Russia and Mongolian Border

Date: 13th August - 18th August

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After a couple of admin problems, our mighty convoy suddenly shrunk to 2 cars instead of 4 and made our way towards Barnaul.Initially we were only thinking about camping a few kms behind the border but actually drove for a few hours until Barnaul and tried to get a last night and shower in a hotel. We tried a few hotels and met some other ralliers who have made it to Barnaul but all hotels were either really expensive or booked out. So we continued our way just a few kms out of Barnaul and camped. Funnily enough the Italian team we convoyed with managed to  make it into Russia and also Barnaul around 430am and camped just out of Barnaul. So funnily enough when we came out of the forest we saw them and caught up and continued with our convoy.

We were not intending to spend much time in Russia and were heading straight to the Mongolian border. We drove through some magical forests and gorges and it almost looked liked parts of beautiful Canada. We drove through the day and wanted to try and make the border crossing that night because we were thinking it is a 24/7 border crossing.

Unfortunately the roads got tighter and the Italians that we convoyed with eventually crushed into our back as we were slowing down. Only 80kms before the boarder. We heard the breaking and didnt know what was going on until we felt the hit. We were fine and tried to find out what exactly happened and what state our cars were in. All people involved were ok.

Doris looked ok but we then saw the whole back deformed and the bumper was broken. When driving we didnt feel anying so that was a good feeling while still being in shock. We immediately checked the car and we saw the car leaking and were immediately thinking it might be fuel. Fortunately it was only the broken wine and vodka in the back that got smashed in the trunk. The Fiat Ceicento looked much worse with most parts lying on the street i.e. the radiator and front bumper.

Some other Ralliers joined us when they saw the accident and tried to help us. We were trying to fix the Italian car – ours seemed fine for the moment. We towed their car into the next city which was about 30kms away. Our backs were a little sore but a good night sleep helped. In the morning we tried to fix both cars. We eventually managed to find a mechanic who bumped out the back in 15min. The door was still sort of deformed but all the electrics were working and it closed properly.

The Italians got their car fixed later that day while we were already heading for the boarder. When we arrived at the Russian border when they just went to for lunch. After about 1h we went through immigration and customs and were heading for a few kms in no-man’s land. The road in no-man’s land was exceptionally great and after about 20kms we hit a small hut which was the first check point of Mongolia. After that the road stopped and we had our first Mongolia experience. After a few kms on shitty dirt roads we came to the Mongolian border. We did customs and immigration rather quickly but importing the car was a pure nightmare.

We met about 35 other rally teams who in some cases have been waiting for 2 nights and 3 days which really killed our mood. We were led to a parking area which was a closed off concrete parking for now about 40 rally teams.

We saw a few teams leaving during the day and got told it’s about 15 per day that actually got picked and were processed for import documentation. The process was very random. Teams tried to bribe their way to the top, changed the order of incoming teams and came up with stupid excuses to be let out earlier. In the end we stayed in this “prison” for about 2 nights on cold concrete and camped in no-man’s land again.

Quote of the day

Michael: “On the crash test, VW polo 5 stars, Fiat Sciecento, ZERO!”

An example of how bored we were: “how about we put a camera on a goat and chase it around the compound??”

What I take away from today

A weird feeling, we were the ones trapped inside something looking close to a refugee camp and yet, the people on the other side of the fence were the ones with a lot less than us.

Tomorrow

Mongolia itself!!!