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| August 17 and 18th 2006. Sam and James return to the garage of the previous evening where a mechanic promised to have 20l of gearbox fluid waiting at 9am. Exercising a typically Russian sense of urgency, he is yet to appear at 10:30, so they knock waiting on the head and crawl around GA's various shops and garages, buying entire stocks of fluid from each, invariably one-or-two bottles. They return to camp, thrust much of the fluid into the CC with bated breath, and hit the road to Mongolia when the bodged gearbox appears to be a sound receptacle. They camp near some mysterious concrete. The next day, they arrive as Tashanta to discover that the border is on its lunch break, and that the CC's gearbox is leaking again due to the 'Russian Brown' bodging paste apparently beginning to react with the epoxy. They commandeer an inspection pit of the abandoned customs zone and Brownmaster James sets to work with a full tube of the substance. It takes three-and-a-half aggravating hours to escape from Russia, necessitating a hairy charge through no-man's land to reach the Mongolian border before it closes. They arrive by the skin of their teeth, and arrive in Mongolia half-an-hour later feeling thoroughly welcomed. A camping site sheltered only by yak and large insects is chosen a few km later, maps are perused, and beers are thrust. It is decided that the picturesque northern route to UB will be cracked at in the morning. |
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Clive Aid
Contacts
Clive's Corner
Current galavants:
'08 Iron Curtain Tour
Future galavants:
'09 India?
Past galavants:
'07 - Nurburgring
'07 - Banjul-Zwickau
'06 - Swindon-Vladivostok
'05 Plymouth-Banjul