Now in yangshuo

Well after the fun of Beijing I headed down to Xi'an to see the Terracotta Warriors and enjoyed also the biggest water fountain show in Asia at the Big Wild Goose Pagoda which was fairly impressive.











After a few days in Xi'an I travelled with a few other folks and went via Chengdu, which incidentally has the best egg muffins in China, too Yangshuo where I feel right at home as its been raining constantly for the last couple days.




However this still hasn't stopped me from climbing and the weather is set to improve from Tuesday.
It feels a little strange being in China for Xmas but I'm tempted to have either Beer fish or Cane Rat as my Xmas dinner, to be honest the fish sounds much better and looks fairly nice. I've also realised that my climbing has suffered over the past few weeks but I'm determined to rectify that and have also set myself the task of finding the best apple pie in Yangshuo. Unfortunately I'm having problems with uploading my photos but i will try and find a better internet cafe sometime next week if I'm not busy climbing or eating... Hope everyone has a great Xmas, unfortunately due to China's internet setup I can't access the comments on the site but will enjoy reading them all in the new year, the Chinese new year which i will probably spend in Hong Kong before flying to Oz.

Beijing is great shame about the locals.

Well arrived in Beijing on Monday and have seen lots of the main sights but would need more time than iv got to see everything. unfortunately wherever i go i get pestered and yelled at by locals trying to sell me cheap tacky souvenirs or other rubbish which is starting to get annoying. have avoided most of the people who also try to rip you off by asking if you want to go for a cup of tea which will end up costing as much as they think they can scam out of you.

Other than the normal annoyances of Asia am having a great time. cycled to the Summer palace and a few other places which was interesting given the condition of the bikes you get out here (not sure the wheels were round and the bearings were well worn but all the bikes are in this sort of condition and what can you expect for about 60 pence, have been to the Forbidden city and also walked 10km along the Great Wall yesterday which was worth getting up at 5am for.
Was wanting to go to Yinchuan to see the 108 pagodas but they are about 85km from the town and all this would take two or three days to get too from Beijing and is lots of messing about so have decided to scrap the idea. Am going to head to Xi'an to see the terracotta warriors and then down to Chengdu, then Chongquing before heading to Yangshou for about the 25th and stop until after new year. not sure on plans after that but feel like i need a rest week as all this travelling gets tiring. Have heard that the old Portuguese port of Macau is nice so will perhaps head over there in the new year. For now I'm going to enjoy yet another cup of tea and put my feet up for a while as they have been well worked over the past week or so.

Mongolia

How stunning, such a contrast to everywhere iv been.

I was welcomed by Enkhbaatar Tserenbaltav (photo with his son above) who with his friends made my time in Mongolia rewarding and memorable.

I have had a very rich diet of late, normally consisting of dumpling's with some form of meat lots of tea, and obviously Vodka.

I spent five glorious sun filled days absorbing the culture and atmosphere, two of which were spent in the countryside.

Driving out of Ulan Bataar we went past the great statue of Chinggis Khaan on horseback looking out over the landscape across to the hills towards which we were driving. I went to a Mongolian Bar / night club, spent a night in a traditional Mongolian Gur, which was awesome, did a spot of horse riding, went hunting and I meet lots of great people who unfortunately have so little but non the less welcomed me into their homes and lives for a short while, everywhere I went I was welcomed with tea, vodka, or mares milk, which washed down the meat (mutton and horse),

I spent time going around a school and seeing the some of the people and lives that the Children's Development and Protection Foundation (CDPF) are doing their best to change and give a more positive future.

The director and staff at the school provided an insight into rural Mongolian life which i would not otherwise have seen. Im grateful to all the staff and am please to know that because of them many children can have a better future.

I had a great time in Mongolia and am disappointed that i only had five days, it seems so little time to try and see so much. From the traditional Mongolian way of cooking, ( placing heated stones into the pan and then filling it with meet and vegetables) drinking Tea and sitting around a Gur singing songs, travelling through the breathtaking landscape of a country which is struggling to feed and house all its population and at the same time fighting to maintain the traditions and history of it people.

in mongolia

Well I made it to Mongolia, didn't get arrested, no-one mentioned the car at the boarder, have only paid 30 pound in bribes since setting out, which to say I've driven a good few thousand miles in Russia is an achievement to say the least.

Am spending a couple of days or so in Mongolia then to China. The computers at the Internet cafes are exceptionally slow, this one has 256MB RAM which is one of the faster ones that iv found. trying to multi-task on it is impossible and it takes three minutes or so to open a new window.

O well cant complain I'm in Mongolia. The sun is shining, great blue sky over head and i have found a good hostel for the price of three pound fifty per night or 7000 in the local money, which means i have lots of pointless little notes which are worth bugger all. at 2350ish to the pound. the lowest note denominations are in 10s i think which is probably of the same value as a piece of fancy toilet paper. but more quaintly decorated.

So despite all this im off to take some photos and walk around the town a little more. i think the sun is setting about now.

Photos updated

Well im getting the next train to Ulan Bataar, have just updated flikr with some photos from russia but need to add the ones from the siberian roads, when it takse 2 tones of hardcore to fill a pothole you know your driving in russia. lets see if i get arrested and fined at the boarder for not having my car....

110969 The car is dead, 500km from Irkutsk

Hi all

Unfortunately the car has died.
I left Moscow on the evening of the 19th and made really good progress, getting to Omck on Friday the 23rd, from there i headed east and encountered a few problems on the Sunday evening when the car started overheating, i noticed that the water pump was spitting out antifreeze.

Being fortunate enough to find a garage somewhere near Kemepobo and spending until 03:00 on Monday morning fixing the fault by plugging the holes in the water pump which i can only assume must have been for some pressure release but obviously the seal had become faulty.

After getting back on the road and some very slow driving i got as far as НИЖНЕУДИНСК, arriving late on the 27th, I stopped at the ATM to get some money and then when starting the car hear the tragic noise of the engine failing, after closer observation at the garage i found that the crank shaft had given up the ghost.

After making several enquiry's as to obtaining parts or even an engine that would fit it became obvious that it would not be possible to fix the car before my visa runs out, The spare part would need to be ordered into the country then travel via Moscow and Irkutsk before any attempt could be made to start the repairs.
As the car is french the are no suitable parts or means to fix it without ordering via renault dealers and the part would take one week minimum to arrive and would cost more than the car was worth.

I have therefore left the car in НИЖНЕУДИНСК and am hoping that i should be able to cross the boarder without the car and hopefully not encounter any problems at the boarder when going into Mongolia by train.

The only upside is that whilst we waited to hear back about parts, the person who owned the garage put me up at his home with his family for the past few days, this was really kind and has made my time in Russia so much more enjoyable.
I was intoduced friends and family who all think im crazy, got to sample the delights of home cooking and Russian foods along with Russian Vodka so despite the car not making it to Mongolia I'm still having a great time. I jsut hope i dont encounter any problembs at the boarder.

Sorry Lloyd in Omsk

Firstly I hope Justin had a good birthday happy 30th, I suspect many a good drink was drank my many a person in full celebration mode, speaking of which congratulations are in order to Ade and Amanda. just wait 9 months until you knee deep in nappies.

Well as the title says im in Omsk, After a couple of days in St Petersburg wandering the sights and the streets taking lots of photos and trying not to spend any money, followed by another couple of nights in Moscow where the hostel was much better and cheaper so the wallet allowed me to spend an interesting and amusing night out at the B2 club with a fellow English speaker (well American), Oscar, which was well worth the navigation of Moscows subway system in all its fancifull decorations and arcitecture, and even worth the tiredness the following day probably from all the dancing with nice Russian law students and getting in at about 7am could have contributed.

Well the day after was battery problembs with the car, after being parked up for two days at 10C below or so. Fortunatly with the aid of Oscar and our minimal knowladge of Russian we managed between us to blag a jump start from a ruski, however, it as always cost money.

So then after 2500km of mad drivers who haven't found out how to dim headlights, witnessing a number of accidents or aftermath's thereof and missing a few head on collitions, one of wich resulted in the car taking a trip down a small ditch and a bad puncture / rip in the wall of my nearly newish snow tires. that cost me another lump of money and a night of little progress spent sleeping in the car followed by a morning sorting out the acquisition and replacement of said tire, hence my spare is also now a snow tire.

Well i haven't time to post pics now as have found out that im another 3hrs behind, im on Moscow time which is 19:30 but Omsk time is 22:30, so time to set my watch and consider what to do about sleep tonight, after 4 nights in the car i may try to find cheap accomodation as i could do with a shower, clean clothes and a bed but if not i may just continue driving, its another 2500km to Irkukst and from there probably another 1000km to Ulan Bataar.

Sorry Chris i made it to St Petersburg. 7K miles on the clock

Well it took a while, mainly because i wasted 1hr getting out of Riga, due to road works and poor / no signs, and each time I asked somone for directions they politely pointed me the wrong way. (nice)

had to get snow tyres in Estonia as the roads were very snowy around the boarder. They cost about 75 pound for the four and fitting which wasn't bad, everyone at the garage thinks im insane as I answerd Mongolia to the obvious question of "where are you going?".

Also spent about 4hrs at the boarder getting into Russia. They had minimal english skills and my russian consists of "hello" and "do you speak english". along with "i dont understand".

That went well.
I was taken from guard to guard, booth to booth trying to answer all the questions about my car and where I was going and why. They also think i'm insane. in fact at one point i thought they may have asked for the men in white coats... they didn't.

So after smiling politely for what seemed an eternity and filling out forms left, right and center and taking them to another office to get stamped then another office/ booth for another stamp and then waiting, and more waiting...and a bit more for good measure... it went on a for a while.
The smile still remained although secretly inside I had a compulsion to jump up and down, tear my hair out and hit a few of them, ( I resisted the urge, it would only delay things more and i was starting to tire).
They were however very nice and even offerd me Vodka whilst sorting the insurance / road tax, I declined exspecting to get pulled over the instant i moved the car.

So when finaly the last stamp was placed neatly on the last little bit of paper and filed at the correct office/ booth they let me in to Russia. and that when the real fun started.

I proceeded to avoid total disaster on the roads, (some bumpy snowy thing between 15-30ft wide with a scattering of pothole's like some acne ridden teenager escaped from the loacal Mcdonalds.) dodging oncoming lorrys. It felt like what ice-hockey in wellington boots may feel like, Your never totaly sure your in control as the road keeps jumping about the place like a frog on LSD, too make matters worse there are only two lanes but nobody has told anyone else this so you frequently end up with three or four cars abrest the two (albeit sometimes wide lanes) narrowly averting near catastrophe by the narrowest of margins. Its even better when the three of the bigger trucks perform this stunt and some daring car driver tries to squeeze between them.
and running through my mind i have "They asked me all those questions, and they just let all these idiots on the road, this country surely is insane".

So I'm now in St Petersburg, last night I slept in the car, am at a hostel tonight and possibly tomorrow night then Moscow for a night and driving so many miles after am not sure when i will get a chance to update the site.

Have just worked out im drinkinbg baltika or "балтика" in russian, are 12 differnt kindes, just had number 6 which is like a porter and similat to Old Peculiar, #9 next, lonely planet says its lethal and 16.5% proof. o joy. i can feal my mind slowly slipping sidways already. or am i about to fall of the chair. Just wait till i get on the Vodka.

North from Poland and onwards towards St Pertersburg

Well from Morski oko i ventured up to Krakow where i took the car to a auto service to get it looked at, Ended up costing me a bit as needed the drums replacing and one of the valves had gone also, but at least the brakes work now and the cars in good shape to tackle the cold.
Whilst the car was in the garage i wandered around Krakow for a few days trying not to spend any money, I did however go to a recital of Chopin's music, went around most of the city's major sights but didn't get to the Salt mines or Auschwitz, which just gives me an excuse to go back at some point.

An Irish lad also named James who I'd meet in Zarkopane joined my wanderings and after the car was fixed we decided to drive north to Warsaw, unfortunately this coincided with the Poland Independence day festivals so stopping in Warsaw was going to be expensive as all the cheap accommodation was all booked, after very little thought we decided it best to keep driving so after 24hrs and lots of miles on bumpy roads with suicidal truck drivers we ended up in Riga, which has along with a nice old town has one of the highest rates of automobile accidents and fatalities in Europe, and where everything except the accommodation appears more expensive than in Poland.

However tomorrow i will venture forth to Russia where i will need to avoid the police bribes and everyone else who will inevitably try to rip me off. (such is life in eastern Europe).

I have just updated flikr with loads more photos, from Budapest and Poland.
With luck i will get to St Petersburg at some point late tomorrow evening. as for now I'm going to try and take some photos of the old town and have an early night in preparation for the long drive and perhaps try to learn a bit of Russian for the inevitable getting stopped by police.

P.S . Graham the lasses are, as in poland, easy on the eye.

morski oko, who needs the alps.

Well had a great day today, and have a big smile on my face.
Went up to Morski Oko which is a 8km walk up a road, alternatively you can get a ride up in a horse drawn cart. not exactly my style though.
From there I went over towards a couple of higher lakes (Predni staw Polski and Wielki Straw Polski ) which involved one and half hours trudging up the hillside above the pine, through snow which was knee deep in places.
UnfortunatelyI didn't get many good pics as the sky stopped overcast until i started heading down, when it did finaly clear the view up to Kozi Wierch and surrounding peaks made the trip.

Probably did about 20+km and was racing against the setting sun which hung on the horizon as i rushed to get back down to the main track and out to the car before it eventually vanished behind the Tatras and the darkness crept up through the forest's and onto the peaks.
I felt like a child at christmas running down the hillside and throught the pine forest's beneath, glissading over the snow and jumping branches which had succumbed from gravity and the weight of snow deposited on them.

The scenery was awsome, like somthing out Lewis' cronicals of Narnia with thick pine forests branches heavliy laden bowing down over the path and the Tatras coverd in fresh snow, wooden mountin huts sat next to tranquil tarns and bubbling streams.
I wish i had more time to exsplore this wonderland and I'll definatily be coming back here. perhaps with ice tools to tackle some of the formidable looking buttresses'. but im content for now.... i think.

well Bratislava was fun but onwards and upwards.

well this is Bratislava , as you can see the locals look a bit rough. fortunately not all were this hideous and a great night out was had with some Aussies. which ended about 5:30am.

Bratislava has lots of strange street art which is really amusing, just a few samples.

it also has all the usual run of the mill stuff, church, castle, market, im getting a little bored with them now as iv seen so many that they all start looking the same, i know i should be more enthusiastic and i'm hopeful the change of scenery in the tatras will resolve that, also it will give a chance for the wallet to recover from the expense's that inevitably come with stopping in major towns. I even splashed out and purchased another top which makes me look like a hippy.

I walked up Slavkovsy Stit today which give a fascinating view of the surrounding peaks. its about 2450 meters so a gain of 1440 in just over 8km which makes it a nice walk but very warm in the briught sun of today.




whilst iv been typing the cafe has slowly filled out and im now surrounded by folks from all different countrys, it looks like some lecture or film or somthing is going to take place, well thats about all for now.

budapest

well the car made it to Budapest and i spent the past few days wandering around the delightfully city, the neogothic architecture is quit stunning and the Gellert bathes in Buda sat beneath the citadel and on the other side liberty bridge spanning the Danube from Pest make for a great way to spend an afternoon, relaxing and soaking up the Art Nouveau building while the aches from the previous day, spent crawling and squeezing through the labyrinth of the palvolgzi caves in the hill above Buda were washed away.

Budapest is a remarkable place with so much to do its impossible to know where to begin, just wandering the streets and the markets you can see the rich and varied history of Budapest, from the old three-level market hall in Pest up along the shopping precincts, past the Basilica and the synagogue with the memorials to the Holocaust and then to the Parliament building built just over 100 years ago and based on the British Parliament building, its white gothic form adorned by 88 statues of military leader, princes and rulers. sat on the banks of the Danube with yet another tribute to the holocaust, a line of boots along the bank of the river looking down to the chain bridge, which also has connections with London, being designed by William Tierney Clark who designed the Marlow bridge over the Thames which was complete some 17 years earlier.

Then there is the State Opera House sat just around the corner from the Music Academy which quite appropriately had the subtle tones from a piano drifting out through an open window.
Founded by Frank Liszt it has a great statue of him above the door as though he is inspecting his students as they walk in.
Also of cause the national museum, in typically neo classic architecture with its eight corinthian columns supporting a frieze and a large pediment with the figure of Pannonia sat holding a shield bearing the Hungarian coat of arms. even though the weather was overcast and it drizzled a bit it was delightful to wander the streets snapping a few photos and sampling the food.

I have now left Budapest with a group of Australians and headed up to Bratislava for a couple of days before heading over to the high tatras Tonight is one the guys birthdays so am about to head out for food and the obvious drinks that will follow. will post the pictures when i get to a pc that isn't quite so antiquated as the Siemens senic 600 which it struggling to keep pace with surfing the web.

in Zagreb, Ouch my head

Well got rained out of plaklenica, but not before meeting some folks from the London area and climbing some nice 6c's, then enjoying a really good meal of seafood, including sea bass, squid, mussels and longestines topped of with a few beers.

Went to Plitvice falling lakes yesterday which was magnificent but spoilt a bit by the bad weather, there was around a foot of snow covering the ground which fell on sunday whilst i was batteling in the winds on the coast, is really hard to get to grips with the contrast of weather and climates in such a compact area.

Today is beautiful sunshine and I'm terribly hung over as i spent a night out with some Americans in Zagreb and we ended up drinking lots of Johnnie Walker black label.
we went through a few bottles or so, outch my head hurts.

First real hangover of the trip and i can tell that i'v not been drinking that mutch of late. feels like i'v been run over again.
Have had a few pints of orange juice and several coffees and even managed to find somewhere that did a resonable equivalent of bacon and sausage butties but alas they had no idea what brown sauce was. o well such is life. am off to Budapest when i finally sober up but until then i need to drink more coffee and wander around the plethora of ornately decorated buildings feeling like Mephistopheles on a bad day.

latest from Osp, the rain has arrived,

well its take almost a month to catch up with me but unfortunately it rained this afternoon in Osp, i still got about 10 routes in before lunch and have just added a load of photos to the flikr site, see links on the right,

I spent a day at the start of the week at what is probably the best campsite as (far as facility's) go which i have ever stayed at, Camping bled. (I have seen much worse facility's at good hotels)
From there I had a couple of days R&R and went around the Vintgar gorge, I even went out for a meal in town, (thats twice in one week, i will start getting fat at this rate)
I then traveled down to the capital Ljubljana which has a really nice old town,

After a bit of book shopping a burger at the horse burger shop and frustratingly nagotiating the one way system, going north out of town to head south I ended up at the Postojna caves, which although expensive (€18) it was well worth the visit, even if just to see it`s inhabitance.

I now find myself in the pleasant little town of Osp with a horseshoe shaped lump of rock surrounding it, I was fortunate to find someone to climb with, who is a guide in the Triglav national park and has been climbing in this area for 20+ years, needles to say i spent the morning climbing quality routes,

After checking with some Czech climbers on the campsite am discarding the idea of climbing in the Czech Republic as its going to be way to cold, I plan to head down to Croatia atbefore the end of the week but hope to get another day climbing tomorrow,

Enjoy the photos and now i think its time i went for a beer, shame they dont have moonshine or Abbot ale out here.

CAMDA

Hi folks just a quick update with a link to my justgiving site.

http://www.justgiving.com/jamesmash

CAMDA,

Thanks.

Lake Bled

After a pleasant drive through the Dolomite's and Julian Alps I arrived in Bled last night.

The towering peak of Triglav casting its shadow over the Alpine meadows and villages as i wound my way along the quiet country roads headed for Bled.
This picturesque mosaic of landscapes is totally breathtaking and heightened more by the myriad of reds, amber's and green leaves contrast against the white limestone cliffs, alpine villages, crystal lakes, meadows with grazing cattle and the snow caped peak of Triglav standing high above all of these casting a wise watchful eye over the land.

Lake Bled itself is much smaller than i had imagined, and its picture postcard appearance is truly magical. I will probably spend another day resting and recovering from almost two weeks of non stop climbing before heading down towards Osp where I once again hope to find someone to climb with.

photos will follow.

the dolomites

Well after being fortunate enough to find Anna, who was happy to climb with this mad English man whilst waiting for her friends, Mark and Adam to arrive from the dolomite's, some good climbing was had, we even did a via ferrata as a rest day which provided magnificent views of the town below (Mori) and over to Lake Garda
A couple days after Mark and Adam arrived and with the prospect of good weather we all headed north to Cortina where the fantastic limestone peaks of the dolomite's rise out of the ground in majestic towers and pinnacles that cry out to be climbed.

Mark and Adam, both Exum guides in the Tetons had had mixed results with unfortunate weather and were hoping to vanquish this bad luck, Anna and myself were happy to get on unpolished rock and climb somewhere that wasn´t overcrowded.
Despite the good climbing in Arco most of the crags nearby have suffered from their popularity.

The first night involved the four of us camping out near one of the mountain huts so as to ensure an early start which was almost regrettable after watching the mercury drop to near freezing. fortunately i had no probs with the cold due to being prepared for weathering Siberia but the others felt the cold a bit more, especially Anna as she managed to leave her sleeping bag at Arco.

The first climb on the 8th was an 11 pitch arete on the Trofan de Rozes, and after a sucesfull and enjoyable climb mark and Adam decided that they would stop another night and climbed a longer and slightly harder adjacent arete, Anna and Myself decided that Cinqua torre looked like a nice climb which would remain in the sun all day so we camped a little further up the valley and had a spectacular day, I even got some crag snaffle on the way down.
After two nights of camping out it was a unanimous decision to head to a campsite for the next few days. I attempted a bit of Sport climbing but without a guidebook ended up climbing a 6c+ as a warm up and a 7a which felt much harder and had me resting on the rope with drained arms before i finally struggled up the rest of the route to the top.

the next few days involved an accent of Punta Fiames and Col de Bois both of which are higly recommended and comprise pleasant climbing up to about VS on surprisingly compact rock for the dolomite's.

Arco climbing

Hi all

have found an american lass to climb with who can belay me and who can also understand some of my english. well a bit of my english. but it's better than my german or italian so im on a winner.

did a heap of routs yesterday on rock which felt at times like climbing on glass. Hopfully can find a few routes which arn't to poloished for tommorow and can try to get a few good photos to add to the site.

Hope all is well at home and the sheaf view isn't missing my custom,

take care and have a pint of real ale for me. i thin high neb pump may me in order.

Later.

I made it to Arco

Well the car has done about 2000 miles and after a busy two days of driving around and sleeping in the car i'm now in Arco.

I was in Orpierre from the 26th to the 30th and got a couple of good days climbing in, I set of on Sunday evening and drove from Orpierre to Briancon, where i arrived to watch the last half of the rugby game between RSA and the US.
Then i got take out from the local pizza shop and slept in the car. the following morning involved a drive up to Emosson where i was disappointed to find out that climbing the artificial route on the dam face was strictly prohibited. despite this i tried in vain to find someone to climb this wall with as i had just done a detour of 200+ miles.

After that failed i ran off south down to Aosta where i chased the sun to lake Garda, dodging mad Italian drivers and trucks who seemed intent on trying to hit me, it felt like a high speed game of tig on a four lane motorway running through Milano as the traffic stacked up until most people where less than two meters apart doing upto 100mph.

I suppose that's why these folks have such faith in religion, because if God can't save them when they drive like that then their not long for the world of the living,

Also talking about religion when i was stood next to my car brushing my teeth this morning in a car park just outside of town a Jehovah's witness tried to sell the word of god to me, I was so outraged i almost spat toothpaste all over him. needless to say i'm not converted from my (sinful) ways, so i,m off to have a shower because after two nights sleeping tin the car i'm starting to pong a little and then hopefully some climbing,

Enjoy,

it works, yipee

have found Internet usage where i can also edit my photos onto my HDD;

The weather is still overcast but set to improve on Saturday.
Hoping to meet up with someone to climb with at orpierre for the next couple of days before i need to make tracks to Italy;

I'm updating photos onto flikr so will add a few in later.

on my way to orpierre

ok yes this post keeps changing, because of stupid French kbrds and computers crashing when editing posts... am trying to add photos but it keeps messing up the layout etc..
the post was something about driving 1000 miles to the viaduct, having only 2 hrs sleep, see link to flikr for photos (will put more on later);
Also I got a free meal from a nice couple who were stopping in an RV at the viaduct. drove down to the town and spent an evening drinking something thats a cross between hydraulic fluid and antifreeze with some 20 French scramble bikers who were on a club meet, most amusing bunch, but totally nuts, i think they had a similar impression of me when i told them where i was heading.Have spent the last few days in the gorge du tarn climbing with a Polish couple (Chris + Monica) who now live in England so thankfully their English was much better than my polish. The climbing was good but I'm weak; i got totally pumped on a 32meter 6b+, but felt better yesterday as i did a few long 6a's and even found a 7a didn't feel too bad on top rope, should have done it clean after but we went to look at an 8a instead which Chris couldn't link i couldn't even get to the crux on. The drive over to the Rhone valley was great i recommend the road, just wish i was in Stave's Lotus. Mind you had a few moments when i came around a corner and found i was in a head on situation with some French car overtaking a lorry, most amusing but not when your looking out over a fairly steep drop for a few hundred feet. well off for some more climbing and a few beers tonight i think

thats it im off.

I'm steeing off tomorrow (21/09/2007) the car has 101600 miles on the clock. lets see how good it is. I guess i'm going to add about 10,000 miles or so.

The "how far will the car get" post

Well as suggested a post for how far will the car get. Hopefully all the way to Ulaan Baatar (Mongolia) but for a list of destinations between Sheffield and there click on the Google map link.

So rather than answers on a postcard just add a comment.

Please sponsor me.

As I'm travelling overland to China and I'm going to be using several hundred pounds in fuel and a substantial amount of rubber and donating my car in Mongolia I feel its only correct to try and give something back and to offset all those emissions etc, so I have set up a web page at http://www.justgiving.com/jamesmash which allows people to donate money to a selected charity. I have chosen to raise money for Cambridge Mongolian Disaster Appeal, (CAMDA) who among other things help the poorest in Mongolia.
Please visit their web site even if you don't donate any money, it's truly humbling. http://www.camda.org.uk/

Thanks and i hope you enjoy reading about how truly stupid I am. Please feel free to leave a few comments or words of wisdom to help me on my way.

about 1 month to go

only about 1 month now until i head off, Still sorting visa's not much more to do route planned and my car now has a new clutch so should be good for the distance.