09/16/10 by Amy Harpin | Expedition Updates | Comments Off on A message from Martha
Hello everyone back home,
I must apologise, I was so tired and disheveled when we finally got to Altay I forgot to tell you about a most extraordinary meeting; we had stopped for a meal break in the middle of nowhere when an ambulance pulled up beside us and you’ll never guess what her name is – she’s called Martha! She is quite old and has been taken out of service in the UK and been donated to a Mongolian hospital, her crew were taking her there to deliver her. What are the chances?
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09/16/10 by Jim Stevens | Expedition Updates, Stage 3 : Beijing to Luang Prabang | Comments Off on Day 61: The Crystal Maze
Location : Pingyao to Linfen
High Point: Pingyao, for giving us a big hit of old school China
Low Point: Waking up with a Chinese man in bed to my left, Ross to my right and the hope that Chinese Red wine doesn’t make you forget things!
No Point: Barham and I “i hate Chinese food for breakfast, lunch and dinner”
Do you remember the Crystal Maze? yes, well Pingyao’s ancient streets provided the backdrop and the ingredients to a real life FTFE version.
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09/15/10 by Ross Shepley-Smith | Expedition Updates, Stage 3 : Beijing to Luang Prabang | Comments Off on Day 60: Grottos, pollution and giant futons.
Location : Datong to Pingyao. China.
High Point: Seeing the look on Jim Stevens face when he realised that he had to share a giant futon with myself and Sun Ji, priceless.
Low Point: Pollution, smog, and endless coal mines.
No Point: Chinese red wine, very different.
Chinese word of the day: Meinv = Beautiful girl.
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09/14/10 by Steve Moore | Expedition Updates, Stage 2 : Moscow to Beijing | 4 Comments »
Location : From Beijing to Datong. China.
High Point : The Great Wall of China. Not only did it impress, it made 5 boys with normally far too much chat become almost speechless. The mere magnitude and scale of this colossal beast blows the mind. Some quick stats for you : Built over 2000 years ago. 8862.8km long (well that’s how long China say it is). It wiggles a lot and goes over bumps. Read more →
09/11/10 by Paul Barham | Expedition Updates, Stage 3 : Beijing to Luang Prabang | 1 Comment »
High Point
After a frustrating 36 hours Jim Stevens and myself finally rocked into Beijing feeling pretty shabby, but were determined to push through. This was Beijing and we were finally on the road with FTFE! This had been caused by a four hour flight delay and when we finally got away a “benign technical issue” forced the plane to turn around and circle the north sea for an hour dumping fuel before landing. Thankfully a few G&Ts and cold tomato soup had taken the edge off. Organised chaos ensued as accommodation was sought for 300+ and we finally got into a room at 4am to be up at 9am to learn our fate. We finally got away proper at 5pm!
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09/10/10 by Ross Shepley-Smith | Expedition Updates, Stage 2 : Moscow to Beijing | Comments Off on Day 55: Bring on Beijing.
High Point: Not getting stuck in THE traffic jam.
Low point: Knowing that today was the end of a six week amazing journey, and that stage two (Moscow to Beijing) would finally be coming to an end.
No Point: Night driving and trucks, why oh why?
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09/09/10 by Steve Moore | Expedition Updates, Stage 2 : Moscow to Beijing | Comments Off on Day 54 : China in your hand
Location : Zamyn-Uud to Erlian
High Point : With well over a year of research and hard graft behind it, we had always thought that of all the borders we are crossing, the Mongolian / China border was the “big one”. It could not have gone any better. Incredible. We met our Mongolia fixer the night before to go through the game plan and paperwork. The crew were up early to give Martha a good old clean as she was caked in wet sand and muck after all the fun in the Gobi desert. We headed off at 10am and were quickly through the Mongolia side with only one complication. With Panoramic Journeys on the end of the phone to our fixer Ulzi, the missing paperwork was soon dismissed and we cracked on into no man’s land. Read more →
09/08/10 by Ailsa Fereday | Expedition Updates, Stage 2 : Moscow to Beijing | 1 Comment »
Location: Sainshand to Zamyn-Uud
High Point: Getting stuck in the mud!
Low Point: This was to be the end of our stint in Mongolia and as that thought crept into the minds of the crew, you could see a disappointment beginning to wash over our faces. Pretty much in its entirety, Mongolia has been an absolute highlight, a firm favourite amongst all the those who have trucked across it’s unyielding terrain in Martha.
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