Just in case any of you were concerned for our well-being, given the lack of posts since before we started getting snowed under with rally preparation - we've been to Ulaanbaatar and back in our mighty Renault Kangoo!
Read the blogs from the trip here: http://mongolia.charityrallies.org/teams/11725/blogs
and here's a little video I cobbled together when we got back, just to prove we were actually there... Will do a longer, better edited one soon
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
My Mongolia Charity Rally website is up and driving
Just in case you weren't aware....
We have an official site for the Mongolia Charity Rally, which has a blog, photos, news of our sponsors and route and a whole host of other fascinating tit bits of information.
With just over four weeks 'til the off, things are pretty mental, so I'll probably only be updating the rally blog when I get a moment. All I talk about is the bloody rally these days anyway, so it's probably more appropriate.
Our website is http://mongolia.charityrallies.org/steppebysteppe
We'll be updating from the road via text message as well, so definitely keep an eye on the rally blog from 10 July.
Cheers!
We have an official site for the Mongolia Charity Rally, which has a blog, photos, news of our sponsors and route and a whole host of other fascinating tit bits of information.
With just over four weeks 'til the off, things are pretty mental, so I'll probably only be updating the rally blog when I get a moment. All I talk about is the bloody rally these days anyway, so it's probably more appropriate.
Our website is http://mongolia.charityrallies.org/steppebysteppe
We'll be updating from the road via text message as well, so definitely keep an eye on the rally blog from 10 July.
Cheers!
Tuesday, June 08, 2010
International relations
Well, the witching hour has just arrived, as I make the finishing touches to my Russian visa application. I started at 9pm.
The process saw me pay the price for the somewhat strained relations between our two nations over the last 50 years; three screens of pretty searching questions for me - my current and previous two employers' details (which considering I've been working in my current place for 7 years took a bit of remembering); details of any and all political, religious and charitable groups I'm affiliated with; details of whether I've been in the military or have any nuclear or bomb-making expertise; statements about whether I'd been in a conflict as either aggressor or victim; have I used drugs; my mother's name; my father's name - the list was long. I got there though, and everything's in place to head to the consulate tomorrow and pay the £90 fee for my visa.
I'll also be taking Justyna's considerably shorter application. Name, address, workplace, dates of entry and departure - all pretty straightforward and a bargain too at a mere £50. I thought it was down to old habits dying hard that Poland (and perhaps other former Eastern Bloc countries) got a bit of an easier ride until I noticed the names of the two documents we'd created.
Hers: generic 'visa application'
Mine: 'US-UK-Georgia visa'
Ah.
The process saw me pay the price for the somewhat strained relations between our two nations over the last 50 years; three screens of pretty searching questions for me - my current and previous two employers' details (which considering I've been working in my current place for 7 years took a bit of remembering); details of any and all political, religious and charitable groups I'm affiliated with; details of whether I've been in the military or have any nuclear or bomb-making expertise; statements about whether I'd been in a conflict as either aggressor or victim; have I used drugs; my mother's name; my father's name - the list was long. I got there though, and everything's in place to head to the consulate tomorrow and pay the £90 fee for my visa.
I'll also be taking Justyna's considerably shorter application. Name, address, workplace, dates of entry and departure - all pretty straightforward and a bargain too at a mere £50. I thought it was down to old habits dying hard that Poland (and perhaps other former Eastern Bloc countries) got a bit of an easier ride until I noticed the names of the two documents we'd created.
Hers: generic 'visa application'
Mine: 'US-UK-Georgia visa'
Ah.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
39 days
hello you lovely people. How the devil are you?
We've got Mongolian visas! So if all else fails, we can still make it to Ulaanbaatar - although clearly if all else fails it might make the trip that little bit more difficult.
Our passports are currently huddled together, shivering, in an unfamiliar cupboard in South Kensington as they endure their next right-of-passage at the Kazakhstan Embassy. Fingers crossed things go ok for them; this visa application is the one I have been most concerned about screwing up. It's not that the questions are harder; more that I've heard that any mistake, no matter how small, can result in the visa application being rejected. It will be an anxious wait until Friday.
In other news, our Russian visa support letters arrived today! Just waiting on Uzbekistan now, but we will be able to get the Russian documentation sorted next week, all being well with the neighbours.
Hard to fathom it is a mere 39 days til the off. It really is close now and my stomach contracts in knots every time I think about it. I can't quite grasp how much we still have to do in the four remaining weekends before we go - yet again I am cursing my lack of organisation as even a 9 month head start on the trip of a lifetime has seen me desperately try to cram everything into the last few weeks.
Maybe it's time to accept that it's just how I will always be, and learn to live with it. We have a vehicle, we may have insurance soon, we should hopefully have visas, and we'll just have to wing it with regard to being able to fix the van if it breaks down or read Cyrillic road-signs for, err, about 65% of the trip. We're trying to track down deals on the remaining equipment we need - camping gear, sand ladders and perhaps a roof box to hold a load of our crap, as well as some spare wheels. It's all awfully pricey; I've sent a couple of emails to specialist companies to see if they'd be interested doing a deal but am not holding my breath. We'll get it sorted somehow. Tally ho!
We've got Mongolian visas! So if all else fails, we can still make it to Ulaanbaatar - although clearly if all else fails it might make the trip that little bit more difficult.
Our passports are currently huddled together, shivering, in an unfamiliar cupboard in South Kensington as they endure their next right-of-passage at the Kazakhstan Embassy. Fingers crossed things go ok for them; this visa application is the one I have been most concerned about screwing up. It's not that the questions are harder; more that I've heard that any mistake, no matter how small, can result in the visa application being rejected. It will be an anxious wait until Friday.
In other news, our Russian visa support letters arrived today! Just waiting on Uzbekistan now, but we will be able to get the Russian documentation sorted next week, all being well with the neighbours.
Hard to fathom it is a mere 39 days til the off. It really is close now and my stomach contracts in knots every time I think about it. I can't quite grasp how much we still have to do in the four remaining weekends before we go - yet again I am cursing my lack of organisation as even a 9 month head start on the trip of a lifetime has seen me desperately try to cram everything into the last few weeks.
Maybe it's time to accept that it's just how I will always be, and learn to live with it. We have a vehicle, we may have insurance soon, we should hopefully have visas, and we'll just have to wing it with regard to being able to fix the van if it breaks down or read Cyrillic road-signs for, err, about 65% of the trip. We're trying to track down deals on the remaining equipment we need - camping gear, sand ladders and perhaps a roof box to hold a load of our crap, as well as some spare wheels. It's all awfully pricey; I've sent a couple of emails to specialist companies to see if they'd be interested doing a deal but am not holding my breath. We'll get it sorted somehow. Tally ho!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
It's apparent from scanning down the page that updates to old faithful STTR are somewhat infrequent these days, even by my standards. What can I say, it turns out this whole rally planning malarkey is proving somewhat time consuming.
the major stresses at the moment are regarding visa applications - I never realised that completing two sheets of paper correctly would be so difficult or have so much riding on it. Good news though - finally made it to the Mongolian Embassy today and our first visa applications are go! All being well, I should collect our passports on Friday with a shiny new stamp in them.
I was shaking on the way to the Embassy this morning - a mixture of excitement and terror that we'd somehow messed up the application form and would be refused the visa. My stomach was in knots on the tube and I tried to remind myself, "it's not like it's a job interview or something". Unfortunately my inner Bill Shankly chose to chime in at that moment with, "no, it's much more important than that". Thankfully it seemed to go ok; the girl in the consulate briefly checked the form when I submitted it and didn't highlight anything untoward, so fingers crossed.
Elsewhere, we hope to get the van someday soon, and are starting to look at camping gear. Insureandgo have sportingly offered us 5% off the cost of travel insurance and my mobile phone company, who asked not to be named, have made a goodwill gesture of £25 towards the cost of texting back home whilst we're away. It's all helping, and I'm immensely chuffed to be able to direct your eyes diagonally upwards to our Justgiving widget, where at the time of writing we have achieved exactly two thirds of our fundraising target.
All of which brings me seamlessly to my final piece of news: our fund-raising night in the Prince Albert, Brixton on 25 June. We've just had the date confirmed but will hold off on details until it's all definite. Thankfully, we should be guaranteed a good crowd as it's piggy-backing on a very popular monthly night, so we're hopeful of getting a few more quid in. It's dangerously close to departure day, but far enough away we can hopefully get some friendly faces in the crowd. See you there.
the major stresses at the moment are regarding visa applications - I never realised that completing two sheets of paper correctly would be so difficult or have so much riding on it. Good news though - finally made it to the Mongolian Embassy today and our first visa applications are go! All being well, I should collect our passports on Friday with a shiny new stamp in them.
I was shaking on the way to the Embassy this morning - a mixture of excitement and terror that we'd somehow messed up the application form and would be refused the visa. My stomach was in knots on the tube and I tried to remind myself, "it's not like it's a job interview or something". Unfortunately my inner Bill Shankly chose to chime in at that moment with, "no, it's much more important than that". Thankfully it seemed to go ok; the girl in the consulate briefly checked the form when I submitted it and didn't highlight anything untoward, so fingers crossed.
Elsewhere, we hope to get the van someday soon, and are starting to look at camping gear. Insureandgo have sportingly offered us 5% off the cost of travel insurance and my mobile phone company, who asked not to be named, have made a goodwill gesture of £25 towards the cost of texting back home whilst we're away. It's all helping, and I'm immensely chuffed to be able to direct your eyes diagonally upwards to our Justgiving widget, where at the time of writing we have achieved exactly two thirds of our fundraising target.
All of which brings me seamlessly to my final piece of news: our fund-raising night in the Prince Albert, Brixton on 25 June. We've just had the date confirmed but will hold off on details until it's all definite. Thankfully, we should be guaranteed a good crowd as it's piggy-backing on a very popular monthly night, so we're hopeful of getting a few more quid in. It's dangerously close to departure day, but far enough away we can hopefully get some friendly faces in the crowd. See you there.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Woooaaahhhhh! We're halfway there.....!
Not to Mongolia, obviously. That would see us somewhere in Kazakhstan.
Nope, where we are is pretty much just as exciting - a chunky donation from Colin yesterday took us through the magical £500 mark and meant that I could finally break into some classic Bon Jovi. It also gives me the perfect excuse to post the video - a benchmark of wacky, hair-related antics and no mistake....
Thanks to everyone who's donated so far! More donations from J's fellow Geologist Melissa and my birthday-sharer Paul have taken us up to the heady heights of £542 by the end of today. Amazing stuff - can't believe people's generosity! Just think of the quality music I might inflict on you should we near our target soon...
Nope, where we are is pretty much just as exciting - a chunky donation from Colin yesterday took us through the magical £500 mark and meant that I could finally break into some classic Bon Jovi. It also gives me the perfect excuse to post the video - a benchmark of wacky, hair-related antics and no mistake....
Thanks to everyone who's donated so far! More donations from J's fellow Geologist Melissa and my birthday-sharer Paul have taken us up to the heady heights of £542 by the end of today. Amazing stuff - can't believe people's generosity! Just think of the quality music I might inflict on you should we near our target soon...
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
more route planning
This Mongolian driving looks to be a piece of piss! Check out Google's directions... at least it appears that there is absolutely no chance of us getting lost. Mind you, roundabouts can be confusing...
Monday, May 10, 2010
Route planning
We finally got the ball rolling on our visa applications tonight, sending fof the required info to apply for Letters of Invitation to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. In what I think is a hangover from the former Soviet days, many tourists need to be "invited" to visit by someone in the country - no rocking up on the border and milling about aimlessly once inside. In reality, the process has become more of a 'visa support' function - essentially a travel agency within the country will submit your details to the government, and all being well will provide you with a reference to take along to the local consulate. Given the main bit of the admin has been done and dusted, visas apparently only then take a couple of days to get sorted.
It's proved a bit of a bonus for us - much like the vast majority of the rest of our plans we've ended up sitting here in May going "Whuh?" at the realisation that this adventure, which has been in the planning stages since October, is now a mere 60 days away. Throw in an ill-timed (but much looked-forward-to) few days away in Belgium this weekend, and it was starting to look a bit tight to get 5 visas sorted in the time we have left. The LOI process means the bulk of the red tape can be sorted based on scanned documents, so hopefully we'll be ok.
One of the questions we had to answer for each country was our intended entry point, which forced us to properly look at the maps for the first time. Unfortunately, a fat red line indicating a major road in that part of the world can be misleading, and it's only thanks to Google Earth that we didn't take the "better" route (in terms of itinerary and seeing western Uzbekistan) down the west of the Aral Sea - satellite images show a barren and desolate part of Kazakhstan with a road that in places is nothing more than a dirt track. In addition, it seems to be about 100km from the nearest town and the thought of our non-existent car repair skills being pressed into action is just that little bit too terrifying at the moment. We've decided to go for the 'main' border crossing into Uzbekistan instead, near Tashkent. It has the advantage of tarmac, greenery, towns and a couple of very volcano-y looking mountains that got J very excited...... Apparently the time taken to get through this way is hit-and-miss - could be simple, could take 6 hours. But whilst we're out for adventure and remote villages, we'll quite happily go for being stranded at a major border for a few hours than lost in the desert somewhere near Turkmenistan....
Our intended entry point:
The 'other one'
It's proved a bit of a bonus for us - much like the vast majority of the rest of our plans we've ended up sitting here in May going "Whuh?" at the realisation that this adventure, which has been in the planning stages since October, is now a mere 60 days away. Throw in an ill-timed (but much looked-forward-to) few days away in Belgium this weekend, and it was starting to look a bit tight to get 5 visas sorted in the time we have left. The LOI process means the bulk of the red tape can be sorted based on scanned documents, so hopefully we'll be ok.
One of the questions we had to answer for each country was our intended entry point, which forced us to properly look at the maps for the first time. Unfortunately, a fat red line indicating a major road in that part of the world can be misleading, and it's only thanks to Google Earth that we didn't take the "better" route (in terms of itinerary and seeing western Uzbekistan) down the west of the Aral Sea - satellite images show a barren and desolate part of Kazakhstan with a road that in places is nothing more than a dirt track. In addition, it seems to be about 100km from the nearest town and the thought of our non-existent car repair skills being pressed into action is just that little bit too terrifying at the moment. We've decided to go for the 'main' border crossing into Uzbekistan instead, near Tashkent. It has the advantage of tarmac, greenery, towns and a couple of very volcano-y looking mountains that got J very excited...... Apparently the time taken to get through this way is hit-and-miss - could be simple, could take 6 hours. But whilst we're out for adventure and remote villages, we'll quite happily go for being stranded at a major border for a few hours than lost in the desert somewhere near Turkmenistan....
Our intended entry point:
The 'other one'
Tuesday, May 04, 2010
We can do it too! With Kangoo
We have wheels! And a dashboard! And seats! And.....well, you get the picture...
We received official confirmation from Mongolia today that our vehicle has been approved! On July 10th, we will purr out of Highbury fields in a pretty dang sexy little white Renault Kangoo van. It's a veritable young pup of a thing - only emerging, blinking, into the world in late 2002 and currently almost as poorly-travelled as its occupants, with a mere 70,000 miles on the clock.
The journey from "souped-up Toyota Hilux Surf" to Kangoo as the wagon of choice for our journey was long, twisting and at times frankly preposterous - much like our eventual route from London to UB will no doubt prove to be. Following the rally meet up in November, we returned enthused and determined to do something huge for charity. Several glasses of Cava later, we'd nailed it: why not take a load of teaching supplies and name ourselves "Ulaan Book Tour" - and do it all in a mobile library?!
It quickly became apparent "why not". Mobile libraries are huge. They only have one seat. They weigh a ton. They cost a fortune. You probably need a special licence to drive one and the thought of trying to get it out of a pothole in the middle of the Gobi desert didn't exactly fill us with confidence.
So we kept planning and searching; licence restrictions meant Justyna could only drive a van up to a certain size, and once we were down to two in the team it was clear we'd need something we could manouevre, and conceivably push out of a sticky situation, between us. We also had to ensure we could meet the customs rules on tax exemption - which eventually led us to the perfect solution: a car derived van.
For those who aren't skilled tradesmen or small business owners, a car-derived van is one with the same front end as a car, but a van bit on the back. You probably could have worked that out yourself. Our theory, such as it goes, is that these things are meant for a bit of abuse by white van men up and down the country - if they can survive being revved around building sites and barged through non-existent gaps in city centre traffic, they can surely cope with a bit of corrugated desert track? Also, the space in the back could potentially provide enough room to curl up for a sleep should fear of the Mongolian Death Worm prove too much for us as we travel through the wilderness.
We've been really lucky to get the van we have, and I have to thank everyone involved in making it happen. Our focus was eBay and trying to fix up a 'spares or repair' Ford Escort or the like - to be presented with the opportunity to take such a mighty French steed is beyond our wildest expectations. We've not yet picked it up but the V5 is off to the DVLA and we're trying to sort insurance out.
Pics will, of course, follow once we can post them. Now, just got to sort some corporate sponsorship to give it that authentic "rally" look.
We received official confirmation from Mongolia today that our vehicle has been approved! On July 10th, we will purr out of Highbury fields in a pretty dang sexy little white Renault Kangoo van. It's a veritable young pup of a thing - only emerging, blinking, into the world in late 2002 and currently almost as poorly-travelled as its occupants, with a mere 70,000 miles on the clock.
The journey from "souped-up Toyota Hilux Surf" to Kangoo as the wagon of choice for our journey was long, twisting and at times frankly preposterous - much like our eventual route from London to UB will no doubt prove to be. Following the rally meet up in November, we returned enthused and determined to do something huge for charity. Several glasses of Cava later, we'd nailed it: why not take a load of teaching supplies and name ourselves "Ulaan Book Tour" - and do it all in a mobile library?!
It quickly became apparent "why not". Mobile libraries are huge. They only have one seat. They weigh a ton. They cost a fortune. You probably need a special licence to drive one and the thought of trying to get it out of a pothole in the middle of the Gobi desert didn't exactly fill us with confidence.
So we kept planning and searching; licence restrictions meant Justyna could only drive a van up to a certain size, and once we were down to two in the team it was clear we'd need something we could manouevre, and conceivably push out of a sticky situation, between us. We also had to ensure we could meet the customs rules on tax exemption - which eventually led us to the perfect solution: a car derived van.
For those who aren't skilled tradesmen or small business owners, a car-derived van is one with the same front end as a car, but a van bit on the back. You probably could have worked that out yourself. Our theory, such as it goes, is that these things are meant for a bit of abuse by white van men up and down the country - if they can survive being revved around building sites and barged through non-existent gaps in city centre traffic, they can surely cope with a bit of corrugated desert track? Also, the space in the back could potentially provide enough room to curl up for a sleep should fear of the Mongolian Death Worm prove too much for us as we travel through the wilderness.
We've been really lucky to get the van we have, and I have to thank everyone involved in making it happen. Our focus was eBay and trying to fix up a 'spares or repair' Ford Escort or the like - to be presented with the opportunity to take such a mighty French steed is beyond our wildest expectations. We've not yet picked it up but the V5 is off to the DVLA and we're trying to sort insurance out.
Pics will, of course, follow once we can post them. Now, just got to sort some corporate sponsorship to give it that authentic "rally" look.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
back
Hello! Can't believe it's been nearly two weeks since my last, rather painful post from my phone. Flat stuff somewhat took over, and it took a deluge of one comment to prompt me to get back on the computer to update the blog. Unfortunately it demanded that the reader be entertained, a skill largely outside my realms of expertise. But you never know, I might wing it.
So... the last couple of weeks. What's been going on? Well, for posterity, a massive volcano has been screwing the airspace over the UK, which seemed quite exciting for a while until I realised that people I knew were being affected - J's friend is trapped in Cyprus, meaning her son is having to stay with his dad in Edinburgh for an extra week; Facebook is awash with tales of people not getting to where they want to go; perhaps most rubbish of all, avid blog readers Helen and Lee have been grounded from their long-anticipated trip to Australia to see a couple of old friends. Gutted. J and I are also now wondering whether or not we'll be able to make it to Poland this weekend to see her folks - again, something that has been looked forward to since Christmas by all concerned. It's a bit different to a huge trip like Oz, and we can conceivably rebook for a few weeks time, but disappointing all the same.
Elsewhere, I won on the nags for the first time ever thanks to the Grand National and a sentimental punt on AP McCoy - a cheeky fiver transformed to an £80 profit just thanks to a horse and rider not getting wiped out on the way round the course. Probably more skill to it than that, but in that particular race, not much I'd wager (and probably win, now I'm an expert).
Rally-wise, organisation has been affected by the same issues as my general internet consumption - decorating, shopping, furnishing and sleeping (a bit). Dangerously close to leaving it too late to get our visas sorted in good time, but we need to wait until we return from Poland anyway as we need to send off our passports. Err, actually, in that case we need to wait til we've returned from our weekend in Belgium in a few weeks time as well. Oh bugger, not planned this very well, have we? But....and it's potentially a HUGE but.... we may have a vehicle! Can't really say too much about it but a generous benefactor has offered us a slightly damaged van for donation to the charity - the details have been submitted to Mongolian customs for review so it's with baited breath we sit.
The flat is pretty much sorted now, and we can almost look forward to relaxing in it. Our new bedroom paint job looks rather marvellous, if I do say so myself. Will be needed, with hectic times ahead, starting this weekend and followed by my niece's christening & the aforementioned pilgrimage to fookin Bruges. All go, as they say.
So... the last couple of weeks. What's been going on? Well, for posterity, a massive volcano has been screwing the airspace over the UK, which seemed quite exciting for a while until I realised that people I knew were being affected - J's friend is trapped in Cyprus, meaning her son is having to stay with his dad in Edinburgh for an extra week; Facebook is awash with tales of people not getting to where they want to go; perhaps most rubbish of all, avid blog readers Helen and Lee have been grounded from their long-anticipated trip to Australia to see a couple of old friends. Gutted. J and I are also now wondering whether or not we'll be able to make it to Poland this weekend to see her folks - again, something that has been looked forward to since Christmas by all concerned. It's a bit different to a huge trip like Oz, and we can conceivably rebook for a few weeks time, but disappointing all the same.
Elsewhere, I won on the nags for the first time ever thanks to the Grand National and a sentimental punt on AP McCoy - a cheeky fiver transformed to an £80 profit just thanks to a horse and rider not getting wiped out on the way round the course. Probably more skill to it than that, but in that particular race, not much I'd wager (and probably win, now I'm an expert).
Rally-wise, organisation has been affected by the same issues as my general internet consumption - decorating, shopping, furnishing and sleeping (a bit). Dangerously close to leaving it too late to get our visas sorted in good time, but we need to wait until we return from Poland anyway as we need to send off our passports. Err, actually, in that case we need to wait til we've returned from our weekend in Belgium in a few weeks time as well. Oh bugger, not planned this very well, have we? But....and it's potentially a HUGE but.... we may have a vehicle! Can't really say too much about it but a generous benefactor has offered us a slightly damaged van for donation to the charity - the details have been submitted to Mongolian customs for review so it's with baited breath we sit.
The flat is pretty much sorted now, and we can almost look forward to relaxing in it. Our new bedroom paint job looks rather marvellous, if I do say so myself. Will be needed, with hectic times ahead, starting this weekend and followed by my niece's christening & the aforementioned pilgrimage to fookin Bruges. All go, as they say.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
3 months and counting
The clock is ticking. Moving house is complete but we're still in disarray, the only plus point being we're now in a bigger place so can close the spare bedroom door and pretend it's not piled high with boxes!
Moving was a mission, and one we couldn't have managed without the amazing help of Laura, Craig, Jennie, Lucy and Kev. It looked for a second like it was going to be me and three girls trying to move everything, which given the impressive box-lugging strength displayed might have actually worked out ok - but thankfully it didn't come to that.
We're still internetless (writing this on my phone) and I unfortunately missed the latest conference call for the rally. Starting to get nervous now that we're not further on in our plans. We may have the chance of a vehicle but it's all up in the air at the moment. Visas have not been applied for yet, but that may not be a bad thing as the unrest in Kyrgyzstan means we may have to change our route. It's awful watching the coverage on tv - despite not having been to the country I have read so much about it the names and references actually mean something to me now; it's one of the countries which was inked into our itinerary, such is the warmth of the writing about its landscape & people, and we are planning on a not insignificant detour to allow us to visit en route to Mongolia. The scenes of bloodshed on the streets of Bishkek are distressing and I hope that calm can be restored without further deaths.
We have to monitor the situation and make the call in a few weeks when the visa applications go off. In the meantime, we have a lot of work to do.
Moving was a mission, and one we couldn't have managed without the amazing help of Laura, Craig, Jennie, Lucy and Kev. It looked for a second like it was going to be me and three girls trying to move everything, which given the impressive box-lugging strength displayed might have actually worked out ok - but thankfully it didn't come to that.
We're still internetless (writing this on my phone) and I unfortunately missed the latest conference call for the rally. Starting to get nervous now that we're not further on in our plans. We may have the chance of a vehicle but it's all up in the air at the moment. Visas have not been applied for yet, but that may not be a bad thing as the unrest in Kyrgyzstan means we may have to change our route. It's awful watching the coverage on tv - despite not having been to the country I have read so much about it the names and references actually mean something to me now; it's one of the countries which was inked into our itinerary, such is the warmth of the writing about its landscape & people, and we are planning on a not insignificant detour to allow us to visit en route to Mongolia. The scenes of bloodshed on the streets of Bishkek are distressing and I hope that calm can be restored without further deaths.
We have to monitor the situation and make the call in a few weeks when the visa applications go off. In the meantime, we have a lot of work to do.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
on the move again
yup, moving again. Leaving our beloved wee shoebox in the sky behind for pastures already well-known, as we move across Brixton into a flat recently vacated by a couple of friends. Our heads say it's the right thing to do (bigger, near a park, we can put pictures on the wall, the only bathroom isn't en suite); as we sit here surrounded by boxes on our last night before the big day, our hearts are seemingly not of the same opinion. Gonna miss the wee place, gawd luvvit. Looking forward to the happy memories of the last 15 months though.
Sunday, March 28, 2010
New sprog on the block
Huge congrats to Im and Simon on the arrival of George Oliver Martin on Tuesday. Im's one of my oldest friends, since we first met via a shared mailbox in university halls, and it's got me all emotional that the first of my closest uni friends is now in the family way.
Lookin forward to meeting the young fella, and impressing on him just how lucky he's been to end up in the family he has.
Lookin forward to meeting the young fella, and impressing on him just how lucky he's been to end up in the family he has.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
(First) mission accomplished
Well, after 3 months of trudging round the streets of South London in the freezing cold darkness, it all proved worth it as I completed the Reading Half Marathon on Sunday.
It was a success - I finished in under 2 hours (1hr 56) which was my goal before I started. I maintained an almost completely even pace throughout as well, despite the fact my right leg was in a fair amount of pain from the 8th mile - a mere 5 from home. Was a wee bit annoyed that my legs couldn't take it - I'd run much further than 8 miles in training and hadn't felt anything, and was pretty much cruising apart from that. My plans to speed up in the second half of the race were scuppered, but I kept going til the end and finished to the cheers of a pretty packed Madjeski Stadium. I wasn't quite sure why everyone started cheering as I came into the finishing straight, before noticing that there was a guy pushing someone else in a wheelchair just in front of me..... What can I say, at least I beat the pantomime camel!
The whole day was really well organised, the route was challenging but enjoyable and I'm already planning on doing another half marathon at some point in the near (post-rally) future. I'm in awe of full marathon runners now though - I couldn't bend my right leg for the whole of Sunday and felt like I'd been on the piss the whole weekend come Monday. There is absolutely no way I could have done double the distance.
Thanks to everyone who sponsored me prior to the race - the thought of the money raised for Go Help really spurred me on when the going was getting tough.
And for those of you who wondered - Colin beat me, despite his boozing over the weekend. I was maybe 30 seconds behind him at the halfway point, and assumed I'd overtake him before the end; how wrong I was. He managed to put in an impressive burst of speed in the final 10k which gave him time to stop for a piss and still beat me by 9 full minutes. Euan, predictably, destroyed both of us by coming home in a bloody impressive 1hr 37. A good morning's work all round, I think you'll agree.
There are some rather embarrassing photos of me during and after the race, along with a video of my finish (just behind the dude with the wheelchair) on the Marathon Photos website here:
http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?event=Sports/CPUK/2010/Reading%20Half%20Marathon;match=1491
I wasn't grinning like an idiot the whole way round by the way - I spotted a couple of the cameras and tried to give the impression I was enjoying myself - which is largely true.....
Certainly, the sight of several people collapsing with exhaustion and heatstroke towards the end was sobering, and made me realise that, "3rd from 3" or not, it was an achievement just to finish.
It was a success - I finished in under 2 hours (1hr 56) which was my goal before I started. I maintained an almost completely even pace throughout as well, despite the fact my right leg was in a fair amount of pain from the 8th mile - a mere 5 from home. Was a wee bit annoyed that my legs couldn't take it - I'd run much further than 8 miles in training and hadn't felt anything, and was pretty much cruising apart from that. My plans to speed up in the second half of the race were scuppered, but I kept going til the end and finished to the cheers of a pretty packed Madjeski Stadium. I wasn't quite sure why everyone started cheering as I came into the finishing straight, before noticing that there was a guy pushing someone else in a wheelchair just in front of me..... What can I say, at least I beat the pantomime camel!
The whole day was really well organised, the route was challenging but enjoyable and I'm already planning on doing another half marathon at some point in the near (post-rally) future. I'm in awe of full marathon runners now though - I couldn't bend my right leg for the whole of Sunday and felt like I'd been on the piss the whole weekend come Monday. There is absolutely no way I could have done double the distance.
Thanks to everyone who sponsored me prior to the race - the thought of the money raised for Go Help really spurred me on when the going was getting tough.
And for those of you who wondered - Colin beat me, despite his boozing over the weekend. I was maybe 30 seconds behind him at the halfway point, and assumed I'd overtake him before the end; how wrong I was. He managed to put in an impressive burst of speed in the final 10k which gave him time to stop for a piss and still beat me by 9 full minutes. Euan, predictably, destroyed both of us by coming home in a bloody impressive 1hr 37. A good morning's work all round, I think you'll agree.
There are some rather embarrassing photos of me during and after the race, along with a video of my finish (just behind the dude with the wheelchair) on the Marathon Photos website here:
http://www.marathon-photos.com/scripts/event_entry.py?event=Sports/CPUK/2010/Reading%20Half%20Marathon;match=1491
I wasn't grinning like an idiot the whole way round by the way - I spotted a couple of the cameras and tried to give the impression I was enjoying myself - which is largely true.....
Certainly, the sight of several people collapsing with exhaustion and heatstroke towards the end was sobering, and made me realise that, "3rd from 3" or not, it was an achievement just to finish.
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Is that the time?
Really is getting close to bedtime. Up with the larks / clubbers tomorrow morning - a 6am start to get to Reading for the Half Marathon. Nerves are jangling and carbs have been loaded to the point that pasta is oozing out my pores.
Hard to believe it's finally here - I've been training since Christmas and signed up for the race way back last autumn. And yet here we are. It's almost the end of March and the big day is just the other side of midnight.
Euan and I spent the afternoon helping friends move flat, then sitting with them in the pub whilst they got steadily drunker and we debated whether or not to have another OJ and Soda water. Old age and commitment to the cause meant I didn't really feel I was missing out. And I got to drive home - I'd almost quit drinking altogether for such a luxury.
Prior to race day, a quick run down of the other 4 members of our 6 strong "team":
Murray - met expectations and admitted defeat in his attempts to fit a training schedule round his heavy workload. Is instead aiming for the British 10K in July.
Craig - has done a Craig. Maintained (to me) that he was still doing the run right up until a few weeks ago, after which he went completely silent and failed to respond to any of my texts. Seemingly finds it harder to admit he's quit the run to me than to others, as confirmation was received from Murray and Andy the other night (as if any was needed) that he'd decided he wasn't doing it as long ago as early February.
Andy - also called it quits in early February, with the reasoning that he'd "only entered to make myself start running, and now I am running, so it's served its purpose". Is ranked higher than Craig because, whilst they both decided on the same day, Andy at least admitted it upfront.
Colin - arrived down from Aberdeen late last night in preparation for the run. Went straight out on the piss, finishing around 3am with a 'Samosa Bagel' (I don't know either) substituting for dinner. Woke up on a mate's floor at 11am this morning. Returned to the pub for a few more pints. Met us late this evening for another few beers (Euan and me excepted), before getting a train through to Reading for a night on a mate's sofa - to ensure he's 'fresh' for the run tomorrow.
Colin and I are in the same starting group tomorrow. He may beat me. This is what will keep me awake tonight.
Wish me luck.
Hard to believe it's finally here - I've been training since Christmas and signed up for the race way back last autumn. And yet here we are. It's almost the end of March and the big day is just the other side of midnight.
Euan and I spent the afternoon helping friends move flat, then sitting with them in the pub whilst they got steadily drunker and we debated whether or not to have another OJ and Soda water. Old age and commitment to the cause meant I didn't really feel I was missing out. And I got to drive home - I'd almost quit drinking altogether for such a luxury.
Prior to race day, a quick run down of the other 4 members of our 6 strong "team":
Murray - met expectations and admitted defeat in his attempts to fit a training schedule round his heavy workload. Is instead aiming for the British 10K in July.
Craig - has done a Craig. Maintained (to me) that he was still doing the run right up until a few weeks ago, after which he went completely silent and failed to respond to any of my texts. Seemingly finds it harder to admit he's quit the run to me than to others, as confirmation was received from Murray and Andy the other night (as if any was needed) that he'd decided he wasn't doing it as long ago as early February.
Andy - also called it quits in early February, with the reasoning that he'd "only entered to make myself start running, and now I am running, so it's served its purpose". Is ranked higher than Craig because, whilst they both decided on the same day, Andy at least admitted it upfront.
Colin - arrived down from Aberdeen late last night in preparation for the run. Went straight out on the piss, finishing around 3am with a 'Samosa Bagel' (I don't know either) substituting for dinner. Woke up on a mate's floor at 11am this morning. Returned to the pub for a few more pints. Met us late this evening for another few beers (Euan and me excepted), before getting a train through to Reading for a night on a mate's sofa - to ensure he's 'fresh' for the run tomorrow.
Colin and I are in the same starting group tomorrow. He may beat me. This is what will keep me awake tonight.
Wish me luck.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
Just in case you doubted my rediscovered commitment to the cause
Trainspotting arrives in the cinema
Pulp are top of the hit parade
England is gearing up for Euro 96
and a plucky young lanky, slow, winger made the local paper (in Derry) after falling over "when it seemed easier to fall over the line and score" in our Schools Cup second round victory over Foyle & Londonderry College.
I hasten to add, our eventual quarter final exit at the hands of local rivals Coleraine AI was nothing directly to do with me. Which, in my rugby career, represents something of a result.
Pulp are top of the hit parade
England is gearing up for Euro 96
and a plucky young lanky, slow, winger made the local paper (in Derry) after falling over "when it seemed easier to fall over the line and score" in our Schools Cup second round victory over Foyle & Londonderry College.
I hasten to add, our eventual quarter final exit at the hands of local rivals Coleraine AI was nothing directly to do with me. Which, in my rugby career, represents something of a result.
Happy St Patrick's Day!
Well, the witching hour is upon us in the build up to the Reading Half Marathon, resulting in a far more subdued Pat's day than in previous years. Needed to do my 'final' run tonight - a cheeky wee 8km - so avoided being the token Irishman down the pub at lunchtime and hot-footed it home.
Afterwards, I settled down to watch the Ulster Rugby Schools Cup final, shown live on BBC2 NI and accessible to me via the wonders of satellite telly and the magic in particular of Sky Plus (the game having taken place this afternoon). My old school - as I repeatedly referred to them, my old team - were in the final this year, having seen off the favourites in an epic semi-final.
Nothing prepared me for the match though - easily the most open, exciting game I have seen in a long, long time. I would have simply put it down to the copious amounts of red wine that were guzzled during the game, but having woken my mum from her slumbers to discuss the match at the final whistle, she agreed without prompting that it was more exciting than Ireland's Grand Slam game against Wales last year. High praise indeed.
It's very hard to reconcile the boys I saw playing their guts out on TV today with the team I was lucky enough to be part of way back in 1995-96 (when most of today's crop were around 3 years old). They looked almost professional in the way they played the game. I now have new sporting heroes - heroes who are 14 years younger than me. Callum Patterson, Caleb Morrison, Charlie Simpson, George Dennison - these guys make me want to go out and try to play the game again, so what they will hopefully do for the kids at my old school is anyone's guess.
And to top it all, in a bizarre twist that will mean very little to most of you, "Ballymena Academy" was trending on Twitter for a short time today.
Well done to all involved with the team - best St Paddy's Day for ages!
Afterwards, I settled down to watch the Ulster Rugby Schools Cup final, shown live on BBC2 NI and accessible to me via the wonders of satellite telly and the magic in particular of Sky Plus (the game having taken place this afternoon). My old school - as I repeatedly referred to them, my old team - were in the final this year, having seen off the favourites in an epic semi-final.
Nothing prepared me for the match though - easily the most open, exciting game I have seen in a long, long time. I would have simply put it down to the copious amounts of red wine that were guzzled during the game, but having woken my mum from her slumbers to discuss the match at the final whistle, she agreed without prompting that it was more exciting than Ireland's Grand Slam game against Wales last year. High praise indeed.
It's very hard to reconcile the boys I saw playing their guts out on TV today with the team I was lucky enough to be part of way back in 1995-96 (when most of today's crop were around 3 years old). They looked almost professional in the way they played the game. I now have new sporting heroes - heroes who are 14 years younger than me. Callum Patterson, Caleb Morrison, Charlie Simpson, George Dennison - these guys make me want to go out and try to play the game again, so what they will hopefully do for the kids at my old school is anyone's guess.
And to top it all, in a bizarre twist that will mean very little to most of you, "Ballymena Academy" was trending on Twitter for a short time today.
Well done to all involved with the team - best St Paddy's Day for ages!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Thank you and Good luck to Simogen
Just wanted to shout a massive "THANK YOOOOOOO" to my friends Imogen and Simon for the most generous donation to the charity so far... Im stumped up £20 the other day, which over-whelmed us as she is due to give birth any day now and surely needs all the nappy-cash she can get...
Then , due to what I thought was no more than an embarrassing clerical error on behalf the Elkin-Martin accounts department, Si weighed in with a meaty FIFTY QUID! That's a hella lotta rusks for junior. I've half a suspicion that their stupendous generosity may be more designed to ease the pain of telling me that their newborn son won't be called after me. It's worked. Just.
But either way, it's amazing and we're already 10% of the way to our target!
Then , due to what I thought was no more than an embarrassing clerical error on behalf the Elkin-Martin accounts department, Si weighed in with a meaty FIFTY QUID! That's a hella lotta rusks for junior. I've half a suspicion that their stupendous generosity may be more designed to ease the pain of telling me that their newborn son won't be called after me. It's worked. Just.
But either way, it's amazing and we're already 10% of the way to our target!
Routemaster
Have been out frolicking in the sunshine today for the first time since last autumn, but am now back home watching the last of the sun dipping behind the local estate and steeling myself to work out what route we're going to take.
We know where we're starting (obviously) and where we're going (the name of the rally being a bit of a give away) but the bit in the middle is still giving us a headache. Am spending the evening trying to see if anyone has gone to Uzbekistan via Kazakhstan before (seems to involve doubling back on ourselves) or whether we go for the full on, ultimate road trip through Turkmenistan instead. That may involve a week stuck in Baku waiting for a ship to take us across the Caspian - an adventure in itself, but one that with our limited time frame we can't really afford....
Thursday, March 11, 2010
May be over-doing the training
I've worn a perfect hole in my foot. Considering emailing it to everyone to try and encourage sponsorship: "Give Go Help money or I'll send you a different raw body part each week". Could work.
Tuesday, March 09, 2010
We got one!
I tried to find a suitable Ghostbusters clip, but to no avail...
So imagine, if you will, a lady in '80s glasses whacking a bell and screaming.... "we got onnnnneeeeee!!!!"
Yup, my mass email of everyone in my Hotmail address book (updated c.2005) has resulted in our first sponsorship!
The beautiful, talented, exotic and wonderful Julie-Anne has sponsored us a whopping £25 for the rally! Well, her and her bogan of a husband John, for whom the sane adoring adjectives obviously apply. As if by magic or design, whilst out running last night (18km, baby), just as my blisters started biting, Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" came on my Ipod - a song I for some reason always associate with Julie-Anne. It was like fate or some shit. I don't have a 'song' for John, but am determined to get some Acca-Dacca on the play list for the run in his honour.
The rush you get when the first sponsorship comes in is amazing. It makes it all seem worthwhile. So come on, the rest of you! What are you waiting for? Give Go Help money RIGHT NOW!
justgiving.com/steppebysteppe
So imagine, if you will, a lady in '80s glasses whacking a bell and screaming.... "we got onnnnneeeeee!!!!"
Yup, my mass email of everyone in my Hotmail address book (updated c.2005) has resulted in our first sponsorship!
The beautiful, talented, exotic and wonderful Julie-Anne has sponsored us a whopping £25 for the rally! Well, her and her bogan of a husband John, for whom the sane adoring adjectives obviously apply. As if by magic or design, whilst out running last night (18km, baby), just as my blisters started biting, Smashing Pumpkins' "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" came on my Ipod - a song I for some reason always associate with Julie-Anne. It was like fate or some shit. I don't have a 'song' for John, but am determined to get some Acca-Dacca on the play list for the run in his honour.
The rush you get when the first sponsorship comes in is amazing. It makes it all seem worthwhile. So come on, the rest of you! What are you waiting for? Give Go Help money RIGHT NOW!
justgiving.com/steppebysteppe
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Like a puppy knowing it's being taken to the vet, my car's battery has miraculously held its charge for the first time all winter, just before going for its MOT.
I'm in the slightly uncomfortable situation of experiencing paternal feelings towards a Renault Clio, and am concerned at it being locked in a strange garage overnight before being probed and prodded by strange blokes in overalls. I had to resist the urge to give it a little pat for reassurance as I left Kwik Fit earlier this evening. Odd.
I'm in the slightly uncomfortable situation of experiencing paternal feelings towards a Renault Clio, and am concerned at it being locked in a strange garage overnight before being probed and prodded by strange blokes in overalls. I had to resist the urge to give it a little pat for reassurance as I left Kwik Fit earlier this evening. Odd.
Tuesday, March 02, 2010
Just done a sample exam for tomorrow
88%
Eat my Risk Management Strategy!
May sleep a wee bit easier now
Eat my Risk Management Strategy!
May sleep a wee bit easier now
Back to Skool
I'm cross eyed with confusion after spending the past few hours cramming for my Prince2 project management exam tomorrow. I haven't really sat an exam for 10 years, so I'm a little concerned, particularly as "no one fails the foundation course". The thought of being sent back to work tomorrow afternoon as our first failure is at the forefront of my mind.
Failing (or, err, I mean, "passing") that I'll be back in the classroom til the end of the week to sit the next stage of the qualification - by all accounts tougher and much more likely to result in a tail-between-the-legs return to the office. Fingers crossed I'm not the first to return empty handed.
Away from all the fun of the classroom, we're moving flat! As of next month we'll be in a bigger place with two bedrooms - and a bathroom which isn't accessed via the end of the bed - thanks to a couple of friends moving out of their place and recommending we move in. Pure luxury you'd think, after 16 months in our current place, but you would reckon without both J's and my tendency for sentimentality. First flat together, lots of memories, great view and, well, it's our wee flat. There will be tears in a few weeks, of that there is no doubt. Hopefully they'll only last as long as it takes for one of us to get lost in the new place trying to find the bathroom in the dark.
Second conference call for the rally on Sunday - we are still doing it, in case you were wondering. Real life is getting in the way something chronic at the moment, but we'll be back on it as of next week.
As for fundraising event number one - am up to around 17km now in training for the half marathon - a 19k run is scheduled for Saturday (as is a trip to Homebase to peruse paint and vinyl flooring samples - am moist with anticipation) and then the wind-down to the big day starts. Can't wait for it to be over so I can reclaim about 8 hours of my week back. And experience all those endorphin-fuelled feelings of self-worth, obviously.
Failing (or, err, I mean, "passing") that I'll be back in the classroom til the end of the week to sit the next stage of the qualification - by all accounts tougher and much more likely to result in a tail-between-the-legs return to the office. Fingers crossed I'm not the first to return empty handed.
Away from all the fun of the classroom, we're moving flat! As of next month we'll be in a bigger place with two bedrooms - and a bathroom which isn't accessed via the end of the bed - thanks to a couple of friends moving out of their place and recommending we move in. Pure luxury you'd think, after 16 months in our current place, but you would reckon without both J's and my tendency for sentimentality. First flat together, lots of memories, great view and, well, it's our wee flat. There will be tears in a few weeks, of that there is no doubt. Hopefully they'll only last as long as it takes for one of us to get lost in the new place trying to find the bathroom in the dark.
Second conference call for the rally on Sunday - we are still doing it, in case you were wondering. Real life is getting in the way something chronic at the moment, but we'll be back on it as of next week.
As for fundraising event number one - am up to around 17km now in training for the half marathon - a 19k run is scheduled for Saturday (as is a trip to Homebase to peruse paint and vinyl flooring samples - am moist with anticipation) and then the wind-down to the big day starts. Can't wait for it to be over so I can reclaim about 8 hours of my week back. And experience all those endorphin-fuelled feelings of self-worth, obviously.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Mon the Irish
Half day tomorrow!!! Will be in the pub by 2, down at the rugby for about 6 or 7, and stumbling around south London by about 10-ish, I imagine.
Peter "The Claw" Clohessy heads up our motely crew of Irish Legends, journeymen and never-quites against Martin Corry's rag-tag bunch of coppers, bankers and estate agents at the Stoop, home of Harlequins, tomorrow night.
A perfect build up to the main event on Saturday, but not so to the week long Project Management course I'm on next week. My pre-reading is now going to be done on Sunday, as is my 18k run and arranging of an MOT for the car. Oh, and the trip to Halfords to buy a new battery and windscreen wiper before its big day. Day of rest my arse.
Peter "The Claw" Clohessy heads up our motely crew of Irish Legends, journeymen and never-quites against Martin Corry's rag-tag bunch of coppers, bankers and estate agents at the Stoop, home of Harlequins, tomorrow night.
A perfect build up to the main event on Saturday, but not so to the week long Project Management course I'm on next week. My pre-reading is now going to be done on Sunday, as is my 18k run and arranging of an MOT for the car. Oh, and the trip to Halfords to buy a new battery and windscreen wiper before its big day. Day of rest my arse.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Bruges?!
One other "minor" point - I'm off to feckin' Bruges at some point in the next few months!
Directly inspired by the film, and aided by J winning two free tickets on Eurostar at the Adventure Travel Live show a few weeks back, we're off to Belgium! Woot!
Directly inspired by the film, and aided by J winning two free tickets on Eurostar at the Adventure Travel Live show a few weeks back, we're off to Belgium! Woot!
Quick update
As it's Sunday and I am taking a break at my mum's between red wine and post-dinner g&t, I felt the time was right to give a quick update on where things are in general.
Half marathon - ran 17.25km on Friday night, largely unintentionally but was aiming for 15 and mapmyrun.com is apparently not overly concerned with accuracy. Pretty chuffed, and barring any major mishaps or attacks of laziness over the next month, I should be sitting (definitely sitting) with a grin on my face this time 4 weeks, reflecting on a job done. I even managed to get wolf-whistled by a Fiat 126 at a set of traffic lights as I trotted along the South Circular - I am not only a running machine, but apparently an attractive one.
Rally - not progressed much since the joy of getting the first donation faded into the mist on Tuesday. Was out on Thursday and running on Friday, and have been at my mum's house all weekend hence not much going on. I'm reasonably comfortable that we know what needs to be done and in roughly what order though, and none of the other teams appear to be that much further progressed than us. Looks like we're going to have to find about £700-900 for the van; work couldn't help (unsurprising in the current climate) and to be honest I can't see any other company being in a position to help out. Just need to keep saving and hoping and asking!
Other shizzle - our friends Pino & Stella managed to buy a flat last week, which is brilliant news; not only do they get somewhere they can call home to raise their young family, but their rented place near the park might be available to a plucky young Irishman and his lovely girlfriend. Fingers crossed I may have some exciting home related news soon.
Apart from that, apologies in advance if you don't see many updates over the next few weeks - got a 'mare of a fortnight ahead work wise (including a week-long course next week, for which I have to do 20 hours of pre-reading - either I somehow shoehorn in 4 hours a night from Monday to Friday, or I have a very boring weekend ahead of me. Given I'm taking a half day on Friday to go to the England vs Ireland Legends game at the Stoop, I'd really rather get the bulk of it out of the way during the week. I also have to fit a couple of 10k runs, some rally publicising and a visit to check out the aforementioned flat around it. Bring on mid-March!
Half marathon - ran 17.25km on Friday night, largely unintentionally but was aiming for 15 and mapmyrun.com is apparently not overly concerned with accuracy. Pretty chuffed, and barring any major mishaps or attacks of laziness over the next month, I should be sitting (definitely sitting) with a grin on my face this time 4 weeks, reflecting on a job done. I even managed to get wolf-whistled by a Fiat 126 at a set of traffic lights as I trotted along the South Circular - I am not only a running machine, but apparently an attractive one.
Rally - not progressed much since the joy of getting the first donation faded into the mist on Tuesday. Was out on Thursday and running on Friday, and have been at my mum's house all weekend hence not much going on. I'm reasonably comfortable that we know what needs to be done and in roughly what order though, and none of the other teams appear to be that much further progressed than us. Looks like we're going to have to find about £700-900 for the van; work couldn't help (unsurprising in the current climate) and to be honest I can't see any other company being in a position to help out. Just need to keep saving and hoping and asking!
Other shizzle - our friends Pino & Stella managed to buy a flat last week, which is brilliant news; not only do they get somewhere they can call home to raise their young family, but their rented place near the park might be available to a plucky young Irishman and his lovely girlfriend. Fingers crossed I may have some exciting home related news soon.
Apart from that, apologies in advance if you don't see many updates over the next few weeks - got a 'mare of a fortnight ahead work wise (including a week-long course next week, for which I have to do 20 hours of pre-reading - either I somehow shoehorn in 4 hours a night from Monday to Friday, or I have a very boring weekend ahead of me. Given I'm taking a half day on Friday to go to the England vs Ireland Legends game at the Stoop, I'd really rather get the bulk of it out of the way during the week. I also have to fit a couple of 10k runs, some rally publicising and a visit to check out the aforementioned flat around it. Bring on mid-March!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
brain freeze
Cripes. Finally got down 'n' dirty with a bit of rally organising admin this evening. I have constructed a highly professional looking spreadsheet with columns and numbers and lists.
So far have discovered that we shouldn't need any jabs, as long as we have diphtheria and hepatitis A vaccinations... Do we? Who knows. Sounds easy enough to sort at any rate.
Visas, on the other hand....
We have a rough idea of a route, designed to allow us to get to Ulaan Baatar in the limited time we have available without stressing - take the Black Sea to the north, head through Ukraine, into Russia, over into Kazakhstan, a wee detour round Uzbekistan, east to Kyrgyzstan, back to Kazakhstan, up into Southern Russia once more and finally across into Mongolia. On the way back, our plan is to take the train back to Moscow and fly back to London. Sounds great, eh?
Unfortunately, so far my attempts to understand if we can get a triple-entry visa for Russia and a double entry visa for Kazakhstan have just confused me. I'm cross-eyed in a sea of 'transit visas', 'tourist visas', 'letters of introduction', rules, regulations and red tape. I'm not sure we can get more than a double entry visa for Russia without applying for a Business visa (at more than 4 times the price) - all of which means that, perversely, it may prove "simpler" and more economical to change our route to South of the Black Sea - and head through Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
Got to be honest - I've had more depressing dilemmas!
So far have discovered that we shouldn't need any jabs, as long as we have diphtheria and hepatitis A vaccinations... Do we? Who knows. Sounds easy enough to sort at any rate.
Visas, on the other hand....
We have a rough idea of a route, designed to allow us to get to Ulaan Baatar in the limited time we have available without stressing - take the Black Sea to the north, head through Ukraine, into Russia, over into Kazakhstan, a wee detour round Uzbekistan, east to Kyrgyzstan, back to Kazakhstan, up into Southern Russia once more and finally across into Mongolia. On the way back, our plan is to take the train back to Moscow and fly back to London. Sounds great, eh?
Unfortunately, so far my attempts to understand if we can get a triple-entry visa for Russia and a double entry visa for Kazakhstan have just confused me. I'm cross-eyed in a sea of 'transit visas', 'tourist visas', 'letters of introduction', rules, regulations and red tape. I'm not sure we can get more than a double entry visa for Russia without applying for a Business visa (at more than 4 times the price) - all of which means that, perversely, it may prove "simpler" and more economical to change our route to South of the Black Sea - and head through Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan.
Got to be honest - I've had more depressing dilemmas!
Rain stops pain
I've been pretty committed to training for the half marathon since the New Year - which seems like an eternity ago even though it's probably only been about 6 weeks.
Not tonight, however. For verily London doth splutter and bubble under a downpour of biblical / Glaswegian proportions. It was chucking it down on my way to work, continued all day, and is still pishing now. Every pavement is flooded, it's pitch dark and I am soaked through. Not even my free London Marathon reject jacket can save me this evening.
So I'm taking a, err, rain-check. Feel guilty, which is a bit pathetic, but instead will use the time to try and get some more rally sorted.... Every cloud....
Not tonight, however. For verily London doth splutter and bubble under a downpour of biblical / Glaswegian proportions. It was chucking it down on my way to work, continued all day, and is still pishing now. Every pavement is flooded, it's pitch dark and I am soaked through. Not even my free London Marathon reject jacket can save me this evening.
So I'm taking a, err, rain-check. Feel guilty, which is a bit pathetic, but instead will use the time to try and get some more rally sorted.... Every cloud....
Monday, February 15, 2010
A journey of a thousand miles....
...begins with the first step. Or "Steppe" (sorry). Or - two quid.
We have our first donation to the rally charity!!
Ok, so it was from one of the organisers, kick starting our efforts with some 'seed money' - but out of tiny acorns, etc...
Was really nice of him, and great to get the fundraising underway after what seems like an interminable amount of time spent thinking "we need to get the website sorted out".
Full launch (i.e. blanket email) to follow, but in the meantime - you are my missionaries! Go back to your villages and spread the word! We're up, we're running (thankfully only metaphorically this evening) and we're on our way to Ulaan Baatar!
http://www.justgiving.com/steppebysteppe
We have our first donation to the rally charity!!
Ok, so it was from one of the organisers, kick starting our efforts with some 'seed money' - but out of tiny acorns, etc...
Was really nice of him, and great to get the fundraising underway after what seems like an interminable amount of time spent thinking "we need to get the website sorted out".
Full launch (i.e. blanket email) to follow, but in the meantime - you are my missionaries! Go back to your villages and spread the word! We're up, we're running (thankfully only metaphorically this evening) and we're on our way to Ulaan Baatar!
http://www.justgiving.com/steppebysteppe
Ever wondered what pain looked like when plotted on a graph?
Allow me to demonstrate.....
I have drawn blood through thigh chafe. Blood!
I've had to lather Sudocrem on it to soothe the pain. Sudocrem!
I had to pretend I was a babyfather when buying the creme in Tesco, just to hide the embarrassment. But then I had to hobble out like an 80 year old John Wayne and they knew. They knew.
It'd better be worth it. As had the £22 I'm about to invest in a pair of Nike lycra running shorts.
See That Tattie Prance
I have drawn blood through thigh chafe. Blood!
I've had to lather Sudocrem on it to soothe the pain. Sudocrem!
I had to pretend I was a babyfather when buying the creme in Tesco, just to hide the embarrassment. But then I had to hobble out like an 80 year old John Wayne and they knew. They knew.
It'd better be worth it. As had the £22 I'm about to invest in a pair of Nike lycra running shorts.
See That Tattie Prance
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Going nowhere fast
cripes, things are moving at a snail's pace on the organisation front. It suddenly doesn't seem like such a good idea to be doing a half marathon whilst simultaneously trying to make time to get rally goodness sorted.
For the record, I'm now up to 8-10km runs without too much bother, with 5 weeks to go until the race. What that means in reality is that during the week, it's pushing 9.30pm by the time I get home from work, stretch, run, shower and eat - which doesn't leave much time for anything else if I want to drag my aching, aging bones to bed at a reasonable, pre-midnight, hour.
Excuses, excuses. I did manage to cobble together a quick list of stuff to organise today - now all I need to do is work out how long each one will take, stick it in a spreadsheet and we might have what conceivably could be called "a plan".
I guess we just have to take it..... Steppe By Steppe
(*cut to freeze frame of me, thumbs up, grinning like a cock; roll theme tune; run credits*)
For the record, I'm now up to 8-10km runs without too much bother, with 5 weeks to go until the race. What that means in reality is that during the week, it's pushing 9.30pm by the time I get home from work, stretch, run, shower and eat - which doesn't leave much time for anything else if I want to drag my aching, aging bones to bed at a reasonable, pre-midnight, hour.
Excuses, excuses. I did manage to cobble together a quick list of stuff to organise today - now all I need to do is work out how long each one will take, stick it in a spreadsheet and we might have what conceivably could be called "a plan".
I guess we just have to take it..... Steppe By Steppe
(*cut to freeze frame of me, thumbs up, grinning like a cock; roll theme tune; run credits*)
Tuesday, February 09, 2010
Our actual theme tune....
Take a bow, Mr Jesse Winchester
No apologies if you haven't yet seen the first season of The Wire. Your fault, not mine.
all in the game, y'all
No apologies if you haven't yet seen the first season of The Wire. Your fault, not mine.
all in the game, y'all
One small Steppe
Yep, that pun will be done to death over the next few months....
I sent my first begging email today - well, discounting the few that we fired off as a threesome to several disinterested vehicle manufacturers in the run up to Christmas. Pretty good going that it's only take us a further month and a bit to get round to following it up.
I got in touch with our Asset Finance division this afternoon, in the hope they might have access to an old van they could sell us. I have my expectations firmly set to "pessimistic" but at least I won't be wondering if there's anything they can do for us anymore. I'm imagining asking for anything for free is out the window in these crunched days, but we live in hope someone might at least be willing to sell us stuff at cost price.
Next up - getting the charity site up and running. Have a whole evening to myself tomorrow night so hopefully might be in a decent position to start begging people for cash soonish. Really must start making lists. I hear they help.
Oh, and our Steppe by Steppe blog is registered... I'm finding it hard to let go, albeit temporarily, of STTR though, so have yet to post anything. That, and the fact that Gav has stuck a spanner in the works by suggesting another couple of names we may still change to. Curses.
I sent my first begging email today - well, discounting the few that we fired off as a threesome to several disinterested vehicle manufacturers in the run up to Christmas. Pretty good going that it's only take us a further month and a bit to get round to following it up.
I got in touch with our Asset Finance division this afternoon, in the hope they might have access to an old van they could sell us. I have my expectations firmly set to "pessimistic" but at least I won't be wondering if there's anything they can do for us anymore. I'm imagining asking for anything for free is out the window in these crunched days, but we live in hope someone might at least be willing to sell us stuff at cost price.
Next up - getting the charity site up and running. Have a whole evening to myself tomorrow night so hopefully might be in a decent position to start begging people for cash soonish. Really must start making lists. I hear they help.
Oh, and our Steppe by Steppe blog is registered... I'm finding it hard to let go, albeit temporarily, of STTR though, so have yet to post anything. That, and the fact that Gav has stuck a spanner in the works by suggesting another couple of names we may still change to. Curses.
Monday, February 08, 2010
All the good ones are taken
phooey. Turns out there're a couple of Aussies doing an even more epic trip than us, who have adopted the Steppe by Steppe moniker and are already out there, pedalling round Central Asia on a 4 wheeled trike. But, it being our 4th attempt at coming up with a team name, we're not changing now. We've already ditched "One Steppe Beyond" - my personal favourite (well, after Ulaan Book Tour, which was just inspired) - and to be honest, with less than 150 days to go and absolutely hee haw started as yet, we have more important things to focus on. Cars, money, routes, visas, that kina thing.
So apologies, original Steppe by Steppers - we're staying with the name unless some sort of inspiration hits us very quickly. We'll just have to share. Bet you haven't had a minor New Kids on the Block hit stuck in your head for the past 2 days though.
STEP ONE! We can have lots of fun...
STEP TWO! There's so much we can do....
(it's like it was written just for us)
So apologies, original Steppe by Steppers - we're staying with the name unless some sort of inspiration hits us very quickly. We'll just have to share. Bet you haven't had a minor New Kids on the Block hit stuck in your head for the past 2 days though.
STEP ONE! We can have lots of fun...
STEP TWO! There's so much we can do....
(it's like it was written just for us)
Sunday, February 07, 2010
We have a ready made theme tune
hmmm. Maybe the team name is more naff than I thought on Friday night...
Saturday, February 06, 2010
Steppe by Steppe
Right. After much deliberation, confusion, soul-searching and general faffing, we've finally done it. We've decided on a team name.
This is our fourth and final name choice. Our original two were based on unrealistic ideas of what vehicle we might take, and our third - borrowing heavily from a classic Madness tune - was ditched following a Google search which revealed another team making the long journey East this summer had already claimed it.
So allow me to introduce Team Steppe By Steppe. Currently we have no vehicle, no sponsorship, no route and no idea where to start. We do, however, have a bloody-minded determination to roll out of Highbury Fields on July 10 and into Ulaan Baatar at some point in early August via some of the most amazing scenery and experiences that the world has left to offer. Bring it on!
This is our fourth and final name choice. Our original two were based on unrealistic ideas of what vehicle we might take, and our third - borrowing heavily from a classic Madness tune - was ditched following a Google search which revealed another team making the long journey East this summer had already claimed it.
So allow me to introduce Team Steppe By Steppe. Currently we have no vehicle, no sponsorship, no route and no idea where to start. We do, however, have a bloody-minded determination to roll out of Highbury Fields on July 10 and into Ulaan Baatar at some point in early August via some of the most amazing scenery and experiences that the world has left to offer. Bring it on!
Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Adventure! Travel! Live!
Last Saturday saw my team mate and me get, err, lost in central London. I say "we" got lost, what I mean is "I" got us lost by misreading a map. Of Victoria. A familiar part of a city I've lived in for the past 7 years.
Bodes well for our trip of 10,000 km across 2 continents and about 7 time zones, doesn't it?
More encouragingly, the "Adventure Travel Live" show proved to be really useful as inspiration for our trip. Several of the talks covered overland expeditions and Central Asia / Mongolia, and the over-riding message was "anyone can do it with a bit of organisation - and everyone should do it". We came out buzzing and are in full on planning mode. So far, it's largely entailed looking for a vehicle on Ebay and getting a sore brain when I try to think of what else I should be doing. We have a self-imposed deadline of the weekend for getting the publicity on the go, by which time we fully intend to have a team name, at least.
The organisers of the Mongolia Charity Rally have been really helpful in the past few weeks in working with us to help us stay with them, which is really appreciated. Whilst the cost remains high (we're estimating about 4 grand so far for 'essentials' - where food and accomodation aren't classed as such), it's a once in a lifetime trip and it's 5 weeks on a road trip across half the world raising money for a good cause. It's not like we can conceivably do it for a couple of hundred quid each. We'll find the money somehow.
The one vehicle in the rules we've identified as a possible is the Ford Escort, which I assume is an Escort van. Really hopeful we can get one for under a grand; it's kind of perfect when you think about it. Bit in the back for all our stuff, even potential to sleep in it if entirely necessary, built tough as old boots for all those builders to use, and the same rough size as a car, which means it should be ok to manouevre. Fingers crossed!
There'll be more news soon on the team name, our fundraising and potentially (gulp) a new blog devoted to the blog. Is this the end for STTR? Will anyone notice? Stay tuned to find out!
Bodes well for our trip of 10,000 km across 2 continents and about 7 time zones, doesn't it?
More encouragingly, the "Adventure Travel Live" show proved to be really useful as inspiration for our trip. Several of the talks covered overland expeditions and Central Asia / Mongolia, and the over-riding message was "anyone can do it with a bit of organisation - and everyone should do it". We came out buzzing and are in full on planning mode. So far, it's largely entailed looking for a vehicle on Ebay and getting a sore brain when I try to think of what else I should be doing. We have a self-imposed deadline of the weekend for getting the publicity on the go, by which time we fully intend to have a team name, at least.
The organisers of the Mongolia Charity Rally have been really helpful in the past few weeks in working with us to help us stay with them, which is really appreciated. Whilst the cost remains high (we're estimating about 4 grand so far for 'essentials' - where food and accomodation aren't classed as such), it's a once in a lifetime trip and it's 5 weeks on a road trip across half the world raising money for a good cause. It's not like we can conceivably do it for a couple of hundred quid each. We'll find the money somehow.
The one vehicle in the rules we've identified as a possible is the Ford Escort, which I assume is an Escort van. Really hopeful we can get one for under a grand; it's kind of perfect when you think about it. Bit in the back for all our stuff, even potential to sleep in it if entirely necessary, built tough as old boots for all those builders to use, and the same rough size as a car, which means it should be ok to manouevre. Fingers crossed!
There'll be more news soon on the team name, our fundraising and potentially (gulp) a new blog devoted to the blog. Is this the end for STTR? Will anyone notice? Stay tuned to find out!
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Attention Central Asian Border Guards
Would you let this man into your country?
Thought not. That'll be £80 for a new passport added to the budget then.
8 more Km tonight
I got a rather unpleasant case of inner thigh chafe. I can only assume it was due to the speed with which I was running.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
In search of knowledge...
We're off to Adventure Travel Live on Saturday to get some first hand tips for our "overland expedition". As well as talks on Central Asia and the Silk Route, I'm most looking forward to the Travel Photographer of the Year exhibition.
Hopefully we'll pick up some tips on how best to prepare for the big trip (I was in Kathmandu this evening (the shop, not the....y'know) and whilst looking at the 'accessories' rack, the only thing I could see that I thought we might need was a money belt) and get an injection of enthusiasm to kick start our planning after the uncertainty of the last few months. I'm guessing "don't try to drive anywhere in Central Asia without knowledge of Russian and how to fix a car" is probably quite high on the seasoned traveller's list of do's and dont's....
Hopefully we'll pick up some tips on how best to prepare for the big trip (I was in Kathmandu this evening (the shop, not the....y'know) and whilst looking at the 'accessories' rack, the only thing I could see that I thought we might need was a money belt) and get an injection of enthusiasm to kick start our planning after the uncertainty of the last few months. I'm guessing "don't try to drive anywhere in Central Asia without knowledge of Russian and how to fix a car" is probably quite high on the seasoned traveller's list of do's and dont's....
Fever pitch
less than 24 hours to go in the most exciting countdown since dear old Dickie Whiteley's timer ran out for the final time....
Yes folks, my first ever sale on Ebay is drawing to a close, and it looks awfully like someone's in for a bargain. My spare Ikea sofa cover - rrp £49 - is currently wedged at a top bid of a whopping 600 pence.
Never mind, it's all cash I wouldn't otherwise have, and has the distinction of being the very first contribution to the Mongolian fundraising! I'm building up to working through the clutter of our flat in an attempt to get some more stuff flogged and funds raised for the trip - the emotional wrench of saying goodbye to my years of hoarding will be offset by the reasons I'm doing it.
Willing to take a Best Offer on a magic eight ball that doesn't really work after Andy shook it too hard. The Mr Potato Head bubble machine is going nowhere, mind.
Yes folks, my first ever sale on Ebay is drawing to a close, and it looks awfully like someone's in for a bargain. My spare Ikea sofa cover - rrp £49 - is currently wedged at a top bid of a whopping 600 pence.
Never mind, it's all cash I wouldn't otherwise have, and has the distinction of being the very first contribution to the Mongolian fundraising! I'm building up to working through the clutter of our flat in an attempt to get some more stuff flogged and funds raised for the trip - the emotional wrench of saying goodbye to my years of hoarding will be offset by the reasons I'm doing it.
Willing to take a Best Offer on a magic eight ball that doesn't really work after Andy shook it too hard. The Mr Potato Head bubble machine is going nowhere, mind.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Training is continuing apace
Round trip to Dulwich Village yesterday - roughly 8km in total. Not bad for a skinny legged freak who only started jogging again three weeks ago. Starting to believe I can do this. Not so sure about my fellow 'team mates' though; of the five of us, I would say our chances of making it to the starting line are thus:
Me: 95% (barring injury or other catastrophe)
Euan: 95% (as above)
Coco: 90% (he's got the added effort of travelling from Aberdeen for the pleasure, but he's a determined wee bastard)
Andy: 70% (keen to prove that cycling not only negates a committed smoking habit, but also that he's fitter / harder / stronger / more creative than the rest of us saps)
Craig: 40% (full of great intentions, but has not inconsiderable 'previous' when it comes to accidentally getting wasted 48 hours before the race and failing to show up)
Murray: 25% (again, signed up for all the right reasons, but is the most dedicated to his career of anyone I know, which entails 14 hour days most of the week. Not entirely conducive to a balanced training regime. Neither is an even more impressed fag habit than Andy).
The signs from Nikeplus are not encouraging, as the current results on the challenge I set up for Murray, Craig and I ('most kilometres run in a month') will testify....
Me: 95% (barring injury or other catastrophe)
Euan: 95% (as above)
Coco: 90% (he's got the added effort of travelling from Aberdeen for the pleasure, but he's a determined wee bastard)
Andy: 70% (keen to prove that cycling not only negates a committed smoking habit, but also that he's fitter / harder / stronger / more creative than the rest of us saps)
Craig: 40% (full of great intentions, but has not inconsiderable 'previous' when it comes to accidentally getting wasted 48 hours before the race and failing to show up)
Murray: 25% (again, signed up for all the right reasons, but is the most dedicated to his career of anyone I know, which entails 14 hour days most of the week. Not entirely conducive to a balanced training regime. Neither is an even more impressed fag habit than Andy).
The signs from Nikeplus are not encouraging, as the current results on the challenge I set up for Murray, Craig and I ('most kilometres run in a month') will testify....
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Team name required
If you were doing a 10,000 km road trip with your beloved other half, what would you call yourselves?
Utterly devoid of inspiration - winning choice gets, err, the person's name on the side of the car or something. When we get a car.
Utterly devoid of inspiration - winning choice gets, err, the person's name on the side of the car or something. When we get a car.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
good times
I'm currently selling my first item on Ebay. The rush is amazing - the price has rocketed from a starting price of £0.01 on Sunday, to a whopping £1.20 by this evening! Who knows what heady heights my Klippan 4 seater sofa cover will have scaled by the time the auction ends in a week....
In other news - positive vibes coming from our 'new' rally about the vehicle choices, and the discovery that we can apparently get train tickets back to Moscow from Ulan Bator for only £229 each, have meant it's been a good day for getting the trip sorted. I'm a nervous wreck getting on a Ryanair jet from Stansted to Belfast - God knows what I'd be like taxiing for take off on the 8 hour Aeroflot service from Mongolia to Russia.... Give me 4 days of train travel through eff all instead.
In other news - positive vibes coming from our 'new' rally about the vehicle choices, and the discovery that we can apparently get train tickets back to Moscow from Ulan Bator for only £229 each, have meant it's been a good day for getting the trip sorted. I'm a nervous wreck getting on a Ryanair jet from Stansted to Belfast - God knows what I'd be like taxiing for take off on the 8 hour Aeroflot service from Mongolia to Russia.... Give me 4 days of train travel through eff all instead.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
still running y'know
Oh yeah, and I have run 11km so far this week (over two sessions) in preparation for the half marathon. Roughly doing 50% of the distance I apparently should be at this point (if the official 7 mile training run taking place on Sunday is anything to go by).
Pah.
I laugh in the face of well defined training schedules, choosing instead to go for the "run a little bit further each time" method. Seems to work. I'll get round anyway. Only gotta run 3 times further than I did tonight and I'll be almost there.
Pah.
I laugh in the face of well defined training schedules, choosing instead to go for the "run a little bit further each time" method. Seems to work. I'll get round anyway. Only gotta run 3 times further than I did tonight and I'll be almost there.
Vehicle rules for our "original" Charity Rally finally released...
We can basically take a commercial van or truck, or find an additional USD 2500 to cover import tax on any of the vehicles that, in my mind, I thought would be ideal - i.e. 4x4s
I have been fannying about, unsure about making the switch to the rival rally until these vehicle rules were confirmed, but feel comfortable now that we're making the right decision. The prospect of trying to get one of the tax exempt vehicles donated to us in the current economic climate and then raising £1500 between the two of us and also finding the money to fund visas, travel, flights etc is just too over-whelming for our first time out.
The new rally means more upfront payment from us, but also allows us to choose our charity and focus all our energies on raising money for a worthy cause rather than trying to satisfy all the conditions to make it to the start line. More to follow once the deposits are paid, but in the meantime, if you do happen to have any of the undermentioned vehicles you'd like to give to the people of Mongolia, feel free to get in touch!
I have been fannying about, unsure about making the switch to the rival rally until these vehicle rules were confirmed, but feel comfortable now that we're making the right decision. The prospect of trying to get one of the tax exempt vehicles donated to us in the current economic climate and then raising £1500 between the two of us and also finding the money to fund visas, travel, flights etc is just too over-whelming for our first time out.
The new rally means more upfront payment from us, but also allows us to choose our charity and focus all our energies on raising money for a worthy cause rather than trying to satisfy all the conditions to make it to the start line. More to follow once the deposits are paid, but in the meantime, if you do happen to have any of the undermentioned vehicles you'd like to give to the people of Mongolia, feel free to get in touch!
__________________________________________________________________________________
Rule 1: Tax exempt models for 2010 can be no older than 9 years old, therefore for 2010, your vehicle has to have been manufactured in 2001 or later.
Rule 2: To be tax exempt, your vehicle must be one of the following:
- Single cab pick-up truck (see models below – if you have a model in mind that is not on our list, email us and we’ll see if we can get an exemption for it).
- Ambulance [Separate cabin, room enough to carry gurney and medical supplies]
- Truck/lorry. [Single cab, NTE 3½ tonnes.]
Please find below an indicative table of the models that are exempt. We will supplement this from time to time.
Table of tax exempt vehicles | |
Make | Tax Exempt Model |
Land Rover | Defender Ambulance |
Nissan | Navara (Single cab) |
Cabster | |
Ford | Escort |
Transit cargo vans | |
Minibus/school bus | |
Medium duty trucks | |
Pickups | |
Mitsubishi | Canter |
Isuzu | Trucks |
Mercedes | Ambulance |
NON-TAX EXEMPT VEHICLES
If you really don’t want to take a tax exempt vehicle, no problem! But you can pay the tax man! You will need to transfer the import tax to us before you leave for Mongolia.
There are two tiers of tax exempt vehicles:
- Preferred non-tax exempt vehicles
- Non-preferred non-tax exempt vehicles
Regardless of which type of non-tax exempt vehicle you take, your vehicle cannot be older than 9 years old, so must have been manufactured in or after 2001 for the Mongolia Charity Rally 2010.
Preferred non-tax exempt vehicles
You need to:
1. (a) Review the table below of preferred, non-tax exempt vehicles, and if your vehicle falls within it;
(b) proceed to review the tax brackets below to see what tax will be payable on your vehicle.
Table of preferred non-tax exempt vehicles | |
Make | Taxed Model |
Land Rover | Defender |
Discovery | |
Nissan | Terrano |
Patrol | |
Pathfinder | |
Navara (double cab) | |
X-Trail | |
Toyota | Landcruiser |
Highlander | |
Mitsubishi | Pajero |
Isuzu | Trooper |
Subaru | Forester |
Tribeca | |
Legacy | |
Jeep | Cherokee |
Patriot | |
Liberty | |
Mercedes | GLK Class |
GL Class | |
M Class | |
Honda | Pilot |
CR-V | |
Tax payable on preferred non-tax exempt vehicles | |||
4x4 Import Taxes | Import tax amount (in USD) | ||
Year since manufacture | |||
Size of engine | 0-3 years | 4-9 years | |
1 | 1500 cc and below | 500 | 1000 |
2 | 1501-2500 cc | 1500 | 2000 |
3 | 2500 cc and above | 2000 | 2500 |
Thursday, January 14, 2010
my 800th post
I could use the occasion to tell you something momentous, fascinating or exciting, but instead I will use the platform to advise that I think I have a hernia. It sort of makes sense - weird lumpy bit in my side, starting to be painful since I went running this evening, and it only appeared after I spent the weekend hoiking furniture around my mum's new house. Well, it's either that or I'm just being a hypochondriac as usual.
In other news, I'm off to a gig tomorrow night! The mighty Blazing Zoos are playing at the Windmill in Brixton. "The Blazing Whos?", I hear you cry...... "We didn't have you down as a nurturer of fresh young musical talent".
And you'd be right. For said Zoos are neither young, nor - if the self-effacing lead singer is to be believed - talented. They do, however, contain a former member of one of my early 'favourite bands', Jesus Jones, and their singer is none other than Mr Andrew Mueller, travel / music / random observation journalist and author of two of my favourite books - Rock & Hard Places, and I Wouldn't Start From Here. Highly recommended, both. If his singing is half as good as his writing, it'll be £4.50 well spent. And if not - well, it's only round the corner from the flat. That, I believe, is a win-win.
Haven't really drunk since New Year because I have been feeling rough - burning pains in the back being the initial complaint. Weirdly, I now don't really fancy a pint tomorrow - the thought of it, and of waking up on Saturday morning, is not appealing. Finally, after 13 years bordering on alcoholism, I seem to have kicked the habit. It won't stop me drinking tomorrow, obviously - I'm still as susceptible to peer pressure as ever. But behind closed doors, where no one else can judge me, it's Ovaltine all the way baby.....
In other news, I'm off to a gig tomorrow night! The mighty Blazing Zoos are playing at the Windmill in Brixton. "The Blazing Whos?", I hear you cry...... "We didn't have you down as a nurturer of fresh young musical talent".
And you'd be right. For said Zoos are neither young, nor - if the self-effacing lead singer is to be believed - talented. They do, however, contain a former member of one of my early 'favourite bands', Jesus Jones, and their singer is none other than Mr Andrew Mueller, travel / music / random observation journalist and author of two of my favourite books - Rock & Hard Places, and I Wouldn't Start From Here. Highly recommended, both. If his singing is half as good as his writing, it'll be £4.50 well spent. And if not - well, it's only round the corner from the flat. That, I believe, is a win-win.
Haven't really drunk since New Year because I have been feeling rough - burning pains in the back being the initial complaint. Weirdly, I now don't really fancy a pint tomorrow - the thought of it, and of waking up on Saturday morning, is not appealing. Finally, after 13 years bordering on alcoholism, I seem to have kicked the habit. It won't stop me drinking tomorrow, obviously - I'm still as susceptible to peer pressure as ever. But behind closed doors, where no one else can judge me, it's Ovaltine all the way baby.....
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Best of British
My extensive research on Ebay this evening has led me to the conclusion that the only make of car that it will be possible to get for around a hundred bucks is a Rover 400.
This is no bad thing, combining as it does middle-management semi-luxury, a sense of patriotism and just the right amount of - well - shitness to satisfy the 'banger aspect' of the rally. I am keen to find a car that needs work to get it ready for the trip - much to my team mate's chagrin. Our discussions descended into the 'heated' category this evening, largely focussing on the perceived inabilty of me to learn a camshaft from a seatbelt in order to fix a 'spare or repair' up to meet the challenges that lie ahead. My theory, on the other hand, is that as long as the chassis is sound, fixing the car before we go will force me to learn how the bloody thing works, and that can only be a good thing if we break down on the road. The alternative is luck out on buying a car that seems to work fine, not learn anything more than the basics of car maintenance, and then have the thing grind to a halt somewhere in the Ukraine with me unable to work out why. Given the options, I think we can safely mark up the outcome of the first debate as a victory for me.
On my head be it.
Thursday, January 07, 2010
72 days
until the Reading Half Marathon. The Reading Half marathon, which I am entered in, and competing alongside 5 of my friends. That's only 10 weeks, and my legs are hurting after a 3.5 km jog on Tuesday. I would have gone out again this evening, but the snow has turned to sheet ice and, whilst a broken ankle may be a good idea nearer the time, it's not high on my list of priorities for the time being.
They reckon that you shouldn't increase the distance you run by more than 10% a week. That means next week, I should be able to do 3.85 km. And in 10 weeks time, just ready for the race....?
err, 9.07 km.
Less than half the distance I will be expected to drag my puny chicken legs round in a bit of "friendly" competition with 'the boys', some of whom I may have given a mild ribbing in terms of who would be fastest. Time to rip up the training rule book (and probably my tendons). Aaaargh!
They reckon that you shouldn't increase the distance you run by more than 10% a week. That means next week, I should be able to do 3.85 km. And in 10 weeks time, just ready for the race....?
err, 9.07 km.
Less than half the distance I will be expected to drag my puny chicken legs round in a bit of "friendly" competition with 'the boys', some of whom I may have given a mild ribbing in terms of who would be fastest. Time to rip up the training rule book (and probably my tendons). Aaaargh!
Cars for courses
Hmm, a new rally, a new issue when it comes to finding a vehicle. Honestly, you'd think they were trying to make us work for the privilege or something.
Been trawling Ebay this evening for something that fits the critieria of our "new" (as yet unsigned up for, but the decision has been made. I think) rally.... No older than 1998, but costing no more than £100.
It is, as you may expect, a bit feckin difficult. Nigh on impossible, in fact.
It would appear that scrap yards offer at least 100 quid for an old car, so it may be that we have to take to skulking furtively around outside, resident doberman gnashing its teeth through the fence at us, offering to "do a deal" down a back alley with the bloke who pulled up in a slightly sad looking Proton.
Honestly - can't do one rally cos the cost is too high, can't do the other cos it seems the price we can offer is too low.....
Any 2nd hand car salemen out there, get in touch.
Been trawling Ebay this evening for something that fits the critieria of our "new" (as yet unsigned up for, but the decision has been made. I think) rally.... No older than 1998, but costing no more than £100.
It is, as you may expect, a bit feckin difficult. Nigh on impossible, in fact.
It would appear that scrap yards offer at least 100 quid for an old car, so it may be that we have to take to skulking furtively around outside, resident doberman gnashing its teeth through the fence at us, offering to "do a deal" down a back alley with the bloke who pulled up in a slightly sad looking Proton.
Honestly - can't do one rally cos the cost is too high, can't do the other cos it seems the price we can offer is too low.....
Any 2nd hand car salemen out there, get in touch.
Wednesday, January 06, 2010
Home from school early
The view from my window and the time it's been posted to the blog tell you that the snow has arrived in my corner of South London - and not before time. I was starting to get jealous of the hysterical news reports from all points of the UK. Thankfully, I expected it and managed to purchase a pair of trackie bottoms yesterday before trialling them last night - so Reading Half Marathon training has officially started! 10 weeks til I take to the streets and alleyways of Reading to prove I can do it, beat my friends, and hopefully raise a bit of cash towards the Mongol Rally....
Monday, January 04, 2010
(wo)man down!
Things have not been progressing particularly on the rally front. Bureaucracy, unrealistic (in my book) requirements from the organisers and radio silence in response to my queries have not filled us with confidence.
Somewhat predictably, none of the major vehicle manufacturers wanted to know or help, despite the fact we were only asking for the odd contact name of firms who might be able to sell us an ambulance (whilst hoping, of course, that they just said "here, just have one"). So thanks, Mercedes, Ford, Fiat, Renault and Volvo. Still in search of a nearly new, low mileage, functioning ambulance for free.
A more crushing blow was the news this evening that we have lost a team mate. After wrestling with her conscience and responsibilities over the last few weeks, Lucy has unfortunately concluded that it's not going to be possible to fund the trip this year. The perils of being self-employed and simultaneously shafted by HMRC.
Gutted that my best mate will not be making the epic trip with us, but if we don't continue to try and do the rally this year I think there's a strong possibility we won't ever get round to it - I can see normal life closing in again if we let this one slip through our fingers and before we know it we'll be swimming in mortgage payments and nappies (or the like). We've publicised our plans far too much as well to back out this early.
So J and I will continue to plan and are still determined to be at the starting line in July for our trip due east.
The only thing that may change is our choice of vehicle - or perhaps even our choice of rally. I've been really unimpressed by the lack of contact from the organisers and the seemingly unreasonable demands being made from us: a £2-3 grand vehicle & £1500 sponsorship just to be allowed to reach the start line, plus all our petrol, living expenses, visas and flights home to fund on top of it.
Compare that to our alternative - £500 a head which buys us all our visas, a cap of £100 on the vehicle cost, and a roughly-set route meaning that we may miss out on the odd country we want to visit, but we'll have companionship on the road. Having enquired about the potential pitfalls of import duty on such an old banger, I've been told "we're not sure, but if it comes down to it we'll be parking in the short stay carpark at Ulaanbaatar airport and not looking back". Obvious mild irresponsibility aside, that's the kind of attitude I was looking for (not to mention the fact it only took them 10 hours to reply to me) - the kind of charity rally I want to be part of. Plus, there is no minimum amount for us to fundraise and whatever we do raise can go to any charity we blimmin well like. Sounds to good to be true, doesn't it? All we need is a grand. Anyone?
Somewhat predictably, none of the major vehicle manufacturers wanted to know or help, despite the fact we were only asking for the odd contact name of firms who might be able to sell us an ambulance (whilst hoping, of course, that they just said "here, just have one"). So thanks, Mercedes, Ford, Fiat, Renault and Volvo. Still in search of a nearly new, low mileage, functioning ambulance for free.
A more crushing blow was the news this evening that we have lost a team mate. After wrestling with her conscience and responsibilities over the last few weeks, Lucy has unfortunately concluded that it's not going to be possible to fund the trip this year. The perils of being self-employed and simultaneously shafted by HMRC.
Gutted that my best mate will not be making the epic trip with us, but if we don't continue to try and do the rally this year I think there's a strong possibility we won't ever get round to it - I can see normal life closing in again if we let this one slip through our fingers and before we know it we'll be swimming in mortgage payments and nappies (or the like). We've publicised our plans far too much as well to back out this early.
So J and I will continue to plan and are still determined to be at the starting line in July for our trip due east.
The only thing that may change is our choice of vehicle - or perhaps even our choice of rally. I've been really unimpressed by the lack of contact from the organisers and the seemingly unreasonable demands being made from us: a £2-3 grand vehicle & £1500 sponsorship just to be allowed to reach the start line, plus all our petrol, living expenses, visas and flights home to fund on top of it.
Compare that to our alternative - £500 a head which buys us all our visas, a cap of £100 on the vehicle cost, and a roughly-set route meaning that we may miss out on the odd country we want to visit, but we'll have companionship on the road. Having enquired about the potential pitfalls of import duty on such an old banger, I've been told "we're not sure, but if it comes down to it we'll be parking in the short stay carpark at Ulaanbaatar airport and not looking back". Obvious mild irresponsibility aside, that's the kind of attitude I was looking for (not to mention the fact it only took them 10 hours to reply to me) - the kind of charity rally I want to be part of. Plus, there is no minimum amount for us to fundraise and whatever we do raise can go to any charity we blimmin well like. Sounds to good to be true, doesn't it? All we need is a grand. Anyone?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)