed just lovely. We had tarmac back for the first time which our truck was happy about!
After a short overnight stop just over the border we started out early yesterday and headed for the Black Sea, which is where we are now in 35 degree full sunshine! We are staying in a town called Varna in a 5 star (!) hotel with every possible facility you can imagine. When we asked for a room, the response was 'we don't have rooms, only suites'! Perfect.
We plan to stay here for 3 or 4 days, then continue following the Black Sea coast into Greece.
Hello to everyone back home and to Auntie Elaine in Australia - really excited you are following our blog!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
The Russians have ended our rally
We were refused entry at the Russian border yesterday. Various paperwork issues. Philip inconsolable. Heading south today to find the sun and a new adventure on the Black Sea. Ukrainian roads worse than ever but almost at the border. Going to Romania to try and get in. Exhaust now held on with giant cable ties.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Dodgy Border Guards
Well, where shall we start? How about at the Ukrainian border having to the bribe the guards with cash to let us into their country.
So earlier in the day we realised we didn't have the right paperwork to get into Romania, so we decided to head straight for the Ukraine. We discovered along the road that we needed a Green Card to get in but we also heard we could buy one at the border, so we pushed on. We cleared the Hungarian border control ok and got our first proper stamp in our passports!! Then we drove across no mans land to the Ukraine control where we were greeted by a scary looking soldier who gave us and our car the once over and were directed to a very friendly passport control officer. After much discussion (in broken Ukrainian and English) about whether we needed a green card, Mr P was called around the back door entrance and told 'you make me present, I stamp'!!! Mr P considered knitting him a jumper or making some such gift, but as time was of the essence we gave him some cash (5000 forints = 16 pounds). Then finally after our car was searched by another set of guards, they stamped our passports and let us into the Ukraine.
As we starting driving it felt like we had stepped into a different world all of a sudden. The scenary was stunning as we drove through the hills. Tarmac occasionaly just runs out, even on the motorway! Then the wonderful weather we have been having caught up with us again. We were driving through a huge thunder storm and the heaviest rain we have ever seen. Visiability was very poor and then we got held up in an hour long queue as we passed by a fatal accident involving a Lada and a Kamaz (massive Russian truck). There was not much left of the Lada. The standard of driving is just terrible and we knew it was only a matter of time until we saw something like this.
The plan was to get to Lviv - a city described in the Lonely Planet guide as 'gorgeous and glorious, Lviv knows its next up on the list of hot new Eastern Europeon Destinations'. We crossed a river that had burst its banks and drove through a couple of mudslides (very scary!), and finally made it to the city about 11pm last night and checked into a amazing hotel for two nights so we get time to explore where we are a little more.
On our way to this internet cafe this morning two Mongol Rally teams drove past us and we ran and ran along the street to catch them up. Unfortunately for them they were stopped by the local rozzers, which gave us a chance to catch them. They only drove down a one way street, so no fines for them today! It feels a little like we are in Grand Theft Auto here as we are constantly dodging the police. We have only been stopped once and after smiling sweetly and showing our passports, he let us on our way.
Going a back a bit, the night before last we stayed in a town called Szolnok in Hungary, at a hotel called The Garden Hotel, which was on the river Tisza. We shared the hotel with the Great Britain Canoe and Kayak Racing Team, which was cool.
The truck is going really well - the oil leak seems to have fixed itself althouth we are still checking it every petrol stop. Both wiper stalks have snapped, but we have splinted them and fixed them back together with cable ties - if they worked through last nights storms then they will work through anything! It went well through the water too - we were in quite deep at a couple of points (above the wheels) and it kept going. Fingers crossed!
Today we are going to explore Lviv, have a day off of driving and have a Roman sauna in our hotel tonight. Tomorrow we will leave and head for the capital, Kiev, and sample our first real Chicken Kiev! Hope they don't have bird flu there!!!
So earlier in the day we realised we didn't have the right paperwork to get into Romania, so we decided to head straight for the Ukraine. We discovered along the road that we needed a Green Card to get in but we also heard we could buy one at the border, so we pushed on. We cleared the Hungarian border control ok and got our first proper stamp in our passports!! Then we drove across no mans land to the Ukraine control where we were greeted by a scary looking soldier who gave us and our car the once over and were directed to a very friendly passport control officer. After much discussion (in broken Ukrainian and English) about whether we needed a green card, Mr P was called around the back door entrance and told 'you make me present, I stamp'!!! Mr P considered knitting him a jumper or making some such gift, but as time was of the essence we gave him some cash (5000 forints = 16 pounds). Then finally after our car was searched by another set of guards, they stamped our passports and let us into the Ukraine.
As we starting driving it felt like we had stepped into a different world all of a sudden. The scenary was stunning as we drove through the hills. Tarmac occasionaly just runs out, even on the motorway! Then the wonderful weather we have been having caught up with us again. We were driving through a huge thunder storm and the heaviest rain we have ever seen. Visiability was very poor and then we got held up in an hour long queue as we passed by a fatal accident involving a Lada and a Kamaz (massive Russian truck). There was not much left of the Lada. The standard of driving is just terrible and we knew it was only a matter of time until we saw something like this.
The plan was to get to Lviv - a city described in the Lonely Planet guide as 'gorgeous and glorious, Lviv knows its next up on the list of hot new Eastern Europeon Destinations'. We crossed a river that had burst its banks and drove through a couple of mudslides (very scary!), and finally made it to the city about 11pm last night and checked into a amazing hotel for two nights so we get time to explore where we are a little more.
On our way to this internet cafe this morning two Mongol Rally teams drove past us and we ran and ran along the street to catch them up. Unfortunately for them they were stopped by the local rozzers, which gave us a chance to catch them. They only drove down a one way street, so no fines for them today! It feels a little like we are in Grand Theft Auto here as we are constantly dodging the police. We have only been stopped once and after smiling sweetly and showing our passports, he let us on our way.
Going a back a bit, the night before last we stayed in a town called Szolnok in Hungary, at a hotel called The Garden Hotel, which was on the river Tisza. We shared the hotel with the Great Britain Canoe and Kayak Racing Team, which was cool.
The truck is going really well - the oil leak seems to have fixed itself althouth we are still checking it every petrol stop. Both wiper stalks have snapped, but we have splinted them and fixed them back together with cable ties - if they worked through last nights storms then they will work through anything! It went well through the water too - we were in quite deep at a couple of points (above the wheels) and it kept going. Fingers crossed!
Today we are going to explore Lviv, have a day off of driving and have a Roman sauna in our hotel tonight. Tomorrow we will leave and head for the capital, Kiev, and sample our first real Chicken Kiev! Hope they don't have bird flu there!!!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Map Updates
We've changed how we are doing our route - we are now updating the map on the 'route' page as we go along - have a look and you will see where we are (or at least where we last found internet access!)
Hoping to upload some photos soon too so keep checking the 'gallery'.
Hoping to upload some photos soon too so keep checking the 'gallery'.
Goulash is rank
We are in Hungary! We were just driving through a small town called Dunafoldvar and noticed a huge @ on the side of a building, so we have pulled over and now are sat in a Hungarian library using the internet.
Yesterday morning we left our hotel in Austria and headed towards the border of Hungary. Weather has been horrible so was quite an uneventful day - just getting some miles done. We decided to aim for a huge Lake called Balaton just south of Budapest to find somewhere to stay. We noticed a castle at the top of a hill and thought that looks like our kind of place to sleep, so we drove up the huge driveway and Mrs P did her thing and tried to speak Hungarian through a speaker on the portcullis and a few moments later we were in a room. Mr P had his first Hungarian Goulash (not impressed!) and Mrs P played it safe with deep fried camembert cheese!
The weather today is still rubbish and really windy. We haven't seen any other ralliers since Sunday morning, but hoping to meet up with some as we approach more borders further east. We are tracking all other teams' progress via Adventurists website. Hungarian drivers are by far the worst so far, mental in fact, but we are just plodding along and our SJ seems to be going really well still...
Cheers for the comments everyone - keep them coming!
Yesterday morning we left our hotel in Austria and headed towards the border of Hungary. Weather has been horrible so was quite an uneventful day - just getting some miles done. We decided to aim for a huge Lake called Balaton just south of Budapest to find somewhere to stay. We noticed a castle at the top of a hill and thought that looks like our kind of place to sleep, so we drove up the huge driveway and Mrs P did her thing and tried to speak Hungarian through a speaker on the portcullis and a few moments later we were in a room. Mr P had his first Hungarian Goulash (not impressed!) and Mrs P played it safe with deep fried camembert cheese!
The weather today is still rubbish and really windy. We haven't seen any other ralliers since Sunday morning, but hoping to meet up with some as we approach more borders further east. We are tracking all other teams' progress via Adventurists website. Hungarian drivers are by far the worst so far, mental in fact, but we are just plodding along and our SJ seems to be going really well still...
Cheers for the comments everyone - keep them coming!
Monday, July 21, 2008
The Hills Are Alive With The Sound of Music...
We have made it to von Trapp Family land!
So yesterday morning we left our hotel in Brugge bound for the big Czechout Party to be held in Prague but didn´t quite make it...
We were making really good progress when we crossed the border into Germany onto the autobahn, but as the hours ticked by without seeing a single service station (can you believe that on the autobahn?!) our fuel situation started to look a little worrying. When the needle hit the bottom of the guage (way below the E sign!) we thought it would be best to leave the motorway that has no speed limit or hard shoulder just in case! We found a sleepy little town and had to call Bally (German Supremo at ALNS) to tell us how to ask for fuel (thanks mate!). Having the right vocabulary meant we found a gas station immediately!
One detour and one enourmous Italian meal later we were seriously delayed and so made the decision not to go to Czechout after all. We found a really nice hotel a couple of hours up the road and thought we would blast up the autobahn early this morning to Czech and maybe catch up with a few ralliers.
So this morning we set of early after a breakfast of fresh strawberries and crossaints etc. (we haven´t really settled into the camping lifestyle yet!) - we spent the morning on the autobahn but it got so boring, especially as we can only top about 50mph, and we had a constant stream of lorries just a few millimetres off our bumper, so we made the decision to hit the A roads, turn south towards Austria and enjoy our journey. Since lunchtime we have been following the Danube River towards Austria along some fantastic sweeping roads with amazing scenary. We stopped for dinner in a town called Plattling, just 100km from the Austrian border and headed on into Austria to find somewhere to sleep.
So here we are in a hotel called Gugerbauer in Scharding, Austria - we have just come out of the spa (slumming it again!) and off for a walk along the banks of the Danube before bed.
We are having to keep the SJ topped up with oil and a very large rattle on the autobahn resulted in quite a large pipe coming off in Phil´s hands, but other than that it seems to be going well!
Aiming for Hungary tomorrow. Incidently we have now filled up a jerry can just in case!
So yesterday morning we left our hotel in Brugge bound for the big Czechout Party to be held in Prague but didn´t quite make it...
We were making really good progress when we crossed the border into Germany onto the autobahn, but as the hours ticked by without seeing a single service station (can you believe that on the autobahn?!) our fuel situation started to look a little worrying. When the needle hit the bottom of the guage (way below the E sign!) we thought it would be best to leave the motorway that has no speed limit or hard shoulder just in case! We found a sleepy little town and had to call Bally (German Supremo at ALNS) to tell us how to ask for fuel (thanks mate!). Having the right vocabulary meant we found a gas station immediately!
One detour and one enourmous Italian meal later we were seriously delayed and so made the decision not to go to Czechout after all. We found a really nice hotel a couple of hours up the road and thought we would blast up the autobahn early this morning to Czech and maybe catch up with a few ralliers.
So this morning we set of early after a breakfast of fresh strawberries and crossaints etc. (we haven´t really settled into the camping lifestyle yet!) - we spent the morning on the autobahn but it got so boring, especially as we can only top about 50mph, and we had a constant stream of lorries just a few millimetres off our bumper, so we made the decision to hit the A roads, turn south towards Austria and enjoy our journey. Since lunchtime we have been following the Danube River towards Austria along some fantastic sweeping roads with amazing scenary. We stopped for dinner in a town called Plattling, just 100km from the Austrian border and headed on into Austria to find somewhere to sleep.
So here we are in a hotel called Gugerbauer in Scharding, Austria - we have just come out of the spa (slumming it again!) and off for a walk along the banks of the Danube before bed.
We are having to keep the SJ topped up with oil and a very large rattle on the autobahn resulted in quite a large pipe coming off in Phil´s hands, but other than that it seems to be going well!
Aiming for Hungary tomorrow. Incidently we have now filled up a jerry can just in case!
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Made it to Brugge!
What a mad day we have had. We have made it to Brugge where we have stopped for the night. Left Kev & Maria's this morning (thanks for the huge breakfast Kev) and made our way to Hyde Park where we met up with 230 other teams, including teams in a London Bus (mental!), 3 ambulances and a mini with a phone box on the roof - all of a sudden our little SJ looks like the sensible option! Had prize giving in Hyde Park for best pimped up vehicle etc., watched some Mongolian wrestlers then had a mad dash around London before heading to Dover for our cross-channel ferry. Looks like two teams possibly didn't even make it to Dover and we have just passed a Polo with a split fuel tank on the Belgian border - they were in good spirits though! Getting up early tomorrow to head to Czech for a huge party in a castle - just an odd 600 miles to cover!!
Big Day Tomorrow
We made it to Worcester Park!
After a low profile Isle of Wight exit (with family waving us off and the captain of the WightLink ferry announcing our adventure) we finally hit the road to London this evening.
A bit longer than expected, but the Suzuki went really well and after a couple of beers with Kevin and Maria we are off to bed and looking forward to the main event tomorrow.
After a low profile Isle of Wight exit (with family waving us off and the captain of the WightLink ferry announcing our adventure) we finally hit the road to London this evening.
A bit longer than expected, but the Suzuki went really well and after a couple of beers with Kevin and Maria we are off to bed and looking forward to the main event tomorrow.
Sunday, July 6, 2008
Vehicle Progress
The car is nearly done! Our new friend Pikey is just giving it a quick service, we'll stick the sponsor stickers on and it will be complete. Have a look in the gallery section for up to date photos.
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