4-17 August: Altai to Olgiy via Hovd

Hi, Many problems with this post.  Please see the updates on food and invertibrates. We have given up on the file sharing - if you would like details  of waypoints and campsite, birds seen etc please write.The section on tab problems should have been elsewhere but we now cannot move it!  We are now in Olgiy and are looking forward to the civilisation of Russia wth its tarmac roads and proper food!

The Tab starts to fall apart after leaving Ulan Bataar

We mentioned elsewhere on the blog that we have had a lot of problems with the interior fittings of the tab, which are breaking away from the floor and wall.  Also lots of extra battens and click locks have been needed to secure the wardrobe, floor storage units and every cupboard and drawer.  These rather simple problems have generally been resolved effectively if not entirely prettily.  However on the rough tracks again going west from UB more important and structural problems have occurred. This leg included hundreds of miles of unrelenting hard corrugated gravel tracks which have been especially hard on the Tab. 

Water carriers show metal fatigue  A louder than normal rattling at the back one day caused us to examine the water carriers.  We found that the securing bolts had come a little loose and this had allowed the loads on them to move slightly.  Inspection of the side with the plastic water jerrycan (total weight 20 liters = 20 kg plus weight of plastic jerrycan i.e. slightly exceeding the 20 kg limit) showed that one of the aluminium alloy welds had broken but it was still holding the jerrycan OK.  This has not been fixed  except for tightening the bolts,  but we now only half fill the jerrycan. The other side which had been carrying the large metal gas cylinder (see photo for the Semey leg) had fared worse.  This large canister actually weighs less than a full jerrycan but being unyielding metal had given the supports a hard time and this bracket also showed broken welds and hair line cracks in the aluminium (the sort of metal fatigue that brings down Boeing 747s).  This was repaired by Aralditing metal strips where the cracks have appeared and retightening the bolts.  We now keep the gas cylinder in the Land Rover when traveling and keep the load down on the carrier as much as possible. We have plans to build a platform aft of the brake and dolly wheel to mount the gas cylinder securely but that’s not been done as we do not know yet what size Mongolian gas cylinders are. (May not be the same as the Kaz one we still have in use).

Chassis breaks in half !  Not as dramatic as it sounds but still pretty serious.  One of the problems of driving off road is that you can damage your vehicle by grounding over rocks, bumps or in holes.  Bad asphalt with big potholes are just as bad.   This problem is much exaggerated if you are towing a trailer and are multiplied with the corrugations.   Damage can also be done if the towing vehicle bucks up at the back as the front wheels go in a hole and forces the back of the Tab down on the ground.  The lowest part of the back of the tab is the retractable stabiliser legs.  The chance of grounding our tab has also been increased because the extra plates we fitted to the stabiliser legs.  This decreased ground clearance in these situations by about 2 inches.   When the tab grounds at the back something has to give.  Weight is transferred from the stabiliser end as it tries to pivot to the other end of the stabilser which coincides with the weakest part of the back extension to the chassis.  This part is especially vulnerable because a part of the chassis is pressed out as a lug to accommodate the end of the stabiliser leg.  We did ground it a few times but we are not sure when the real damage was done.  We had noticed before getting to Ulan Bataar that the back rest of the tap would not go down easily, something had become distorted.  Then on 24 July we noticed that the floor of the wheel box housing the battery had also become distorted.  An inspection soon found the problem was caused by breaks in both sides of the back chassis extension.  One completely broken through and the other hanging on by about half an inch.  This lack of support to the rear of the Tab resulted in the back drooping by about 8 degrees.  We camped up and first aid repairs were made straightaway.  The back of the tab was jacked up to reduce the sag (to within a degree or two of straight) and then holes were drilled into the chassis on both angles (it is a bit like angle iron at this point) and metal braces bolted to both angles.  On the vertical side the chassis was sandwiched between two braces but on the horizontal section it had to be fastened by bolts going through the tab to the floor into the wheel boxes and then braced both sides.   These first aid measures to both sides might well have got us home - if we were careful, but to be sure we sought to get the chassis welded at the first opportunity, this was in Bayanhongor on 26^th July.  A welder was found who cut four strips off a quarter inch plate of steel (that looked like it came off an armoured vehicle) and welded them onto the vertical sides in a sandwich replacing the braces I had used.  He welded the break as well  of course.  He could not do much on  welding the horizontal member without setting fire to the tab but he did managed a few spots of weld there too.  Pictures of the broken chassis show the original break,  my first aid repair and the welded job are attached.  It has held together almost until Hovd.   

Two days west of Hovd (on a stretch of 437 km of unrelenting corrugations) on 4 August,  the chassis broke again on one side and cracked on the other at the end of the welded joint.   (Where it might be expected to go).  No first aid could be done so we limped into Darvi where we found the village welder who would have been able to help had there not been a power cut at the time.  We had to go back the next morning when power was on again.  In the event he finished the job of welding longer plates over the original weld and further down to the end of the chassis.  The power went off again 10 minutes after he finished.      

Tools needed for the first aid repair were a power drill and angle grinder, spanners and a generator.  (We bought the small Clark model which has the same output as the small Honda; it  is a little noisier but a third of the price.  The generator was brought mainly as a back up to charge the vehicle battery in an emergency but it has proved very useful on all the running repairs we have done as well as charging the cameras and electric toothbrush between hotels.  The ‘never-leave-home-without-it’ item was the builders strapping which I used for the first aid braces on the chassis and they come in handy for a whole range of bodging repairs/fixing.  Builders straps are tough steel lengths which come pre-drilled with holes.  They can be bought from most builders merchants.   

Battery gets the heave ho     One of the most disappointing things about the Tab in our view  has been the on-board battery.  After paying £800 plus for this extra we found out that all it can do is keep the fridge going for 2 hours (in theory, in practice it is less)  or work the electrics on the tab when it is not attached to the vehicle.  (And you do not have a hitch up).  A case of a smooth talking salesmen in our view.  What’s more this extra came with no documentation, instructions or trouble shooting advice.  We were never sure that it actually charged from the vehicle properly and were unable to check it’s health.  It had stopped working for us by the time we were in Siberia and it was just a dead weight in the vehicle which would occasionally come loose and crash around in the wheel arch box.  We did fit much bigger brackets eventually but heavy batteries like this need a secure brace over them.  This was not fitted to start with and could not be done in the field by us.  On 27 July it jumped out of its large holding brackets, banged around and knocked the new bracket out,  before landing on top of a large exposed screw which punctured the underside of the battery and gel oozed out.  As there was not a glimmer of life in the battery by this time we left it by the road for someone to either repair it or reclaim the lead content.  Everything electric works fine without the battery when it is hitched to the vehicle.  We do not recommend these on board batteries to anyone contemplating a similar journey unless they need to be separated from the vehicle and have properly secured it by metal battery braces.  Of course a generator can be used to power the tab too. 

Plastic fatigue on the gas bottle carrier Probably the result of the corrugations but cracks appeared on the base of the plastic gas bottle holder which sits over the ‘A’ frame of the chassis.  The cracks (bit enough to see through) were filled with epoxy putty on 6^th August and this seems to have done the trick.    

Miscellaneous   On 31 July we lost the dolly wheel somewhere near Altai.  Maybe it was borrowed in the town whist we were shopping but it could easily have fallen out over the bumps without us noticing.   This will make moving the tab when not connected to the Land Rover difficult but we can now open the back door a little easier!  The same day the blind fell off the door.  It had already been refitted with bigger screws so we decided to leave it off this time.    

The Mongol Rally

The Mongol Rally is an annual fund raising event for Mongol charities and has taken place for the last dozen or more years.  Cars take part from all over Europe but mostly from UK.   There were about 300 teams this year.   There are very few rules to the rally which is not a race but more an opportunity for adventure of the mostly young amateur drivers taking part.  The main rule is that cars have to be less than 10 years old and have a engine size of 1500cc or less. Corsas seem to popular.  Teams can choose any route they wish to Mongolia so some go via the Arctic circle and others go via Iran and the Stans.  After the event all the cars that make it to Ulan Bataar  are auctioned off in UB for charity.

Confusingly there is another rally called the Mongolian Charity Rally which is an offshoot of the original but tries to be cheaper for those participating and allows larger, more useful cars, to take part.  We met one of these cars just east of Altai.   

We met our first team from the Mongol Rally proper west of Altai on 4^th August, they were two cars full of soldiers from the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.  Nice guys they had had a good time coming through Turkey, Georgia and Azerbaijan and a bit of Kaz. Their cars certainly looked the part, with Scottish and Mongolian flags flying high and yak/cow horns as figureheads.   Three cars and a transit van passed us lunchtime on 5^th we found out they were Italians later.  Then we met a group of four Swedes team ‘Highway Circus’ (see photos and their website) who seemed to have no luggage spares or jerrycans which the other cars festoon their roof racks with, and no maps either.  They said they were deliberately travelling light and aim to either sleep in a hotel or in the car as they go along and eat in roadside cafes.  They had come the same way as the army cars.  We felt a bit envious we had not tried that route but the border problems seem to be huge.   We very quickly were able to spot rally cars coming over a mile away because they tended to be small cars, usually with ridiculously over-loaded roof racks, going very slowly and mostly at least two cars together.  They contrasted with the very speedy, very dusty, buses, trucks and Landcruisers the Mongolians mostly travel in.   We saw another 8 or so rally cars on 6^th and some motorbikes but only one car on the 7^th.  The teams were of 2, 3 or 4 in a car and were mostly young men in there 20's and one or two young women, and a few couple, all seemed to be having the adventure of their lives.  We stooped and spoke to several but a number of cars were perhaps behind schedule and did not stop or even toot.  Maybe it’s not cool to toot caravans!  Not even the only one in Mongolia.

West of Hovd they were coming through thick and fast  with 26 seen on 12^th.  We enjoyed meeting several at a river crossing.  We felt very sedate taking the LR and Tab through whilst the tiny rally cars almost submerged in the water.  We also met a team from the  Mongol Charity Rally, they had broken a steering rod and were camped up whilst half of the team hitched to Hovd to get it welded.   At an afternoon stop we met four more MR cars, team ‘Stompy the Mongol Mule’ had a problem with a bent sump guard which was prohibiting gear-changing.  We were able to help with our angle grinder and generator which they were very grateful for.  Several local Mongolians wanted to buy the generator as soon as we got it out of the LR.  They must be very handy out in the sticks but it is essential back-up for us and so we didn’t clinch a deal.   We heard that there had been mega hold-ups at the border for rally cars, mainly because it was alledged the organizers had not dealt with the paperwork on participant vehicles promptly.  That is why we saw a flood of cars on 12.  The next day we only saw two cars and they were being transported on trucks in the direction of Ulan Bataar.  Presumably they were going to be repaired or scrapped in Hovd.  Surely they were not going all the way to UB on the back of a lorry just to ensure they could say they made it!       

A lot also went through again on 14 and 15 again and we were advised that there was a hold up at the border whilst they dealt with the rally cars as a batch.   One scooter driver from Canada (Jos?) was all on his own.  He started off from UK on a motorbike that was written off in a back ending incident in Frankfurt.  He then bought a new Honda scooter to finish the trip.  Now there is dedication for you!  In the afternoon of the 16^th  team ‘Fingers crossed’ with and Fran Newman and Mac Auwers from Dartmouth came along.  Fran was listened to Mike’s story of how his binoculars went missing whilst the Landrover was pulled out to the mud by lake Tolbo Nuur  and then very kindly donated her own pair of binoculars to help him see a few more birds.  Such terrific generosity from a complete stranger,  Mike was  really touched and wil return them when he gets back to UK.   


  

Rally car figurehead

The Royal Scots Dragoon Guards team head east

Camels, Yaks, cows, sheep, goats and horses in every direction

...and skies

Swedish team 'Highway Circus'

The same cool dudes before the trip

Monastery in Darvi -site of our second welding episode

Monastery caretaker and son

Downtown Darvi

400 plus kilometers of unrelenting corrugatons between Altai and Hovd did our Tab chassis in again

Rally cars come thick but not so fast  between Altai and Hovd

Hot and dusty and not too comfortable with 4 in the car for 10000 miles

When its not bumpy its dusty

We get help with our washing at a river stop

Hovd from a distance

Thousands of Sand Martins already migrating - mainly east!

All the lakes have populations of Whooper Swans mainly with cygnets.  At one lake there were 4 with blue collars on with identification numbers  - two could be read

Rally cars are all tiny compared to the Mongol busses, trucks and Land Cruisers and seem to get lost in the landscape

Four teams consider how best to cross a water hazard

...and usually choose the big splash option

The lorry load of wool waited patiently for the rally cars and a lone Japanese motorcyclist to cross the river. 

This local dog got wet during the crossing

A broken down vehicle on the other rally.  Note warning triangle - the only one we have seen on the hundreds of broken down cars passed

Team 'Stompy the mongol mule' do a bit of work on the sump guard using our anglegrinder and generator.  Check out www.onlyfoolsandhorsepower.com

Always plenty of happy faces in the bystanders

Another great valley to camp in

This family arrived one evening as we ate - just to have a look at our Tab. All very friendly and we had to pose for the obligatory pghoto.

The camp site of the last two photos

This rally car heads for Ulan Bataar the easy way - or possibly for scrapping in Hovd

Standing stones called Deer Stones here

Snow capped moutains are common  west of Hovd some with permanent glaciers.  Even lower hills are starting to get snow on them as the weather changes

Perhaps this city car should never have started the rally!  We suspected it was getting carried over the Olgiy - Hovd stretch as it would probably not manage the rivers

Yaks are fast becoming Mke's favourite

Gosh! this Golden Eagle is heavy

Hunting foxes with Golden Eagles is a sport in this part of the world when not hunting the owners can get a bit from the tourist by posing for pictures.  What a magnificant bird.

A once important moulded concrete communist era  monument now looks extremely sad.

Campsite at Tolbo Nuur

Horned Lark - tail looks a bit odd as it is in moult

Tolbo Nuur again

Three Hoopoes at Tolbo Nuur

Hills near Olgiy - spot the Tab

Finally a greengrocer !  Melon sellers in Hovd

Mike gets horribly stuck in the mud whilst birding around the lake at Tolbo Nuur.  The car ad to be abandoned for the night and the next day Mike hitched into Tolbo to find some extra horsepower to pull him out.

Help came in the shape of tw  local Uaz jeeps - both pulling together in line. It worked.