For a couple of weeks we were in Ulaanbaatar or in the area. Everyone here treated us so well and the Mongolian Resorts Guesthouse is the only place to stay. Drive Mongolia helped us to outfit our cars for the journey west through Central Asia, and Chinzorig’s mechanics are two of the best on the planet.
Link to gallery or click the photos below:
Back in Siem Reap, we gained a new crew member and we feel horrible, but it has taken all too long to get his bio up. His name is swinger and he is a monkey. He is a real bad ass and even has his own photo gallery. You can learn more about the little guy by clicking here.
Vang Vieng is somewhat of a traveler’s mecca. Tons of people travel here to enjoy the tubing on the river, the climbing and the laid back atmosphere. One could easily get stuck here.
Link to Gallery or click the photos below
This may not be of consequence to all of our readers, but especially for those either expecting us to return home at some point, or those of you thinking about possibly joining the adventure…we have updated the timeline. Have a look by following the link below.
Well, we are still working on the whole regular video thing. Now that we have the new crew it should be much better, but for now you will just have to watch our last promo. We are working hard and will have a better system with regular video very soon.
This was our first taste of really being in the middle of nowhere. Navigating with a compass and binoculars, we drove 650kms through the Gobi without any real roads. It is an eerie experience, but this was just the beginning and easy compared to Western Mongolia.
Enjoy.
I know oil and gas prices are on a lot of people’s minds these days. As the price of oil flirts with over $100 a barrel and oil hungry countries continue to dangle under the puppet strings of OPEC, the price of fuel (petrol) in many countries has never been higher. We have had the luxury of driving through some parts of the world where petroleum is exported and in turn, the price of fuel has been quite reasonable. On the other hand, we have driven through some countries who are heavily dependent upon petroleum imports and well, the price of fuel reflects this. Now comes Turkey.
Situated in the Middle East and sharing a common border with such countries as Syria, Iraq and other heavy hitters in the region, we did not expect it to cost too much to fill up our tanks in Turkey. Unfortunately, we heard horror stories of sky high fuel prices from other motorists we have encountered… “$7 a gallon, $8 a gallon!” Upon our arrival in turkey, it did not take long to confirm that they indeed have ridiculously high fuel prices. In fact, Turkey just happens to have the highest priced fuel in the entire world. Since we have to cover about 900 miles to get out of Turkey and into Bulgaria and since we have not one but two 5,500cc V8’s to do it in, means that Turkey is going to hurt the old TWBR wallet.
Image courtesy of American Statesman
Just how much is fuel here in Turkey you may ask? Well, Turkey only seems to have 95 octane fuel available and at 3.08 Turkish Lira per liter, that works out to about $9.85 a gallon… nearly $10 bucks! It costs us nearly $250 to fill up just one of the trucks and we have had to gas up twice already. The main reason for the high price of fuel here is not supply, but taxes the government has imposed on petroleum products. I do not know what the goal behind the heavy taxation is because there is still a lot of traffic on the roads. People in Turkey are not being discouraged from driving even if they have to take a mortgage out on their house to do so. In any regard, Turkey is the gateway to Europe and overall, the top ten most expensive countries to fill up in are all European, so we were somewhat prepared but it still does not numb the pain we are feeling at the pump right now. At least in the U.K., we only have to shell out $7 a gallon.
A lot of people ask us a lot of questions. One of the questions on the top ten most asked TWBR questions list is where do you guys sleep. Everyone from blog readers, to travelers to customs officials always seem curious as to where we lay our collective TWBR heads at night, so here is a quick glimpse of some of the places we have ended up over the course of the last few months.
Camping in the hills with Osama
Pitching tents in the snow
Crashing in colorful Kyrgyz guesthouses
Pitching tents in the middle of a goat herd
In cramped quarters on antiquated Russian ferries
Pitching tents in pretty awesome spots
Pitching tents in the middle of nowhere
Taking over an entire hostel dorm room
Next to the Trans-Siberian railroad
On seats in a Caspian ferry terminal
And more often than anticipated, in the Thundra with some Olive Oil to keep you company
Signs in Tbilisi, Georgia lead you to it from over 5 kilometers away. Security guards watch over the door in Baku, Azerbaijan like it was a posh nightclub. Students in Beijing, China congregate there at 1 am. In Thailand, Singapore, Indonesia and even Australia you have the comfort of knowing you can communicate your needs there exactly no matter how severe the language barrier. Just what is it that I love so much? Well it is McDonald’s. That’s right, McDonald’s. I know my triathlon coach Mike Ricci is freaking out right now along with all of the other people who loath the fast food giant, but without a doubt, I am lovin’ it.
Before I left on the expedition, I never really ate that much fast food at all and if I did, McDonald’s definitely was not included. So just what is it that is driving me to become a Big Macaholic on this trip. Actually, it is quite simple… it is easy and familiar. No matter where you are in the world, at McDonald’s you know exactly what you are going to get, you know exactly what it is going to taste like, and you can point to a picture of what you want if you can’t speak the language.
We have been to nearly 20 countries thus far on the expedition, each with their own local delicacies, claims to fame and must tries. The variety of food I have been exposed to is amazing and those who have been there will attest to the fact that I will usually eat, or at least try, anything that is put in front of me. I have come to thoroughly enjoy Thai green curry, Chinese hot pot, Cambodian lok lak, Uzbekistan osh and Central Asian shashlik. Unfortunately, variety can come at a cost. When you are traveling, finding a good restaurant or street stall, even if they specialize in the local delicacy, is a crap shoot. Sometimes you score and well, other times you do not. The consistency, quantity and quality of the same food from place to place in the countries I have been to varies tremendously just like a steak from Morton’s can’t really compare to one from a Flying J truck stop.
We have found good food and when we do, we usually pay the establishment a return visit or three while we are still in the area, but inevitably, it is time to move on… on to a new country, to a new type of cuisine and to new adventures in gastronomics. Often times, we go out in search of food not to try new things and experience new flavors but simply to survive. After a while, this can get kind of old. I took food familiarity completely for granted before this trip but now know full well the power of being able to enjoy a great home cooked meal or have the ability to pop over to my favorite burrito stand. Imagine having to eat at a different house or go out to a different restaurant every night… it might be fun and enjoyable for a while and you get to taste some great new things, but soon you long for the comfort of what you know will be good and for me on the road, this familiarity and comfort comes from my buddy Ronald and his burgers.
Fresh of the boat in Baku and ready for a Big Mac attack
I missed Ronald. The last time I saw him and his 500 calorie Big Macs was in Beijing over 2 months ago. Here in the Caucus, he is back, surprisingly enough in Azerbaijan and Georgia. Some of you might think that this is horrible and that the very presence of McDonald’s is a shame. How dare Ronald export his Type 2 diabetes causing crap and corrupt the local cuisine of more than 119 countries around the globe? Well, people across the world seem to be lovin’ it just as much as I am.
Worldwide, McDonald’s serves over 47 million people each and every day. McDonald’s, Macker’s, the golden arches, etc., is usually packed and packed with people that you might not expect to find at a McDonald’s back in the states. I have yet to see an overweight customer at an overseas McDonald’s and in Baku and Tiblisi, I think there might even be a dress code in effect because everyone is usually wearing designer jeans and fancy leather coats. In Tbilisi, they even have a smartly dressed hostess to help you with your needs and it also appears as if people can actually call in advance to place orders and reserve tables. Forget about Super Size Me, personally, I have yet to stem my expedition weight loss even with the help of numerous Big Macs and "Royal Chizburgers." I guess driving through roadblocks burns more calories than I thought. When I do get back to the states, my love affair with McDonald’s will most likely come to an end, but for the time being, the romance continues and in the absence of a nice turkey dinner for Thanksgiving, a Big Mac is a suitable, savory substitute and represents the sweet taste of familiarity.
We are all safe so do not be alarmed by the title of the blog. However, we are in some need of assistance. When Little Pepe got broken into in Kazakhstan, the punk thief stole my entire business card folder. I know business cards are a hot ticket item these days, but seriously. I have a few left that were floating around the car, but essentially, all of the business cards and e-mails of people we have been into contact with in one form or another since the planning phases of the expedition were lost and are probably now lining the bottom of a dumpster somewhere in Almaty.
So, if you are reading this blog and are a sponsor, a traveler, a one-time passenger, an interesting restaurant owner or just someone who we met along the way and exchanged contact information with, I would appreciate it if you could e-mail either Steve or myself so we can start to compile our contact database again. If we have been in e-mail contact since we met, etc. it will should be in our Outlook, so don’t worry, but if not, we would truly appreciate hearing from you.
