Peking to Paris » Diary

June 15th

peking_admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:17:39 +0000

Enjoying the traditional Ger. Since the weather is cold the staff lit the fire which is placed in the middle of the Ger. Boy does it get hot quickly. Caught up on washing, etc and slept in the afternoon. Had 2 Chinese visitors who spoke very good English. Then blow me down a large cow with horns poked its head in the door for a look around. Got such a shock I didnt get a photo. Went into Ulaanbaatar to market but very basic. This town doesn’t have KFC, Starbucks, etc. The people haven’t even heard of them. Mongolia seems a very basic country. Opened some of the red wine given to us by the NZ Ambassador in China to celebrate getting through the desert.

June 14th

peking_admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:17:02 +0000

Up again at 4.30am after being woken by a windy sand storm at 2.30. Luckily we had made a decision to tie the tents to the cars. The wind had stopped by the time we were packing up at 4.30. Today was to make Ulaanbaatar. Had a few photo stops of various interesting places. Kevin took on a new navigator for the afternoon, only to get lost. They thought they would take a highway that was being built to find they were going in the wrong direction. So it was back to cross country, ending up in the backyard of a Ger. Much to the peoples amazement. God knows where we were. Will checkout on Google when we get home. The pass that we crossed is now called the K/K (KEVIN AND KERRY pass).So here we all were LOST in the Gobi Desert!! The power lines were eventually found and we had travelled 150 kms extra. Suddenly before us was a newly sealed highway. So with dusty dirty cars and people we drove onto this new road. Feeling very proud and relieved we had made all the sand, tracks etc. 30kms on this new seal. The Capri lost power and stopped. Two hours later we were being towed behind the Volvo (100kms) to Ulaanbaatar. We couldn’t believe we had come through all the sand and dust for a breakdown on sealed roads. However next day 2 of the mechanics found the problem. The new points had broken. The weather turned to freezing so it was out with out thermals and jackets. Wondered what had happened to our 36degs from previous days. Enjoyed settling into the Ger and had a debriefing over a Mongolian dinner of a large meat Hot Pot. The comment was made that “You wouldn’t take a Landcruiser over what we went on today” This comment from one of the rally drivers we are travelling with. Us womens’ hair was so dirty we didn’t need product to make it stand up. Sandra has never been so dirty in her life. To Muriel and Raewyn the wet wipes have been a saviour!!

June 13th

peking_admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:13:49 +0000

Up at daybreak 4.30am. None of us slept that well due to the passing trucks and being a novelty to a car passing by. We had our first freeze dried breakfast of scrambled eggs, hash browns and bacon. Great food. All we do is put 2 cups of water in the bag, leave for 10mins and eat. Very tasty. Headed away further into the desert 6am. Kevin and Sandra led as they had the GPS. Spent hours driving through sand and dust, over passes and lots of sand surfing. Enjoyed seeing the Gers, horses and Camels. Although we thought their would be more camels than there were. Camped further off the road for the night. Windy with a little rain when putting the tent up. We were all covered in sand and dust. We 3 women resorted to having a wash out of a bucket. We also decided this would be the first and last time we would ever visit the Gobi Desert. Kevin had a great day driving.

June 12th

peking_admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:13:15 +0000

Travelled to Mongolian border today saying goodbye to our Chinese guides.
It took three hours to complete all the paper work for leaving China.
While waiting at the boarder a Landcruiser and mini van arrived laden up with produce. Six and eleven people respectively also got out of these vehicles. We couldn’t believe what we were seeing. We then travelled one KM through no mans land to the Mongolian Border. We were met by a Mongolian interpreter who helped us with the paper work to get the cars through. We were through in two hours. He said “This was a record”. Within 15 mins we were at the end of the seal and being faced with three different sand tracks into the desert and nothing around us other than power lines and a railway track. A daunting sight!!!!!
The lead car chose the mid track and within a short time was stuck in the sand. What a start, and we had the Gobi to face. We then chose the right hand track which was a little better. Graeme and Dianne in one of the Saabs then got stuck and when trying to back out broke their differential. They were towed back to the border town. Five hours later a decision was made that they would leave the group and put their car on the train to Ulaanbaatar. A sad day for us all.
So at 5pm we again set off into the desert driving for an hour and 50kms later we were running out of day light, so pulled off the track about 100 meters and set up camp. Cooked dinner and all wondered why we had decided to take on such a daunting journey. During the night huge trucks rumbled by and we were visited by some locals. Non of us slept particularly well.

June 11th

peking_admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:12:24 +0000

Up at 6am to sort the gear into the car so we could go to breakfast at 7am.
That was a waste of time, only thing on the menu for white man was fried egg so that was it. Departed Jining 8 am’ish , glad to see the end of it.
Another day of beaut motorways disappearing into the horizon and with very little traffic. It would be an awesome place to shake down that high powered car of your dreams. The countryside is now desert , we were stopped twice by nomadic goat and sheep herders as they drove their flocks across the 3 lane hiway.
Arrived at Erinhot at 1.30 welcomed by another chinese luncheon. The freeze dried meals are starting to look inviting. This is a much nicer town and the hotel a vast improvement.
Tomorrow the border to Mongolia challenge You are unlikely to hear from us for a week.

June 10th

peking_admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:11:17 +0000

We woke at 4am as the sun lit the sky outside our window, stole another half hour then a coffee and packing the car 6am and away to the NZ embassy.
Flagged away by Ambassador Tony Brown at 7am and our adventure has really begun.
Out of Peking and onto amazing two lane motorways for nearly 400 kms to our hotel in Jining . Sunday morning traffic is like our Peak hour traffic.
Travelled North out of Beijing on the Badaling highway. Stopped at the Great Wall to take photos of our cars with the Great Wall behind. Had a pleasant drive to Huaian for lunch. We now seem to be getting more of the Mongolian food and people are looking Mongolian. After lunch due to the hot temps {35degs} a couple of cars had fuel problems. Sandra drove after lunch with a little rally driving between trucks. On arrival at Jining we were welcomed by a group of young women who sang a welcome song and gave us some type of alcohol which we were meant to only wet our lips. Sandra took a mouthful, which cleaned out the throat. Said it tasted like “rocket fuel”
The Hotels are getting less westernised. We had no towels in the bathroom, got onto room service and got two delivered, wet!! Phone to reception and finally dry towels, only to find the bathroom floor floods when we use the shower…..seems the plumbing is not connected. The joys of travelling. Still this Hotel will look good next week when we are in the Gobie.

June 8th

peking_admin — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 21:07:41 +0000

Kevin spent the morning reorganising the car in 36degs. the car seems to be getting smaller by the day. One of the group had found Walmart 2 kms from the hotel, so we headed there for some last minute items before leaving. This shop is not nearly as good as the ones in America. However we did manage to get most things. Still don’t have a petrol can which we forgot to bring. At 5pm we were picked up and taken to the NZ Embassy for a farewell BBQ. A great night with nice NZ food and wine. Allan Scott wine has never looked so good. Thanks NZ tax payers!

June 7th

peking_admin — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 01:16:23 +0000

Nothing much to report. Kevin spent the day between sleeping and the bathroom. Asian food. Sandra caught up on postcards and washing then went out to the Beijing acrobatics which she said was truly amazing. Front row seats and tea with nibbles thrown in. Nothing much to report. Kevin spent the day between sleeping and the bathroom. Asian food. Sandra caught up on postcards and washing then went out to the Beijing acrobatics which she said was truly amazing. Front row seats and tea with nibbles thrown in.

June 6th

peking_admin — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 01:15:08 +0000

Up at 9am for the usual hotel smorgasbord. Quite a welcome change from the Asian dishes. Time to fill up the cars with all our possessions and a bit of a sort out then another banquet lunch . We then displayed the cars at the front of the hotel for photos followed by a short drive for a safety check. It was just like a wof testing station. We were told by the interpreter that some of the cars didn’t pass but that after some negotiation we were all issued with a Chinese drivers licence and a temporary registration . Our convoy headed out the drive and back to Beijing. What a drive, convoy at 100k following our coach that had been our transport to the port. Excellent 2 lane motorway with heavily loaded trucks travelling from 20 to about 50k plus masses of coaches, more trucks and black late model luxury cars. Mercedes, Volvo, Audi, Cadillac, Dodge, Lexus….. So if you can imagine that mix bumper to bumper and a no mans land inside safety lane used for passing on the inside it was a thrilling ride. Sandra was loving it. The Capri was running really well . And then it all stopped. A giant parking lot. for no reason. So we waited and wandered around and attracted a lot of attention. Then it was away again, back to 100k for the next 50k . Then the toll gate, 10 minutes in the heat creeping forward in the queue . One car died on the other side with a fuel vapour lock and our temperature gauge indicated we were close to boiling. One report was 39 degrees outside and 45 plus inside the car.
After a rest we were off again, missed the turn off but finally arrived at our hotel at 8pm.

June 5th

peking_admin — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 01:14:46 +0000

Today we traveled to Tianjin and the port Customs at Tanggu. The bus driver got lost but finally found our container park. The containers were right on the boundary fence. After some initial paper shuffling we were allowed on site through the security fence and the seals were removed. The cars were all intact and soon started and driven out. We then had to drive them around to a area amongst the containers where they were given the check over by the customs men. Apart from some souvenir gifts having to be removed from their packaging we were all inspected within about an hour. Then we had to put them back in the containers and reseal them. Next we were whisked off to a huge banquet lunch and then made to wait hours in the deserted restaurant while the documentation for the cars was processed. About 5pm we were taken back to the port, the cars were released from the containers again and we drove them to our hotel about 30k via a petrol station. About 80cents per litre !!!! for 93 octane. Apparently 98 octane is available but we haven’t seen that yet. Hotel was supposed to be 5 star but I’m not so sure.