Mongolia and Back... with Team Hog

Final Stats..

2006-09-25T17:47:00.000Z

Thought this maybe of interest to some people...

- Website has had almost 40,000 hits! (this grows everyday..)

- We have had viewers from all over the world! Including;

-The US
-Canada
-The UK
-Poland
-Germany
-Portugal
-Spain
-Russia
-Switzerland
-Czech Rep
-Hungary
-Thailand
-France
-Malta
-Denmark
-Hong Kong
-Trinidad and Tobago
-Turkey
-Italy
-Saudi Arabia
-Iran
-Israel
-Netherlands
-Belgium
-Australia!!

Pretty interesting to find out who is tracking you, watching, taking an interest..

Final Photos..

2006-09-25T15:52:00.000Z

A friend we found on our travels...When Matt was told they can repair his sandal but you can't wait in the shop.. cheers
Ste, living the dream in the Flymo!
Front design of the Flymo..
The plush interior..
Back view..
Testing the Flymo out..
Flymo on the streets of Prague.. showing it's presence!Matt chillin..
Polish border guards! (Honestly..)

Charity Update..

2006-09-23T09:42:00.000Z

We are nearing the £2000 mark and continue to accept donations from anywhere!!

http://www.teamhog.co.uk/charities.html

Cheers

Gutted..

2006-09-20T16:55:00.000Z

The Flymo's head has melted the thread on the spark plugs.. as well as the dyno cracking in half, the started motor falling off as well as the usual driveshaft and bearing problems... the fan also obliterated and so nicht zo gut! - No cooling..

No battery light and two fires on the autobahn! - Gutted to say that it died.. so we pushed it to nearest service station.. decided it was kaputt!! And so dangerous now, not only for us but either people.. not to mention the extra costs involved for the new engine.. was hard enough finding an exhaust for this thing..

"My friend there are now only two of these left in Germany, you are lucky!"

So it has now been dispatched.. 30 quid for crushing, zebidi left behind and we blagged a lift to the airport in Frankfurt after seeing to a damsel in distress!!

We will be at London Stanstead tomorrow at 0645.. see you in Leeds!!

Megabus.com what a dream site! Hahahaha..

Random..

2006-09-19T15:20:00.000Z

Ste looking lost without his hat..Eye eye..
Ste catching flies..
Matt sporting his new beer hat..
Ste finding new mates..
The FLymo looking dappa!
Nice reg..
Crack club..
Our boot..
Flymo Camoflagued
Our exhaust system to the right of the engine.. now on the Autobahn.. somewhere..

Heading Home...

2006-09-19T13:20:00.004Z

Apologies, as won't be many pics for this one, camera battery lost.. we'l try our best tho.. prob put them on in Brussels?

Good news.. we now have the new vehicle.. revealed at the end!

We were going to buy one of these..

But we went one step further..
(It became a runner after Ste started to play with it.. on the forecourt!!) - Then on arrival the next day.. after the deal was done.. the cheeky blighters put it up even more in price as it now runs!

We swiftly left Katowice (just west of Krakow) in the Flymo after negotiating a sly 12 month MOT with no checks whatsoever... onwards to Prague. The Flymo running like a dream.. and then.. blowout time under Matt's control! This was not cool and had to push her to the nearest service station where we sourced two new tyres at a hefty expense, due to the tiny crap wheels we needed.. all this helped by more visa trouble at every bank!

- After a night at the service station (nautorious for robberies etc - the police came to have a chat) we were off again!

Into Prague, found our hostel (with parking this time) and due to finances.. the gay card was coming out.

Went in and asked..
"One bed please"
"But there are two person"
"I know we will sleep together though"

After a long pause and odd look, completely bamboozled.. he decides to give us the key..

This was a key to an 8 bed room.. no-one else was there for the whole duration as i think he was worried about possible confliction with two men in the same bed!! Little did he know.. we were living it up in the spare beds for the price of one!! Quality.. this has continued.. and is a very useful lesson if you can handle the odd looks every now and again!

The next day was sorting out the Flymo, needed some music, and some kind of jack and wheel pump! (and a few other bits).. ealry bed and up early in the morning..

The old Charles' bridge called again as we had done Prague before.

We chilled on the bridge talking to everyone and anyone, then bumped into two Canadian lads we met in Poland, spend night with them and had a quality time!!

In the morning.. we went to give the flymo a run out and the coppers were curious as to what the hell we were driving.. stopped us and no documents, first time on whole trip, we left them at the hostel...

The old line... "This is BIG problem" we both laughed, eventually sorted, and talked ourselves out of the sly bribe they were after, Flymo was put to bed for the afternoon. Another bridge session and we were away..

Onwards to Munich!! - And the notorious 'Oktober Fest' this place is insane.. 6 million people, 1/3 of Germany's beer consumed in two weeks!! People from all over the world there to party!! Met a load of people, fell off some benches had some fun with all sorts of people! Quality and now Matt has a place to stay in Aus!! - Bondi Beach!!

We stayed there two days, initially, we went back on the Sunday for a hat, saw they were serving beer at 8.30.. considered this a deal and participated of course.. a bit longer than expected.. after spending a night in the U-Bahn!! Good times...

After this, the plan was Berlin, Amsterdam, Rotterdam and home.. the Flymo had so many problems, not even half way there it was decided by us both we were not losing another baby and so have detoured to the UK!!!

Problems in one day...
-Wheel bearings (all of them)
-Driveshaft popped out 3 x times
-Windscreen wiper fallen off
-Flat tyres galore
-Exhaust mount snapped x 2
-Then exhaust snapped in two places
-Then the whole thing dropped out on the Autobahn! (Not good....)

During the repairs.. the Flymo was dropped on Matt's leg.. much to the amusement of Ste.. who was actually crying with laughter! - Both found it amusing.. and the journey continued.. even though Ste wanted to burn the Flymo!! (Not a happy chap)

So due to finances.. and because we want the Flymo to come home with us!! We'll be back in the UK by the weekend!! (Depending on how the return ferry blagging goes!!)

Thanks for all the support from families, friends, sponsors and randoms!! We have had a right laugh, wish it could last longer, but have to be relaistic with the old dollar and come back to earn some!!

THE FLYMO..

The Advert From A Polish Auction Site..
We will bring this back to the UK!!

Poland..

2006-09-10T19:24:00.000Z

Off at Lviv and... back on again.. no trains to Krakow until morning after and only other train was 8am and so had to by pass our meeting with Nate.. bit gutted, couldn't contact either.. sorry matey.

Whilst on the train which worked out to be 1st class somehow.. only 20 quid tho?? Deal!! - A transportation idea came about.. more on that in next blog..

Straight to hostel with a free taxi! (A few near misses on the way.. but we made it) Krakow here we come! - Very nice, cheap.. but back in Europe BIG TIME!! - English everywhere and the laut variety too!!

Krakow is nice though..

We have been here a few days now, just chilling, taking in the Polish culture, sampling some more beer whilst looking into this idea.. using Polish auction sites, locals, translation sites and some shrewd research techniques...

But today we went to Auschwitz.. another interesting and moving experience. The human race really has screwed up on a few occasions big time, hopefully we will learn..
On the way there, more vehicle trouble, we had to push the bus to get it going! When we were there, it seemed so was half of Japan, Europe, the US etc etc.. still good though.. our first tour..

A few facts for you..

- Over 1.5 million Jew died their (at least)

- Some were transported for up to 27 days, 400 people per carriage, no food or water, no space again more and more died

- They were told it was a shower.. and conned into their own death

- Children, women and disabled were killed instantly as they were considered useless in 'work' terms

- When exterminated, they were then shaved and robbed, including teeth and even their ashes, with everything sold to profit the Nazis!

- Those who didn't die instantly worked, with nothing to survive on, very poor living conditions, with up to 6 in a 4' bed lying on bodies, rats and other people's excrement.

- People could not escape, some ran into the fences as they were electrified to die, others anywhere near the fence were shot, some lost so much weight they fell through the 'toilet' hole.

- When closed they were forced to walk 200km to Germany to work, no shoes, clothes in -40, if they stopped, they were shot

Update on our new beast tomorrow when we collect her.. name - Flymo!!

Random Ones..

2006-09-10T19:06:00.000Z

Ste makes a friend in Kiev.. Sheman!!

Messing around in our cabin!! Being sensible in Moscow!

Ste makes more friends..
Russian Metro..aka bomb shelter!

Matt and Nate (Mr Hardrock) dans le Moscow! Ste avec belongings!

Fuzzy bear himself!

Heading West..

2006-09-10T18:18:00.000Z

In Moscow.. the search was on first for a hostel.. taxi job it was.. around Moscow, taxi driver lost again! This all on MOSCOW DAY.. anyway found hostel..

Had some beers then up in the morning early for engine search! - On a Sunday.. nice one, no luck so had to try again on Monday..

Salvage, garages, specialists, internet, locals etc etc no second hand engine available, nearest would probably be Vladivostock (the other side of Russia by a good 5000 miles... too long to get here and too risky for going back seeing as though we had actually sold the Hog...

So, after long hard day went for a wonder...

Moscow is fairly large, and pretty impressive.. cruising the metro was fun too!! The people are interesting.. some very rude, some very nice.. and the culture of drinking on the street from 7 in the morning onwards suited us... beer stop on every corner.. comedy.

We then went for a relaxing wash / sauna.. La Baunya.. Russian Stylee!! - Nudity time! Was an interesting experience, all came out happy as larry refreshed and for the first time in six years Ste has been able to see his hands!! Big smile from Mr Ste!

Next stop.. random decision (have no ties now) so we went to Kiev as you do.. by train with our new american mate who kindly offered us a floor for the night! (Bonus..) At the platform we were pushed on the train and then through the train, getting stuck at everything narrower than a juganaut! - With zebidy and the tool box causing carnage amoungst the lovely Russian people! Hahaha...
This was going to be an over night affair.. so played some cards, had a few beers then off to bed.. much to the delight of the only girl in our cabin.. (oh no two english men!!).. we also met.. an Astronaut / Test pilot for Russia!! (Sound guy)

Up early and into Mc D's!! ..Much to the delight of Ste and Nate (US guy) Toured Kiev for a bit.. pleasant city.. loads of lovely ladies!! Sampled some Ukranian culture too.. including a qualifying match for Euro 2008, which was played right out the back of our hotel!! - The fans are bloody nuts over here! - Good job they won! Also met Nate's parents in Kiev and went for meal with them.. all good!

Decided to stay in Kiev one more day and meet up with Nate in Lviv, as we wanted to tour around a bit more.. and pursue the possibility of going to the Exclusion zone for the chernobyl disaster.. known over here as ' Extreme Tourism'.. unfortunatly all booked up until week later.. so went to museum instead..

This was a wake up call.. we're really glad we went and will be coming back for the weekend to go to the site.. the next day the disaster only manage three lines on page 3 of the local rag.. Even though 2006 is the 20th anniversay, some of these pictures are from 2003.

Russians wanted this covered up and didn't even tell their own people..

Day after went for a walk around Kiev.. getting into the cheap beer-on-the-go culture!!

Then we got the train to Lviv!!

A New Addition..

2006-09-09T20:40:00.000Z

1976..

No Doors..

No Roof..

No Choke..

No Lights work..

650cc..

100 Quid..

We'll update you in Prague.. Team Hog lives on and our back on the road!!

List of whats gone wrong with the Hog

2006-09-02T07:57:00.000Z

Brake servo cracked (No brakes out of prague)
Roof Cracked
Body not attached to chassis
Reverse light not working
All indicators smashed and not working
One side light out
Bumper fallen off front and rear
Bull bar snapped in more than 2 places
Fuel line blocked
Stuck in 4wd drive
Clutch failed
Piston rings gone
Shims Gone and knocking
4 transfer box mounts gone
Exhaust mount snapped
Discs and pads replaced at the front
Front shocker not attached any more
Rear prop shaft joint replaced (Turkey)
Front spot lights set on fire (Bratislava)
Back door coming away from the body (Iran)
Window Smashed at rear (Uzbekistan)
Spare wheel Fallen off roof (we think in Turkey at some point)
Alternator not charging (Iran)
Cig Lighter in car set on fire and blew up (Kazakhstan)
Wobble increasingly bad (All of the trip new talent)
Can't drive left hand lock (we dont know why never looked)
Chassis twisted (From the launch onwards)
Wiper blade lost (On way down to the launch)
Bits of body keep falling off (Making the jeep lighter which increases speed)
Cambelt slipping new pulley (Turkey)
New oil seal (Turkey)
New oil pump and sump (Kazakstan)
New fuel pump (Turkmenistan)
New fuel filter
New oil filter
100l of oil (Prob more)
2nd hand crank and shims
Head gasket replaced (Iran)
Head blown up lots of noise (Russia)
Cylinders worn and marked (russia)
Water pipe burst (russia)
Door locks dont work (Turkey)
Door belt snapped
Fog light not connected any more
The jerry cans on the roof dont like being strapped down (fell off every country)

This isn't a comprehensive list but what we can remember so far... its been fun!

Mongolia to Moscow..

2006-09-02T07:18:00.000Z

Rally section, sleep and then train!!Woken early in the morning and we were driven to the next town up for the new owner (Kermit's) mate - Larry 'Colin McRae' rally driver extraordinare of the Siberian hills.. we were told this was a 12 hour drive.. not for good old Larry.. sliding around every bend at Mach 2!! (With his trailor.. with our stuff in it..)

They fed us on the way up.. Ste was terrified.. thought it was a good learning curve, now he knows what its like to be his passenger!! - The trailor returned to haunt us.. when the back flew open.. we were like.. 'Larry' (we have no idea what his name was.. just called him this for our own amusement).. "It may be an idea to stop now..)The Larrymobile!!

This was temporarily taking our minds off the Hog, but it was still there, both of us very sad..

We made it to Barnaul.. not the airport but train station, from there enquired about tickets.. kicked by Russian women.. and guards and anyone else who hated westerners.. which is most of them over here!! Decided to go to the airport to see if we could get a better deal.. met some backpackers who sorted us out, decided on the train (3 day train) and got a lift from the local copper.. all a surprise considering how they had treated us just 10 mins ago.. train booked for next day..Rudely awoken by force at 3am as they needed to clean, then told we can't sleep and must stay on the cold metal chairs.. we spotted one guy who kept us awake laughing!!! Hahaha
And now we're in Moscow!

Not quite backpackers though.. Matt is carrying 'Zebidy' our new additition to the trip after losing Ste's sleeping bag, its a 30ft dead zebra to keep Ste warm.. also Ste's tool box on his chest..(5 tonnes when dry..) Ste is carrying food, cooking stuff, tent etc etc.. it ain't lightweight this lot..

5 mins and we're fooked.. on the train depression set in and so Matt came up with a plan to get the Hog back.. we must find an engine by Sept 4.. then we can go back the way we came, revive the Hog, get through Mongolia and get her home (skipping Europe due to finances..)...

We'll keep you posted.. still same as before, can recieve texts not reply, can e-mails though.. currently at Moscow train station (with a load of tramps, rude Russians and the Russian fancy dress armed forces..). Still in high spirits.. will try our absolute best to bring the Hog back.. just have to see how things go!

Onto Mongolia...

2006-09-02T06:48:00.001Z

Heading down to the border things were looking grim in terms of our situation but pleasant in terms of our view..Down this road we met a guy called Yuri, he said we should turn back and go and try and get the Hog repaired.. this made us think a bit, but we decided to press on, camp and then get some oil in the morning and press on.. even though smokey had got worse and so had the knocking.. We set up camp ready for the morning, got our oil, tried to source a headgasket and still nothing.. we continued to our last hope of a bank!

- To no avail.. In this town we basically had make or break.. having no money was such a risk with the 1500 deposit on getting to Ulan Bataar as well as fuel and oil and whatever the engine was about to do, but a dutch man on his own mission gave us hope and thought it was hilarious we had no support team and had got so far!! - We also heard from our first Mongolian that we could use visa and so with this extremely reliable information (yeh right) we pressed on..

We made it to the border and then the shit hit the fan, we lost our paddle down the same creek too.. the engine made the worst noise on the whole trip, head had gone, bottom end had gone, no oil, pipes burst.. hog stopped.. oil, water and coolant everywhere..

The locals seemed very interested in all this, poking around our stuff etc.. this was not good news at all.. options were not good either.. not getting through border by towing.. no suzuki parts down there.. no helpful Iranians.. no money.. and in the middle of nowhere with a jeep with no engine..

We had to empty the jeep and sort what we needed and what we didn't and went from there.. even though both gutted we still found some amusement in the one mozzy net Matt brought and never used!

We were going to just give the jeep away as all the customs in doing in properly wouldn't be worth the hassle and would mean more money.. give it to the local pikeys and they can deal with it.. we stripped the identification off it and then had a talk with the dutch guy who offered us a lift into Mongolia.. no jeep.. decided to sell the jeep.. Matt bargained a lift 500 miles north and a bed for the night with food at the new owners...

This was really really depressing...

This is how we will remember the trip up to now though...

Random Photos..

2006-09-02T06:31:00.000Z

While waiting at the Russian border, Matt renames the Suzuki..
Whilst also bored at the garage, Ste gives the Hog an added extra!Are you gonna help me Mr Ste or just watch??The Hog in all its glory..Ste loving his new hat!Matt washing hands after engine cleaning sesh before rebuild..Nice Lada..

Kazakhstan Pitstop..

2006-09-02T05:37:00.000Z

Our speed arcs.. introducing Ste to the world of aviation..Straight road to Almatay to Semey to everywhere in Kazakhstan..

Our weapon of choice through the Stans.. a vegetable knife!! (Donated by Mr Ali.. slyly hidden)

On through Kazakhstan and this place is bloody huge!!! We tried to get the Hog as far as possible but the poor girl was struggling... we did make a few landmarks though such as this renown place..
After this it was downhill, not the roads but our engine.. bottom end knocking to the point we aint driving much further.. sump off and nicht zo gut!! Ste is maxing out bigtime.. "Now what are going to do.. we're in the middle of bloody Kazahkstan.. no engine.. I don't think you understand Matt, this is fucked and you're just chilling out making some food" - Hahahah highly amusing..

10 minutes later a Skoda pulled over and offered to tow us.. "Thanks, but no thanks.." this was a shed and we we're afraid of pulling off the back end and so Matt got his artistic tools out, made a sign and pulled over a fook-off lorry sat 5' off the ground ready for anything! He agreed to take us, but first we must wash in the local stream.. very pleasant.. then he has the idea to put the Hog IN the back!!

We were amused by this and just watched.. its all on video.. anyway we made it to Almatay after consuming sheeps balls en route bought by the driver..

In Almatay, the bright spark hadn't worked out how to get the Hog out bearing in mind 5' off the ground.. Ste and Matt then came into play here and introduced them with some clever balancing, illegal use of ramps and a cheap winch from a market.. successfully offloaded and ready for repair or so we thought... we went to sleep in the office of a Kazakhstan car lot owner!! Hahahaha..

After being awoken by this guy in his PJs and much confusion at the first garage we eventually get a lift to the garage that can supposidly fix her.. using unsafe transportation.. almost throwing Matt off the back much to Ste's amusement all in the middle of a main road!

Then Red Scorpion garage..
A sound environment, very friendly, offered us a place to stay, shower, food and anything we wanted.. this was a combination of men from Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Russia, Kazakhstan and it worked together like a band of brothers.. good experience to be part of it.. Ste was thinking of applying for a job!!

Ste was inundated with more help than required.. he was getting very stressed.. Max Out Part Deux...
All the lads that helped us out..We had a nightmare trying to source the only SJ engine in Kazakhstan.. tried internet, telephone, adverts and eventually they took us to a scrappies which we were after all along!

It was the crank that needed replacing.. so they thought.. That afternoon we headed out after two days there hoping that after paying another wedge hoping that it was over in terms of engine trouble.. 500 miles later.. smokey returns.. knocking returns.. and Russia beckons..

We wake in the morning to this and head out to the Siberian border.. heading North we can already feel the difference!

The bumper fell off because of the roads so bad, bull bar snapped, lights broken no indicators, and the jeep set on fire again.. Inside this time!
Kazakhstan roads weren't the best either..Russian border... 4 hours wait and then "Here is Siberia!"

We head of into Russia after the coldest reception yet, very aggressive and still the Cold War era living on.. as well as the bloody cold weather!! 20 minutes into it and we we're pulled over for a document check and signing sesh.

Siberia is gorgeous.. early morning still searching for a bank that will accept my visa.. we headed back South, welcomed by us both..

Still no money and no oil and more problems from the Hog we continue down to the Mongolian border..

More Random Photos..

2006-09-02T05:18:00.000Z

Matthew driving..(responsibly of course..)Boof club..The stupid english men caused this.. Tornado carnage.. Matt.. Turkmenistan tapping into Sky.. The Hog on tour...Ste..Matt (cheers big ears) and Ste eating out again on Mr Ali..

More Carnage!

2006-09-02T04:20:00.000Z

We realise this will be a huge update and so won't be as comprehensive as usual but we have it all on video and so will update at a more convienient time!

After repairing the engine for the umpteenth time we were away again, heading back to Tehran this time though to collect our visas.. due to Mr Ali's time delay we didn't have time to get to Matin's family at a socialable hour and had to kip in the jeep outsite the Turkmenistan embassy, Matt opted for the road under the jeep soon to be told this was not a good idea by the local police. Before nodding off Ste laughed and said I bet that Arash guy comes and finds us in the morning...

Nice one.. "Hello my friends!!" well before 9am.. Ste pretends he's asleep with a smirk on his face and leaves Matt to deal with it after having no sleep, bitten to shite and generally not in the best of moods.. anyway we sorted visas and headed forth for Matin's family after leaving Arash as politely as possible ..the plan to meet at a big bridge.. in an hour.. in the end we got there and had a good time.. out to dinner.. our fortunes told (Ste's having 8 kids with a blonde Matt's having an under 23 year old wife no matter what age he is) and more of an intorduction to the Iranian way of life.. the hospitality as up by the Caspian was second to none.. many thanks to Mahan (Matin's bro).

Back to Mr Ali's for one final final leaving party and even then he wanted us to stay longer but we had to head outwards!! On to Turkmenistan with a brief beach stop and an introduction from another random who was building a massive port!! He also wanted some English friends and invited us back, this time we had to decline and head out as our visa was running out of time!
To the border.. the worst one yet.. 14 hours later we reach the border and after arricing ealry we are told that our documents say that we need to go to the border 600km west of our position.. sack that boyo.. we aint moving.. we're coming through here! So after muchos arguments and hassle we are told the border shuts at 3pm and they suggest we make our way west. We decided to stay determined that we were not going to make a 1200km detour when all we wanted to do was head 30km north to Ashgabaat. In the morning it was mission time and guess what the British embassy in Tehran is closed.. so emergency line here we come and some help from the Turkmenistan side too.. eventually after a lot of hassle and phone calls etc and the embassy saying "Don't count on anything, this is what these borders are like" we were let through!! We met this guy before we went through who kept spirits high! Believe it or not his name was David and his mates.. 'Joseph' hahaha..

Once in to Turkmenistan border, comedy with the 'border' guards running across the scanning machines, spinning on his chair. Taking lunch breaks half way through processing applications...
With 2 dollars left they charged us $150 entry fee (For one day)

On to Turkmenistan.. an eerie feel.. until we hit the capital and what an amazing place this was.. one of the best cities we have been to in our lives!!

After a night out and a nice beer we were away again!! Through Turkmenistan it was very odd.. had an odd feel about it, random tornadoes starting up.. a shed load of money kicking about a few Osamas and of course some animals along the way.. it was bloody hot too hence the Hog losing a layer..
Onwards towards uzbekistan the signs got very confusing: one would say "MARY" 600km next one about 5km down the road would read 615km WTF?

We were also stopped every 10 minutes by randomly dressed 'Border Police' who checked our documents tried to get money and generally slowed us down, all in good spirit though.. we also had a few problems with the Hog to do with fueling and the air filter, this was not a place we wanted to be breaking down for any length of time!

Uzbekistan.. after camping at the border for a few hours waiting for the thing to open we arrived to pure comedy..
The border guards got in the jeep, thought it was hilarious spent ages trying to start it as it has no keys and had a generally raz in it around his compound!! It took a day to get through Uzbekistan, very nice people, we were planning on going to Tashkent but the Hog was playing up again and so we decided to take the most direct route.. towards Almatay.. missing out on Krgystan as we realised we only had single entry to Kazakhstan and not double.. good planning lads!!

A comedy tractor.. three wheeler! WTF??

From here on in it was bad for the Hog.. knocking, the worse roads yet.. struggling up hills.. with 40mph the limit...

We were spurred on by more random cows who seem to do whatever they like from Romania onwards.. literally, motorways, pavements whatever they like!
Almost out of Uzbekistan.. bang.. Matt checked the mirror.. nice one Ste, window broken, too fast around the corner and so now only our sponsors we holding this one together!

Iran Sitcom.. Photos

2006-08-14T09:28:00.000Z

Area of natural beauty which took 3 hours to get too.. haha How do these bits of metal get us to Mongolia and back??
Ste driving a boat this time..
Out for a night out with the players..
Matt with Karzam and his Son/Daughter/It...

Borat chillin'
Iranian drivers...
Nice driving..
Back on the road.. wahoo
Matt bored..
Ste playing with the timing..
Too contact us, but we can't reply on Ste's fone.. 07708960010.. (we'll try reply by phone if important.. if not Moscow!!)

Iran Sitcom..

2006-08-14T06:53:00.000Z

Leaving Tehran we were now a red arrow.. smoke on and can't be turned off, burning oil at a ridiculous rate now.. locals less than impressed...

After leaving Tehran, still no sleep, the driving became worse and worse, this is at night with people literally overtaking left right and centre, full on trucks and buses steaming by on blind corners, we just wanted to be at the Caspian.. we hit a traffic jam about 1/2 way to the Caspian, very tired now with some guy in a truck with what can only be described as the full contents of his electronics warehouse on the back shouting.. no no no you can not drive like this it is very bad... (Ste woken by this was just mumbling tell him to "F**k off".. by this time Matt was knackered and welcomed a chat to keep him awake.. oh what this brought us...

The next thing we knew we were following him to his 'Shop' and later his house..(playboys mansion.. iran stylee!!)

This was the start of the comedy persian sitcom we have been involved in, in the past week with our very own Borat!!

We'll try and make this as easy-reading as possible.. so much has gone on, a lot on video and so you shall see later.. basically we needed the Hog fixed as soon as possible.. and he said he would put us up until then.. this guy we found out was called.. 'Mohammed Ali!!!!' - No joke. We saw his passport!

Favourite phrases included:

English was very little, language barrier was fun!

"Come see my friend"
"Eat eat"
"Drink Drink"
"Shop shop"
"Mr Matt we have BIG problem"
"Mr er Steve.." (Steve school boy was so tired he said err before saying his name and it stuck!!! - Very funny!!
"Come come"
"This is mine"
"What you want"
"How much in London?"
"We go with Mr Ramsan"

This guy put his life on hold for us no matter how hard we tried to explain we were ok and could amuse ourselves.. he showed us all his property (inc. hotels) , houses, friends.. and his family which aint small...

During the week this is what happened:

- Ste almost killed a guy on a motorbike and then decided to hit a speed bump at 60mph.. nice one
- He rang over 90 people to try and find a Suzuki bottom end for the Hog.. no luck
- We went on a random boat trip on the Caspian.. nice

- Fed us far too much food.. constant intake.. fruit, tea, dinner.. more and more and more...
- Would not let us pay for anything and when we offered he began hitting us!!
- We were shown around many different areas along the Caspian including the richest area in Iran where we winded and dined.. seemed very american..

Funny / random moments:

- Never ending road carnage, wheel chairs on round abouts.. wrong way around the round about, over 20 crashes inc. two by Mr Ali!!
- Licence can be bought and insurance is optional!
- We got into his car again, never knowing where we are going or what for.. just go with the flow, the next thing we knew we seemed to be part of a mad convoy returning back the way we came all with hazard lights on... we had no idea what was happening.. then.. Mr Matt get the camera.. next thing we saw a sheep tired up in the street and some dodgy looking guy with a knife, slit its neck on a normal residential housing estate with kids etc and let it bleed to death.. later found out this was tradition when someone returned from Mecca.. (an annual occasion) Sheep named.. Derick.

- Matt continues to injure himself..
- Also found Mr Ali has 10 million dollars in his Swiss bank account, we were told this by a plumbing engineer.. (don't ask how this happened..)
- Met Mr Medhr.. alcoholic.. we were told he was English.. he hadn't even been to England.. we gave them whisky on the first night over half was consumed by the alky!!

- Saw one of his friends in video.. dead ringer for Borat.. he was drunk in Thailand in mental shorts and a massive vest.. looked a right laugh and was when we met him!!
- School-boy.. Matt tried the 'Milk'.. horrible.. sour yoghurt, salt and water, this continued throughout the week, more random horrible food, let the games begin, we aim to screw each other over during meals.. provided great entertainment!
- Also made up our own convos about what they may be saying as you can imagine.. we were unable to communicate really and so was quite hard.. felt a bit rude but we have learnt a lot of persian being in the family environment and having his daughter teach us!!
- Er Steve (Also known as Mansour here) is now into Persian hip pop and loves a guy called 'Andi'!! (He even corrected me on the spelling just then.. devoted fan!)
- Mr Matt likend to a Talibani and Tony Blair.. WTF?
- Ste regularky touched up by the men over here.. one even went so far to clench his inner thigh and higher... much to the amusement of Matt!! Hahahaha

- We thought we were in line for marriage on numerous occasions and not just to the females.. "My friend.. he's a bachelor.." woooooo stop there matey...

- Caspian swimming.. "Not more than 20m.. we even had our very own body guard follow us out.. they took the guest thing a bit far even to the point where we had to tell him we were qualified life guards for him to let us in when there were.. waves.. oh no!! - Also holds our arms when crossing roads...
- Not allowed to walk 5 mins down the road on our own even though we managed to drive a shed from London un-assisted.. 4,000 odd miles..
- Drove 200 miles to a land fill site for a melon eating sesh and then returned.. very random.. pointless but Mr Matt did get to drive Borat's machine!! Comedy..
- Toilet for the duration.. blocked within the first two days.. as they are Muslims and so no paper... just a left hooker!!

- Went car shopping with Mr Ali who was looking at spending 17000 dollars on a 4 yr old citroen xantia.. comedy!!

All this in our shorts and t-shirts not the best atire out here we can tell you!

-Car repair

Had a few options.. needed bottom end, then after postage of almost a grand from the UK decided that a full rebuild was in order and the stripping commenced.. we met a guy called Karzam who helped us explain the technical jargon to the engineers.. job done and 280 dollars later we have a sweet running Hog..

Initially quote around 500 dollars..without seeing the car or knowing the problem.. we said 280 take it or leave it.. it took us about a day all in all..

General Iran culture

The complete opposite to what the West shows them as.. the most genuine and hospitable people we have met so far!! (Even though one did throw me out of his shop for wearing shorts..) They are willing to move heaven and earth to help you.. they see us as guests in their country and want to try and help the best they can.. yesterday after Mr Er Steve's GPS went a bit wrong (by 20 miles..) a guy called Hamid said follow me.. he took us through the whole of Tehran on a tour to the embassy again for the Visas this morning.. all sorted, such a genuine nice person. (Although he did have a sly stroke of Matt's face.. not cool)

They live in such a restricted lifestyle.. rules for everything except on the road which is quite the opposite.. Even though many of them don't like their government and love the west.. there is nothing they can do.. No alcohol, no girlfriends.. no freedom of speech and no shorts!! They don't see many tourists and would like to travel themselves but can't.. they all seemed touched by what we said which is only the truth.. its such a brotherhood here, we think this is due to the National Service they have to do.. everyone helps everyone.. so much of this is on film you will see later..Our plan from here is to go back to Mr Ali's for one night (he insisted.. he was going to bring us here and back but we managed to strike a deal.. its like being Princes over here.. very protected by your hosts.. its just their way of life tho)before heading onwards to Turkmenistan and a nice beer in Ashgabaat!!

This will probably be our last blog until sometime in Russia.. we would like to thank every one for their help and support including our sponsors. It may be a month until you here from us next, Ste has his phone but can only recieve messages not reply.. we are more than prepared and looking forward to it! We aim to be in Mongolia before the end of the month!

Lots of love Team Hog!

Random Photos...

2006-08-06T13:10:00.000Z

Ste Surfing.. The Hog on a Lunar surface..

Us enjoying the freedom!

Le'Og.. has found his on ramp...

Our premiere river crossing to one of our sites..

Us consuming the local produce at a cost of less than 20p!!

Boredom sets in sometimes as a passenger!

Into Iran and a Brief Catch Up..

2006-08-06T11:49:00.000Z

From Istanbul... what a great city, definitley going to be going back there again.. got everything just need more money to really enjoy it.. budget is starting to get to us, but we have to be strict as we're away for so long...

Anyway Turkey.. as with all our countries no research what so ever just see what happens...

The people stood out, they are all amazingly interested in what we are doing, how they can help even to the extent when one actually did big time! After Romania the Hog really hasn't been the same, we thought it was the transfer box but it seems to have been the propshaft we noticed this when doing the brakes at a random petrol station. The manager came over who obviously had some mechanical knowledge started poking around etc.. we thought why not just ask and see what happens.. two hours later, part aquired from a fiat believe it or not and we're away much happier using their random ramp they have at the service station..

Camping throughout Turkey has been amazing after being fleeced in Istanbul we were not paying again, it was going to be a 'That looks nice lets whack her in 4WD and go and see...

With each spot we thought, middle of nowhere, no problems with people etc.. how we were wrong on 2/3 occassions.. cow city!!! (We have some quality footage..)

This was not the only fiasco we had to deal with.. the wratchet straps randomly come undone.. and so in the process of driving through Turkey we lost a full blown 4x4 tyre at 60mph off the back.. with the consequence of which still unknown.. a tyre down and we used the wratchet strap to hold the roof to the body as that is now falling in aswell as the back down pulling the body apart!!

The border.. out of Turkey and into Iran.. they have so many checkpoints these kids.. WHAT A JOKE IT WAS... and we were had for the first time normally escaping the typical tourist blunders.. only a botlle of whisky down which actually did us a favour seeing as we were entering IRAN!!

So much paper work and stamping and searching etc etc etc... anyway 4hours later we were through with the help of a female tourist rep who seemed very interested in us! (Willing to help)

Into Iran, well before we got there one of the carnet guys jumped into the cab with us to hitch a lift down, they are all very 'friendly' around here so we gave him a lift.. he was joking around saying.. in Iran... we have 'Taliban, Hezbollah, Terroists' you will have good time my friends!!

Into Iran, initially much like Turkey we had heard however petrol was stupidly cheap.. we tried paying with Visa.. and my friend only cash in Iran and onwards no card... oh deah..

We managed to get some cash after a random Nottingham tour guide helped us out and then demanded soucvenirs.. we also bought a map to replace yet another google image!! Petrol prices.. a full tank 33 litres... 1.65 (pounds)!!! Oh yeah... we're away!! Although they would not let us fill the jerry cans.. we found out later why not from another one of our 'friends' - if you crash.. it make big expolsion!!.. lots of crashes in Iran my friend.. not good. (And he wasn't joking...)

After this the oil problem was getting worse and worse and so we needed to get some oil from a local garage.. what a palava!! (Now using more oil than fuel!!!).. in the end after trying to royally rip us off.. more and more locals turned up at 2100.. and they all seemed interested, in the end we followed them back for dinner which we had been invited to in their home.. lovely traditional food and such a nice family!! The conversation included my friend you must not go at night they will stop you and rob you at gun point... Ste's face was a picture!

So we drove... and got to Tehran early morning.. writing this still having no sleep since Turkey!! Tehran is a bloody nightmare.. the worse place for driving by far, no rules, no signs, no signals, no lane markings.. under taking, overtaking, 6 lanes in three.. anything goes!! Complete carnage including stopping and blocking 3 lanes to resolve a road-rage dispute!

Anyway, next task find the Turkmenistan embassy in Tehran.. nice one! Taxi job, with the Hog in pursuit.. brake fluid bubbling.. we eventually found the place.. a window.. and looking into our visas.. we are well ahead of schedule and so not only do we have to come back for these damn visas or pay double the amount!! We have to stay in the mighty Iran until the 16th.. (to the caspian sea we will go!!)

During this visa faff another Iran-Man came to have a chat (Arash..) sound bloke (a bit interested in what we were up to, but genuine all the same) he invited us over for some free drink.. which we took him up on and also managed to get a house if needed just oustide Tehran, money changed and this pleasant internet cafe!! - The visa (credit card) problem is yet resolved and we will tackel this when we return in a few days.. hotels beware!

Random Photos (Part Deux)

2006-08-01T16:09:00.000Z

General travelling...The heart of the hog..
Us wıth the engıne out and chaos surroundıng us
Matt playıng wıth skı googles goıng to use as desert goggles soon..

Ste lookıng concerned as Matt takes the wheel
Guantanemo day release... Istanbul...

The vıctor at crazy golf... no contest.. 18 holes.. 22 played went down to last shot..

Ste out for dinner in İstanbul

We are goıng to try and buy somethıng for the wee hog in each city.. tacky as hell... but should add to ıts character..

Istan(can't feckın drive)bul!!!

2006-07-31T13:52:00.000Z

The day in Bulgaria iıncluded some 30p pints, very cheap food, crazy golf and more free beer as well as another cheeky move, we found the best hotel in the area and then worked out a way in rather than pay like all the other mugs.. hahaha Whilst filming our diary entry, we met a local who seemed very interested in our exploits.. in the end after a short convo, he was giving us a lift into town for our night out..

He took us to his shop in a hotel complex not far from Sunny Beach, this was yet another random moment, an arts and crafts shop all family made, wıth some ice cream and fruit.. as you do. We then spent the night there drinking beer, running his shop and talking with a very wise man who has been to all the countries we are planning to go to.. he has lived in Mongolia for two years and learned their version of 'reike'..

His advice; in his words "This is big problem my frıends.. you will get shot in Turkmenistan, they all have guns" He also reckoned we would not be able to drıve there due to the lack of roads, not phased by this our consumption continued with more and more doubt from the wise man and lots of help from our original host.. Amo.. Matt then went out and Ste went back to defend the Hog..

In the morning, Matt returned at 7.. to the surprise of Ste, who then discovered someone had tried to set the Hog alight!! - Nicht zo gut

As Matt slept our crazy German frıend returned, he had given us a tour around hıs highly dangerous complex overhanging a cliff wıth no foundations.. he could not stop talkıng to Ste and offerıng him some 'Fruhstuck', Ste declined wıth the combınatıon of; Rıce, sweetcorn, a sauce, cheesy puffs, dıgestıves and raisens not tickling hıs tastebuds.

Not long after this fıasco, we saw in the mirror the old car transporter for illegally parked cars, ours had been there for two days and so was a prime target. Ste set off briskly towards Turkey!! (with Matt asleep).

On the way down, we came across some crap roads, and horses wıth their legs tied together in the middle of the road which Ste decided to beep at.. nice one

Turkish border... what a joke.. 2 hours later after having to buy a vısa for a EU country and insurance AGAIN!! - Lets just say Matt wasn't impressed.. although he did get a map off some Aussy guy which has to be better than our google image..

Into Turkey, lovely views, roads are sweet and we made our way into Istanbul in search of a recommended campsıte, this map wasn't the most accurate.. and hours later we found ıt after askıng over 10 people, who all had their own idea and dırectıons for 'Campsıte'.. including one grandad with an MP5 machine gun!!

We set up camp and today have been havıng a huge sort out ıncludıng removıng the heart of the hog, and replacing the clutch after having to use 4WD (L) to get out of a carpark..

P.S - Foreign keyboards are crap and hard work. So is this blog lark.. we're perserverıng tho

Leeds to Mer Noir..

2006-07-29T10:55:00.000Z

Matt in the park in Slovakia

Ste thinking he can park in this place if i act disabled
Why the fire occured..(white wire)

Dave 'Ronald Mc Donald..' constantly wants to eat here, wherever we are!

General en-route mayhem!
Ste at the wheel and the different stages of emotion one feels as a passenger..

Slight change of plan..

2006-07-29T10:17:00.000Z

After leaving Budapest we headed for Bucharest, we planned to kip on the border in Romania... we planned for about 5pm.. arrived at 9pm..

Ste did not get on with the Romanians.. saying "We're not stoping here with these thieving gipos".. it was decided we would carry on throughout the night.. across the whole of Romania in a night.. non-stop driving through the mountains, on the worst roads we've been on with super-hero lorry drivers having no respect for their lives or ours.. the journey included dead dogs, no lights on crap skodas.. pot holes, broken barriers.. and dodgy cops, one of which decided to pull us over at around 5am.. he did not appreciate us trying to take a photo..

We arrived in Bucharest just before rush hour.. both absolutley knackered.. the Hog having taken a real battering, stuck in 4WD at the moment, not to mention more and more funny noises..

Bucharest was utter carnage, no rules, no signals and no signs.. with every man for himself attitude.. the Hog was not up for this by this stage, 19 hours non-stop heartache.. we were both trying to train ourselves to try and keep one half of our body awake whilst the other half drove, this was unsuccessful and in the end we stopped for a service station sesh..

This was en-route to Bulgaria, following the coast road, on which there were freak fires due to the temperatures..

Bulgaria.. the border an absolute nightmare, stopped five times before actually being let through and then some random dodgy guys who thought they could con us, in the end a successful result.. we thought we could be on our way then with Ste navigating, we turn the corner and to our surprise...

What the fu*k?? - Now what are we going to do, compass and head east!!! This didn't last long until we decided, get our heads down, off the road we truned into a covert camping spot, not long after this some Bulgy lost all power in the middle of the road, and so Team Hog came to the rescue.. he was pretty much parked across our version of the A1 with a flat battery in the middle of the night with no lights and his daughter, sat there trying to start it.. anyway the camping...

Up after a nice lie-in and onto the coast.. which is where we are now.. Bulgaria Package-Holiday-Ville.. jecuzzis etc.. (which of course we have been sampling, we had to after it says 'VIPs Only' hahahaha) we also sampled a club which had everything including two pools.. we asked.. "Is it ok to jump in?" - he replies.. "Yes, no problem my friend.." Oh yeah!! - Going there again tonight... 2000 people + and very cheap out here, thats why we stayed!! Oh yeah and the black sea is pleasant.. Istanbul tomorrow, still well ahead of our schedule..

Random Launch Photos..

2006-07-26T11:16:00.000Z

Photos recieved from family and friends... danke schone..

More Eastern European Fun...

2006-07-26T10:51:00.000Z

Well our day of rest, inlcuded walking down the high street (building site..) 'seeing the sights...' (ladies...) then had a pleasant beer on the Danube..Played a bit of footy, Matt taking out a wee child of Bratislavan origin, with their father less than impressed... the Hog was then abandoned as we headed up to 'Tunel Club' a random hip pop bar under a railway bridge with pints for 40p!!! - Deal.. 12% beer too..

Had quite a few there then went off to town for some tea.. the night ended with some aquatic club action on the Danube!! - (Club on the river... on a boat???) Lots of fun was had..

In search of a bed.. Mattieus decided that we should be cheeky and go back to stay in our immense hotel (FOR FREE), as we now knew how it worked, so we thought why not?? After being clobbered over the tootsies.. we made our way up to bed and did one at 0630 in the morning.. hehehehehe... nice free bed.

Next stop.. HUNGARY.

The journey to Budapest was amazing, sound road and weather... hog performing well... Into Budapest during the rush hour.. this place is massive, amazing place, very historic, 26 degrees before 9am too...We had a nice bath in the sacred fountain in the centre square much to the dismay of the locals... although some tramp was washing his clothes.. so slightly hipocritical we think...

We plan to head out Romania way early this eve through the countryside and our next update will be in Istanbul!!! Oh yeah... (couple of days from now.. after some camping action and beach carnage with the locals..)

BRATISLAVA!!!! (Arrive with some stories...)

2006-07-24T22:41:00.000Z

A shot of us beginning in Hyde Park sent in by an adoring fan!!!

Ok we'll fill you in from Prague and onto our residence for the night..

In prague, which all the teams thrashed their vehicles to get their for the party.. a bit of a let-down but we did meet more people, two of which were sound!.. had a few beers, which of course they paid for.. and then donated a map for our cause as its google images from here... Hahaha.. the map is Russian though and so some navigation errors are forecast..

Prague.. we've been here before, all we are going to say is it was not a let down, more experiences.. sound people, luvly ladies.. and great weather in the morning!! This 'mooch' was not the normal one you'd expect after kippin' on the floor behing the hog in a car park our backs were a bit worse for wear..(pics coming..) and so it was not welcome when Ste comes to me.. "Matt, what do you want? Brakes or engine??"

We mooched around for most of the day before we left for Bratislava...

The road to Bratislava.. was crap. (Full stop). But it did include absolutley no fuel stations, needless to say we 'fumed' into SLovakia.. reducing speed with Ste very unhappy about the potential walk ahead of him.. even suggesting we should go cross country in search of the wonderful propellant!! Amusement however was not lacking.. caravan blow-outs, truck and car crashes, eve our own 'near-death' high speed wobble in very close proximity to another car, lorry and big drop to the right... Matt's anti-wobble capabilities managed to tame the Hog...

Once into Bratislava.. relieved to see our first fuel station, we saw 'electric buses with wheels??? - WTF??' We then had quite a few laps of the city until Ms hurricane 'Katrina' took a slight de-tour to visit Bratislava.. soaking the Hog and us...

After this the search for the crazy hotel continued not without more carnage.. Ste not yet grasping the concept of the Red light... and lane discipline...

This was followed by.. "Whats that smell??", oh sh*t we're on fire!! Get out..."

Eventually we made our way here.. going to relax tomorrow before we depart to Budapest on Wednesday..

Caption of the day; Ste walking over to the bin outside a supermarket, amazed to see it locked shouts back to Matt.. "Why the fu*k would someone lock a bin??"
TWO MORE NEWS FLASHES:

1. - Team Hog now have video camera with us!!
2. - We're on TV - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=09of3pSC33w

Arrive In Prague!!

2006-07-23T15:52:00.000Z

We have arrived relativley trouble free in terms of the vehicle. We don't have long on here as they close soon, so will be as quick as possible.

First we would like to thank everyone for coming down to see us off, apologies for how poorly organisned it was.. thats just typical of the Mongol Rally...

In terms of pictures, we'll just stick them in randomly..

Ok we started badly, laps of London did not help us at rush hour, but when out on the open road, we arrived at the free ferry on time, met on arrival.. and then rinsed on board for a meal, but a nice DVD sesh and we were off again through Belgium and Germany through the whole night and arriving in Prague just after 5 today!!

We cracked the brake servo, leaking air, causing rough running, but super glue should fix that...

Other stories so far.. the hog is extremely dangerous above 35mph.. and has a tendancy to begin to wobble, so far ste does the motorway driving as we have classed moi as too dangerous with the wobble!! Driving through cities on the wrong side of the road is also a comedy experience...

We are just about to go for some beers, probably spend tomorrow in Prague and then Bratislava tomorrow afternoon...

Sorry for being so brief, will try and update tomorrow. P.S - We are on Yorkshire ITV news tonight!!

Cheers,

Team Hog

Some pics so far..

Media..

2006-07-20T02:26:00.000Z

So far we are in talks with various magazines but have also been in the local newspapers;
Still in talks with production companies, but Yorkshire ITV news and Leeds today airing very soon!!

The Hog Leaves..

2006-07-20T01:29:00.000Z

The Hog has now left and will remain in London, myself and Ste are working hard to ensure everything else is sorted and recently carried out a mammoth shop at ASDA.. also lost driving licence and tried to bank many bags of coins.. a nightmare one might say.. only signs of what will come... you can see aready that the public are missing out on our potential antics that could have been caught on ze video cameras..

Oh yeah and during all this mayhem.. I graduated.. no more uni.. pour moi..

Leavers... not long now..

2006-07-20T01:04:00.000Z

Some pictures from our leavers..

We now have two days to go and our working very long days to acheive readiness, with the Hog in London already we have to get ourselves down with everything ready for the pre-launch party in London!!

So far we are both very happy with what we have acheived and the support given by families, friends, and sponors including randomers along the way!! Thank you for that and we hope to see you in Hyde Park on Saturday for the Launch!!! - and a free ferry to Belgium!!! - LET THE FUN BEGIN!!

Continued...

2006-07-20T00:45:00.000Z

Before we continue with the London saga a few more pics of the Hog..

Bramham Park..

We dropped the Hog in London on Monday night after spending the previous two days up at Spud's preparing the Hog for the adventure.. Due to finances, we decided to try and get back home for free... after a nice 12 mile walk through the night, and continous ear bashing to lorry drivers, a car took us to junction 26, m1 and then Patrick who we met earlier in the morning took us up in his all the way to Ferrybridge, very much appreciated and acheiving the goal of saving some dollar!

The most recent fiming with the ITV should be on this weekend and the filming from the attractive young girls from Trinity and All Saints is also due soon on the internet!! - Cheers Ben and the girls..

We have really enjoyed the experience of blagging and dealing with management etc, to the point where cheek will get us everywhere, in Halfords 3x the amount agreed and to the point where I actually walked out of a shop without paying at all.. until I realised, ah this isn't one of those 'free sessions..'

2006-07-19T23:37:00.000Z

Ok, this will hopefully fill you all in on the journey so far in a bit more detail than the website..

We will go from, when we aquired the Hog and what happened next. The Suzuki was driven back to Leeds to start work immediatley and confirm that we were going to do this despite people close to us dismissing this as a 'fad', and me in total disbelief that Ste had bought the worst car on ebay which is a fair achievement, proved when it clashed with a power washer.. and is now in Army green!!

After dreams were ended after several hundred e-mails to find a way across the straits into Alaska from far east Russia with the jeep, it was decided we would do the Mongol Rally and return!!

March was an interesting one, many e-mails had been sent to begin the admin nightmare with sponsorship etc and Ste beginning to think about the Hog. After not making the first one hundred entries, we were entered in the second and now part of this adventure officially.

We have began to receive good news regarding sponsorship and general interest including Yorkshire ITV news, something no other team has managed even to this day. Things are becoming stressful with constant meetings to finalise visas the hog situation and sponsorship etc

I contacted the television companies randomly as thought it would be a good series to watch, show how much Ewan McGregor was helped with his voyage and see how two 'Average Joes' could enter such a challenge and achieve doing all the work off their own backs with a full time job and finals at Uni. We had our first filming session, and with many things promised we are still waiting..although the BBC did say they will next year.. (too late old chaps)

We have been collecting for charity for a while and with the website up and running in June things took off, with the Charity Auction, Bag Packing, Compay donations etc etc.. we are now currently just short of our target.. with over 25,000 hits in just over 6 weeks of being live. Many thanls to James Mason for this creation.

In terms of sponsorship, we have managed to secure some big names, all of which have been very helpful along with the more local ones again providing much more help than expected.

We had one major road trip to all their headquarters to pick up the products, an eventful yet enjoyable ride with yet more blagging en-route and some lets say 'offers'. Our graphics sponsor then transformed the Hog, which now proudly displays enormous character and will to achieve!!

This has not been an easy ride up to now though, since the journey began we have had countless sleepless nights, fines and costs everywhere, more and more admin to cope with, one engine gone due to 'over testing'...

..three crashes.. all of which the hog has come through and is still running, not too mention our latest voyage with money becoming so tight... a trip back from London.. with no £

Testing of our first 'Blog...'

2006-07-19T18:14:00.000Z

Just to see how this looks etc before we go off into the open world of dreams.. and randomness..