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This is our on the road map...
Day 44 Sunday, 5 September 2010
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  at 16:45 on The Pied Pipers said UB MONGOLIA the bird is in the nest, i bloody made it!!! Nearly got mugged on bus, then walked 5 miles and hitched off a randomer but got here eventually.
Thanku for following my blog! |
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Day 43 Saturday, 4 September 2010
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| at 18:58 on The Pied Pipers said baancongor, mongolia. Have joined new team, the babylonians as coopers changed their route and ws too slow. We got stuck in sand and crossed big rivers. Then got lost and broke down in mountains. Not good 48 hours b4 my flight and 700km away! We had to wander into the wild and found a gher and family fed us goat stew, yak cheese and tea. I then had to go 30km on back of motorcycle over mountains into town and spent all day finding a truck to extract broken car! Had more horse milk and meat in process. Just got back to town with car which barely fitted on truck. Local mechanic has put us up in his half built house...am actually sleeping on cardboard like a bum! 12 hour Bus to morow to get to ub in time for flight but forecast is v bad. Fingers r crossed |
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Day 37 Sunday, 29 August 2010
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| at 14:28 on The Pied Pipers said somewhere in russia, garage seems to have fixed the exhaust...now flying towards the mongol border in convoy having met an ambulance being seronaded by meatloaf (our official team artist). With two large bottlesr of russias finest under the Seat spirits are high once again!
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| at 12:04 on The Pied Pipers said ANOTHER GARAGE IN RUSSIA, car exhaust has been destroyed by the pot holes and literally fell off. Now hoping that the garage we have limped to in a mans back garden in some obscure village can work some serious magic! Although this means another delay which is highly problematic... |
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Day 36 Saturday, 28 August 2010
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| at 21:16 on The Pied Pipers said russian border, russia. 6 hours it took to cross. Longest yet. Its cold, im tired and dnt like russians at the moment.r rs |
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Day 35 Friday, 27 August 2010
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| at 16:10 on The Pied Pipers said kazak desert, kazakhstan. Camped in the desert in a field of lavendar. Just watched an even better sunset than the other day. Totally in the middle of nowhere sat in my fishing chair listening to the seargent peppers album. |
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| at 08:06 on The Pied Pipers said almaty, kazakhstan. Arrived last night and had a few beers in a restaurant that suddenly turned nightclub. Saw some horrifically ugly women dancing too erotically. City is actually v modern and nice though. Pushing on up towards russian border now. |
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Day 33 Wednesday, 25 August 2010
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| at 17:32 on The Pied Pipers said jalalabad, kyrgzstan. Visited the famous osh today...absolutely fine! Although could tell theyd had a rough time with loads of burnt out houses everywhere. But still, market was good. Drove up to a massive lake in the mountains to camp. Was v warm as we had a swim/wash and then watched the sun set while eating melon and super n oodles. By far the most scenic camp spot yet. Hoping to get to almaty tomorow! Over and out.@ |
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Day 32 Tuesday, 24 August 2010
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| at 18:05 on The Pied Pipers said daroot korgan, kyrgzstan. Lost signal as got v rem
Ote! So we hit the pamir highway. Bumped into some elderly hippy germans in a camper van and were going to camp next to them but a tajik appeared and let us stay in his house and fed us soup. Best sle
Ep in ages! Found out in morning that the german camper van got attacked by 3 drunken tajiks with sticks...gd thing we didnt camp! Today roads were roughest iv seen yet but all ok. Pamir took us up to 4600m! V cold! Then got to border in a blizzard and got through in an hour. Easy! @ |
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Day 30 Sunday, 22 August 2010
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| at 14:52 on The Pied Pipers said khorog, tajikstan. Have set up camp on the river bank across which is afghanistan and a group of kids who we have been saying hello to. International relations seem good but stil keeping an eye out that they dont whip out an rpg. Tomorow going to register our visas at 9am and get more spare tyres, then gona hit the pamir! Hoping to get to osh around the day after tomorow, then blitz kyrgz and kazak to get to russiafor 31s Tonight, rice sauce and vodka! |
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Day 29 Saturday, 21 August 2010
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| at 16:34 on The Pied Pipers said somewhere a bit too close to afghanistan. Roads have been full on off road style but little daihatsu has coped fine albeit going is slow. Have had to pull up and camp about 2km from afghanistan which isnt ideal. Is very arid and mountainous. Feels like rstar wars podracing terrain. Had to cross a very dodgy bridge, had to block up a hole in it with a rock so the c ar could get over! Now having spaghetti, sauce and vodka then early start to get the hell out of here! Need to put in some real hours driving to get back on schedule. jm |
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| at 12:01 on The Pied Pipers said kulyab, tajikstan. Had to take a diversion to avoid a landslide wh ich has taken us rather close to afghanistan! Think we also made a wrong turn but now back on track but will come very close to the border again in order to get to the pamirs. Is extremely hot and car keeps overheating so its v slow going! Hoping to get to kalaikhum tonight or even darvaz if roads are good.@ |
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Day 28 Friday, 20 August 2010
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| at 17:43 on The Pied Pipers said dushanbe, tajikstan. Got exhaust fixed today, standard 3 hours work cost 10 dollars. Then drove over some dodgy mountains...v similar to albania. Just camped up in a field which i suspect is full of snakes. Omlette and vodka for dinner. Wil l try to update this more often to ke ep my ridiculous phone bill at bay... |
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Day 27 Thursday, 19 August 2010
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| at 20:39 on The Pied Pipers said tajik/uzbek border, tajikstan. Just nailed a 4 hour crossing. Pretended to b VERY dumb to avoid paying the uzbeks a bribe to get through. Tajiks thouvgh were lovely! Made us tea, gave us melon and even danced to the music on their phone! Now on the way to dushanbe and then the pamir highway!8ec |
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Day 25 Tuesday, 17 August 2010
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| at 18:36 on The Pied Pipers said samarkand, uzbekistan. Saw the sights today, v nice. Got a dodgy guard to look round inside the rajistan and go to the top of the towers. And gave a lift to an 80 year old hitchhiker! To taskkent tomorow to try and get a tajik visa to do the pamir highway. |
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Day 24 Monday, 16 August 2010
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| at 16:18 on The Pied Pipers said BUKHARA, UZBEKISTAN. camped in the scorpion, tarantula, snake and big cat infested desert, was fine! Made it to bukhara, en route introduced some locals to the beatles and played football. City is old and historic. Have developed stronger taste for vodka! |
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Day 23 Sunday, 15 August 2010
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| at 06:56 on The Pied Pipers said aral sea, uzbekistan. After a long border crossing into uzbek, stopped at a shop and all the locals arrived to say hello. Then camped on a giant ant nest and this morning tried to visit the aral sea but got stuck in sand so now turninmg back! d @ |
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Day 21 Friday, 13 August 2010
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| at 15:55 on The Pied Pipers said gates of hell, turkmenistan. Spent a few days in ashgabat. Nearly got arrested by corrupt police. 6 other teams showed up at hotel so had a few drinks. Now moved teams to the koopa trooper s in their daihatsu. O n the way to the gates of hell...a permanently lit gas crater! |
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Day 20 Thursday, 12 August 2010
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| at 06:03 on The Pied Pipers said ashgabat, turkmenistan. Currently in the weirdest city iv ever seen. V. Pristine and soviet lookin, everything is brand new, over the top and seems fake but a nice place! |
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Day 18 Tuesday, 10 August 2010
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| at 18:14 on The Pied Pipers said North east IRAN, spent last night camped on the beach cby the caspian hoping the packs of dogs didnt notice us. Just blitzed it today trying to get to turkmen border as iran driving is too dodgy and wev had enough! They keep trying to say hello to us while on the motorways and then dont concentrate and swerve all over the road! |
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Day 17 Monday, 9 August 2010
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| at 14:19 on The Pied Pipers said ahar, iran. Couldnt find anywher to stay last night so asked a couple wher a hotel was and they invited us to stay in their home! Spent the night in ther bedroom as they slept in living room. Then they showed us round ahar today. Nice people! And they didnt s peak a word of english! |
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Day 16 Sunday, 8 August 2010
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| at 18:10 on The Pied Pipers said tabriz iran. The mongol rally is really starting to hit home now, full realisation has hit me that im all alone and a long way from home! Siigns are all in arabic, driving is ridiculous, everyone stares/beeps at you, no one speaks english. I ne ed a drink but wait! Theres no alchohol here, or food as it must be ramadan or something. Feel totally out of control without my car. Feel literally sick with the stress of being a passenger in a place like this. Having to wear my aviators even though its dark to block the stress out! Just trying to keep calm and go with it. Despite all this the iranians are so helpful. Because we cant understand each other, they literally get in their car so u can follow them!
@ |
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Day 15 Saturday, 7 August 2010
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| at 20:29 on The Pied Pipers said somewhere near the iranian border, turkey. Spent the entire day in a garage in agri as the car radiator died. The mechanics took a shine to us and transformed a new vw radiator into one that would fit the suzuki. The boss even let us use his air conditioned office and bought us doner kebabs for lunch. Foot infection nearly cleared up. Now on the way to border. Just beat a petrol station attendant in an arm wrestle and then had tea with them. Such nice people!d@ |
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Day 14 Friday, 6 August 2010
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| at 22:09 on The Pied Pipers said somewhere, turkey. Dun o wher we r. In a nice campsite with proper toilets...totally sick of these holes in the floor that seem so popular over here. STayed in a poo, litter and dog infested campsite last night...yuk. Did a miny pilgramaghe to a monastery carved in cliffs today which was cool and just had bottle of port, vodka going down dnicely. An ok day! |
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Day 13 Thursday, 5 August 2010
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| at 08:16 on The Pied Pipers said istanbul turkey, after two days in istanbul i am moving on. Due to a difference in visa timings i have parted company with jake who has been a fantastic teammate with me since czech (massive thanku!) And joined 3 blondes and a beater in their little suzuki. Unffortunately got bitten by a spider and now have an infected foot...this rally is cursed for me! However the show must go on, next stop...duno but we are heading east! |
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Day 11 Tuesday, 3 August 2010
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| at 21:46 on The Pied Pipers said istanbul, turkey. V stressful day fighting with the greek and turk traf fic. Rewarding myself with two ice cold beers in some bar |
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| at 09:20 on The Pied Pipers said adrianopoli, greece. Just camped overnight by the beach. Destined for istanbul tonight but planning on enjoying the sun a bit for now...38 degrees and only 10am! X |
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Day 9 Sunday, 1 August 2010
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| at 21:44 on The Pied Pipers said thessolania, greece. Met up with 3 blonds and a beater in albania after our mountaineering experience, convoyed with them through macedonia and into greece today. Currently looking for a place to stay tonight...tis a bit stressful. In desperate need of a beer. ..or a cider. |
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Day 8 Saturday, 31 July 2010
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| at 19:38 on The Pied Pipers said duno exactly wher we are! After 7 hours of offroading around the most spectacular scenery iv ever seen, the mountains are finally giving way and we are out just before it gets dark! Thank god, wouldnt want to spend a night camped here after jake found a bear cave! Next destination, sofia. w
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| at 13:33 on The Pied Pipers said theth albania. This rnad is ridiculous. We r crapping ourselves! Got our belts off so r ready to bail if we go over the edge. V v v high, no barrier and not fans of the graves that line the track. O yeh, its all off road! Sori momma! X |
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| at 13:27 on The Pied Pipers said +theth, albania. Absolutely crapping ourselves...currently offroading up the biggest mountain. Please make it stop going up!! Not got our seatbelts on so we r ready to bail if we go over! Also quite intimidated by the grave stones that are all along this road. Sorry momma! |
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Day 7 Friday, 30 July 2010
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Hi - Will is looking to join a team using the Southern Route going from Istanbul 3rd - 5th August through Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Khazakhstan, Russia and Mongolia. Has all visas. Car written off on the A23 two hours from Goodwood!! Please text or phone + 44 7818 445321 ... Read more ... |
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| at 16:13 on The Pied Pipers said montenegran border...had a great swim in a bay just outside of dubrovnik and also found a polo pitch in the sea so even got a bit of polo practice in! Unfortunately are now currently stuck in a v v long queue at the border! |
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| at 09:49 on The Pied Pipers said metkovich, croatia. Arrived in metkovich v late and got a bit cre eped out. Was crawling with police and had an arms factory in it that looked rather derelict! just realised now we were on the bosnian border so now driving through bosnia! |
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Day 6 Thursday, 29 July 2010
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| at 20:40 on The Pied Pipers said starigrad, croatia. Been driving down the dodgiest road ever. Highly dangerous! 1000 foot drops with no barriers and the windiest road for 80 miles with the beautiful lagoons and islands below trying to distract us. Manage d to survive though and now driving late again to get to montenegro.
@ |
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| at 11:56 on The Pied Pipers said bled slovenia. Just spent the morning kayaking and swimming in lake bled...its a fairly pretty place. Now on the go to montenegro via croatia! |
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Day 5 Wednesday, 28 July 2010
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| at 20:57 on The Pied Pipers said Liezen, austria. Had a lie in in prague today and Spent hours having to find our way around a closed bridge so now driving through the night to make up for it. Currently driving through the centre of the alps...absolutely stunning. Next stop, slovenia! X@ |
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Day 4 Tuesday, 27 July 2010
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| at 18:38 on The Pied Pipers said prague, czech republic. A highly messy night! Personified by my drinking a bottle of vodka thinking it was beer. It was a truly magnificent party. Anyway, i have gone my seperate ways with the (phoenixs now, (what a bunch of legends) as they r goin north and i have southern visas. Now teamed up with jacob (another legend) of monsters inc in a suzuki jimni. gjust arrived in prague. Pints cost ,1 pound. Sorted x @ |
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Day 3 Monday, 26 July 2010
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| at 16:43 on The Pied Pipers said klenova, czech republic. we also needed firewood...just chopped down two trees and are now having a hard earned be er |
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| at 14:41 on The Pied Pipers said klenova czech republic, pre czech out party shopping list - one bottle of port, two bottles of vodka, one bottle of absinthe, two crates of beer, one saw, one airfreshener and 5 large cigars.. ...a good night coming! |
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Day 2 Sunday, 25 July 2010
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| at 19:34 on The Pied Pipers said klenova czech republic. we have arrived 1 day early for the czech out party although unfortunately our car got written off 50 miles after goodwood so the pied pipers are broken! Willy is the only one left, hitchhiking his way to mongolia with other teams. Am currently travelling with the wailing phoenixs in an ambulance! |
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1 day before launch Friday, 23 July 2010
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| at 10:35 on The Pied Pipers said currently sat at home pondering what the next few weeks will have in store for the pied pipers... |
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34 days before launch Sunday, 20 June 2010
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We are now set to travel to the Iranian embassy to try and recieve our visa. The Iranians want fingerprints, weights, heights, anal probes and god knows what else!But we have had our Russian Visas accepted - after they checked our military armed combat backgrounds and quizzed us on our nuclear knowledge! We have also had Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Mongolian accepted.We are still waiting upon Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. So more news to come.... ... Read more ... |
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Ok this is a bit late, but we have been incredibly busy behind the scenes with Mongol preparations.But in March William and myself added another foreign place to our list of exotic destinations.... Bradford! We travelled there to have a look at a VW Polo 1 litred engine beast. With a bit of haggling, and some fun test driving, we bought our stallion.We are beginning to make modifications to the car, and recently purchased a PA system to strap to the roof, with animal noises and everything!So we are 100% still going people, and if you check our route, we... Read more ... |
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Indeed, the two of us - William and Thomas - shall be departing Goodwood, England on July 23rd 2010 and driving in our stallion of a vehicle to UlaanBaataar in Mongolia. 10,000 miles. We suspect more as we shall most likely get severely lost. Please enjoy having a browse about our pages and hopefully sponsor us a little money as that is essentially what this is all about. Raising money for Mercy Corps. Whether its £1.50 for a tree sapling or £400 for a school library, any amount of money shall make a difference to these peoples... Read more ... |
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153 days before launch Sunday, 21 February 2010
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After a late night discussion, many form filling and trowling Google Earth for any possible help to terrain. We have now finalised a route.Ok our route still needs a fine tooth pick to scrutinise all the details, but we also like the sense of adventure, and just driving into a country not knowing what to expect. So spontaneous may be our best option, left or right?Well the route is on our route page of the website, but here is a list of our destinations. 17 countries in total. Best start at home : UKWhich will then see us (after our stone... Read more ... |
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