Hot Fuzz

By Steve Bouey in

November 22, 2007 – 7:53 am

Man, they were everywhere. I have never seen so many cops in my entire life, most of whom seemed to be doing nothing of real significance aside from creating problems instead of solving them. Where pray tell might I be talking about? Well, I am talking about Russia and the former Soviet republics. You would think that with the number of police they have milling about in the cities and hiding behind buildings and bushes in the countryside in these countries that crime would be virtually nonexistent. Unfortunately, many of the cops are not there to protect and serve but instead are there to profit and make things unpleasant. You know something is not right when a traffic cop is driving a Benz to work from his mansion on the hill. 

I can’t say we weren’t prepared for a few encounters with cops on the take, but I definitely was not expecting to see as many as I did. Fortunately for us, we managed to make it through the minefield of questionable cops relatively unscathed. Overall, you can not really predict what types of cops you are going to encounter. Travel blogs are full of verbiage about "police on the prowl" and getting fleeced for simply having a pulse. Unfortunately very few sites offer any real information on what to expect and how much, probably because everyone has a different experience when driving through these areas.

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The Uzbek cops were just waiting to see who showed up at the flash Toyotas parked in Samarkand

If there is one rule to abide by: play dumb and ask a lot of questions. Cops on the take don’t like to do a lot of paperwork, so the more documents you shove in their face and the more receipts you ask for, the more likely they are to get annoyed with you and move onto the next sucker. Simply saying no and goodbye repeatedly in the local language was enough of a Jedi mind trick to avoid some unanticipated ATM withdrawals. If anything, hold out for as long as possible… the more you waste their time, the more retirement fund contributors drive by. Who knows, maybe if enough people hold out, they will be forced into doing some actual police work. In places like Yosemite and Yellowstone, they have signs that read, "Don’t feed the bears." If the bears learn that people will feed them, the more they will want to interact with them… the more people feed the corrupt cops, the more they will want to interact with them.

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"If you want to give me a ‘ticket,’ you’ll have to fill out a lot of paperwork."

In sum, the shadiest cops we encountered were in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan. Fortunately, the dumbest cops we encountered were also in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan, so we were able to wiggle our way out of virtually all shakedown attempts. By the time the cops tried to levy a bogus charge in order to leave Azerbaijan, we had become veterans of the game and they didn’t know what hit them. Uzbekistan took the cake for the number of checkpoints as we encountered an average of about four per day during the week and a half we were there. We did have some good experiences of note… the cops in Almaty, Kazakhstan were genuinely interested in helping us when we got robbed and in Uzbekistan, even though they have more cops that actual citizens, the police we encountered were all very friendly, especially when greeted with an "assalam alaikum" handshake.

We started keeping track of the number of times we got pulled over and the number of checkpoints we had to clear, but after the ink went dry in the pen, realized we would get writers cramp trying to document all of our encounters. In the end, we spent a little over a month in Russia and former Soviet republics. In that time, we got pulled or waved over approximately a dozen times, completely ignored at least four more, drove through about 25 checkpoints and managed to get through it all for only a little over $40, most of which came from my speeding ticket in the last 10 kilometers of Azerbaijan. The speeding ticket technically should not count since the guy did have a radar gun, although it probably hasn’t been recalibrated in quite a while. 

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Trip Thoughts, Uzbekistan | Comments (0)

Where Has All of the Water Gone?

By Steve Bouey in

November 21, 2007 – 6:12 am

One of the areas that I wanted to visit since the beginning of this expedition was the Aral Sea. The Area Sea straddles Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan and these days is not really much of a sea anymore. In fact, experts believe that the desertification of the entire body of water could be complete in the next 15-20 years. The Aral Sea was once a massive body of water that was home to a variety of life and supported a vibrant fishing industry. Today, little is left of the fishing industry and the shrinking waters have become too contaminated with pollutants and chemical weapons waste to sustain much life of any type. The Aral Sea has recently split into the North and South Aral Seas and it is expected to divide again as it continues to dry up.

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Bouey imagines what life was like when the sea was here while Karie tries to figure out how to use binoculars

The cause of the “Aral Sea Disaster,” as many refer to it, is the diversion of water from the sea to irrigate and sustain cotton cultivation in an extremely inhospitable and arid environment during the Soviet Era. Although the level of cotton production has declined and become more efficient, the diversion of water for irrigation continues. The canals diverting water from the sea lead off in every direction and reach as far away as Turkmenistan. However, poor maintenance and resource planning means that very little water actually makes it to it’s intended destination. Some people say that up to three times as much water is being drained from the Aral Sea as is replenished by natural sources.

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The sign on the outskirts of town is evidence of what life used to be like in Moynaq

It is hard to imagine the magnitude of the effects the desertification of the Aral Sea are having in the region unless you see them firsthand. In fact, the effects are being felt as far away as Kyrgyzstan, where high concentrations of salt, sand and chemicals lifted from the dry seabed have been carried thousands of kilometers by winds. In the immediate area, the rainy season has shrunk from an average of 150 days of rain per year to a stunning 35… most likely due to the atmospheric effects of the shrinking sea.

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To our surprise, life limps on in Moynaq

Thanks to the freedom of our Toyotas, we were able to visit the once thriving fishing town of Moynaq in the remote and isolated Karakalpakistan province of Uzbekistan. The shoreline of the Aral Sea now lies nearly 150 kilometers to the north of Moynaq. There are many towns like Moynaq, but here, the rusting, skeletal remains of a once proud fishing fleet that lay scattered across the sand dunes are a striking image of the ecological and economic impact that have been left in the wake of the receding waters.

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Remnants of the fishing fleet litter the landscape

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Moynaq used to have a population of over 2,000. By our estimates, the present population could not be more than 500. At least that is what it felt like. Moynaq was a total ghost town and everyone was left puzzled as to why any of the remaining residents would chose to stay out here literally in the middle of nowhere. After our arrival, we immediately spotted a few small boats rusting in the desert, but it was only after a few local children pointed us in the right direction that we found what we were looking for.

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Small pools are all that remain of the Aral Sea in Moynaq

I have seen pictures of these boats before, but only after you see them with your own eyes, laying in the Martian-like  landscape that has become their grave, do you really start to understand what has happened in Moynaq and the surrounding area. I did a lot of thinking here. Why did they leave the boats here? Why didn’t they move them with the water? Why do they continue to drain water from the sea? Are there any other alternatives? Does anybody care at all?

Seeing what was left of the Aral Sea at Moynaq is unlike anything I have ever seen before. Hopefully, the governments in the region can come to an agreement on a solution, and hopefully experts and scientists are able to identify one that can restore part of the Aral Sea or at least stop its current evaporation. Unfortunately, by the time that happens, I fear it will be far too late and the entire region will be left to deal with the effects. Governments have been arguing over and scientists have been studying the Aral Sea for years. According to locals, if every scientist who visited the Aral Sea simply brought a bucket of water with them, the problem would already be solved. 

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Environment, History, Trip Thoughts, Uzbekistan, World News | Comments (0)

The Times They are a Changing

By Steve Bouey in

November 20, 2007 – 12:52 am

Believe it or not, time seems to fly by pretty quickly on the World by Road. Even though we were hiking through the sweltering heat and humidity of the jungles of Endau Rompin Malaysia over five months ago, it basically seems like yesterday. The scenery did not change much and the temperature essentially remained the same throughout most of SE Asia and coupled with having to wait to get into China, it felt like we were in a time warp. When we reached higher elevations outside of Kunming, it was the first time in quite a while that we actually could and needed to wear long pants and shirts. According to the calendar in Mongolia, it was fall, but a lack of trees throughout most of the country still did not provide any visual indication of what time of year it was. Moving northwest into Russia, the leaves on the trees were starting to change, but the sub zero temperatures we experienced nearly every night in Mongolia gave way to milder ones as we lost elevation. In Kazakhstan, the vibrant orange, yellow and red leaves suddenly reminded us that we were getting late into fall, but it was still shorts and t-shirt weather there, so it still felt like we were in a bit of a time warp.

It really did not start to hit us that winter was approaching until crossing into Kyrgyzstan, and hit us it did… literally. About 10 kilometers from the Kyrgyz border, it started to snow and it was obvious that the rain we had experienced in Kazakhstan the previous night had been a full-fledged blizzard just across the border. It was difficult to follow the road in spots and for some people, even more difficult to stay on it. At the border, not much was going on and a few of the guards seemed more concerned about the snowman they were constructing than what was in our trucks. Clearing customs in Kyrgyzstan was a snap, but I was worried they were not going to let us in because of the amount of snow on the road ahead of us. In fact, there were at least two or three cars that had gone off the road at the border itself. Luckily for us, and some other stranded motorists, we had our Toyotas. Whether we used manpower or horsepower, we helped quite a few people who had gotten stuck in the snow. We actually managed to get stuck once ourselves… trying in vain to assist a car that had skidded down an embankment. Fortunately, with the aid of some helpful Kyrgyz locals and border guards with assault rifles still slung over their shoulders, we were not stuck for long. Once we got back on the road, I reminisced about getting stuck in the mud in Cambodia and how it did not seem that long ago. In the grand scheme of things, I guess driving down that Cambodian road was not that long ago. However, once I looked out the window, the hot, steamy jungles of Cambodia could not have been any farther away. 

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The remote Kyrgyz border outside of Kegen

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The snow was no problem for the Thundra

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Don’t blame the Toyota… it was user error

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Soon though, everyone was all smiles

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Road Conditions | Comments (0)

Out of Asia

By Steven Shoppman in

November 18, 2007 – 3:15 am

We are nearing our end in Asia.  From Indonesia to Russia we went spanned the continent South to North. From China to Turkey we will have made the passage from East to West. In covering this vast continent, we have encountered bandits, sand storms, snow storms, bears, foxes, cobras, camels, and countless geographical challenges. We have passed through the lands of the Soviets, Chinggis Chan, the Ming Dynasties, Mao, Ho Chi Minh, the Sultans and more.  We have seen some of the richest people and the poorest people. Our trucks have been our transportation, our home, our bed, our kitchen, our theater, our security. Temperatures have ranged from negative twenty to well over 100.

But over the last 7 months it has taken us to navigate this continent, none of the previous experiences would have prepared us for the last week we have spent leaving Central Asia…

On November 1st, while in Bishkek, Kygyzstan, we recieved word that the Uzbek government had accepted our requests for visas.  This gave us the prized letter of invitation to get us our visas for Uzbekistan. We then called to make an appointment at the Uzbek consul to apply for the visas and they gave us an appointment for November 3rd. Local info told us that we should have the paperwork ready before we went in for the appointment so the next day (Nov 2nd), we stopped by to get the forms. At this point the angry lady behind the counter in Russian pointed to the sign that said we needed to have a translator.  We raced over to a hotel that we knew had an employee that spoke good english and pleeded with him to come help us.  He agreed and that afternoon we received our Uzbek visas, only after paying an additional $50 "rush fee" in cash to the slimy guy behind the counter since we came a day early for our appointment.

Over the next two days sleeping in the trucks and one night a NGO workers flat in Osh, Kygyzstan, we made our way to the Uzbek border. The trucks we only allowed through the border one at a time.  I took Little Pepe through first without problem.  Bouey took the Thundra through next and I figured it would be the same for him and Tash. Karie and I sat on the Uzbek side of the border and waited, and waited. I could see Steve in the distance and it was clear that something was wrong.  Did they find the CB radio? What could be the problem. I later was informed that it was the fireworks that we had purchased in China as a souveneir. These "explosives" as the guards told Bouey could have got him in big trouble if he was not a tourist.  He was informed,. "It is illegal to leave those here and it is illegal to take them into Uzbekistan." The guards made hime walk the "explosives" accross the border and back into Kygryzstan where he left them on the side of the road.  This is the beginning of Central Asian paperwork and border madness.

From here we had wonderful time in Uzbekistan enjoying the wonderful hospitality and smiling faces of the friendly Uzbek people.  Other than the police checkpoints every 50-100km on the road and a week of visa work in Tashkent, things went quite smoothly.  Even at the checkpoints the guards seemed more curious than corrupt.  Tashkent to Samarqand, Samarqand to Bukhara, Bukhara to Khiva, the pace was fast but still fun.  We knew however that this 6 days of fun would quickly come to an end as we approached the Aral Sea and our crossing of the Caspian.

After Khiva we made our way to Moynaq, the formerly prosperous fishing community on the Aral Sea is now a wasteland in the middle of a highly polluted dustbed full of rusting boats, trash and a feel remenicent of Mad Max movies. The Aral Sea was drained by canals built when the Soviet Union was in power and is one of the worst ecological disasters in the history of the world.  This is quite apparent as you leave with a feeling of terror imagining what it must have been like for the people in this community to watch their livelyhood dissappear as shore of the Aral Sea now lies over 150km away from the village. The use of DDT and other chemicals has caused hundereds of health problems in the inhabitants of the area and these chemicals continue to spread around the area in dust storms caused by the dried out Aral Sea.  This does not exactly lift your spirits on your way into the no-man’s land that spans over 600km from Nukus, Uzbekistan to Aktau, Kazakhstan.

The next three days we drove 500km on offically the worst roads we have encountered. The Uzbek/Kazak border required an overnight stay in the middle of below freezing temperatures hundreds of kilometers from anything in any direction. Three times in the course of the week the trucks nearly ran out of gas. We only ate ramen noodles, salami and a few other odds and ends for over 5 days (the only food available). Upon our arrival to Aktau, Kazakhstan we were pulled over and harrased by the police within an hour and ended up sleeping again in the trucks near the trash dump outside of town, but at least it was on hill overlooking the Caspian. The next morning we were harrased by the police again.

To our delight we found out the next morning that ferry to Baku, Azerbaijan would be leaving that night. We were extatic. Our time in the beurocratic hell of Central Asia had finally come to an end, or so we thought. The next stop was the ticketing office for the ferry. Two hours later we had our personal tickets for the journey, but at the office they could not sell tickets for the trucks. I was told by the sister of the office clerk (she translated for us via phone) that I should go to the port immediately to deal with the trucks.  The boat did not leave for 10 hours, so this warning to go to the port right away did not seem to be good news.

At the port we visted the ticketing office.  After purchasing the tickets we had to get 5 different stamps from 5 different departments before we would be able to ship the trucks.  Each department was in a different place in the port. Customs down, on to immigration, immigration down on to some other department we do not understand the name of, from deptartment no name we went back to customs who informed us we needed a final stamp from "Pajera".  They pointed again to the opposite side of the ship yard. "Pajera, Pajera," we repeated to every person we could find.  They kept pointing toward a building we were conviced was the janaitors office as it smelled like a mix of paint thinner and cleaning chemicals.  The man inside had waived us away numerous times before.

Finally we went into his shack and said pajera one more time.  It was the pajera, or safety officer as we later found out.  In a room with signs all over the wall about fire safety and hard hats, our brief stay in the room got both of us so high on chemical fumes that we were about ready to pass out after he stamped.  These signs don’t seem to make much sense when the fire safety officer’s building is actually a mix of explosive chemicals located about 10ft from a gigantic oil pipeline to fill the tankers in the caspian. We did not care at that point now, we could not see straight and were finally done dealing with the paperwork.

Fifteen hours waiting in the customs/immigration room later and we were finally on the ferry, 6 hours later it finally left the port, 22 hours later we arrived in the Baku marina, 6 hours later we actaully docked at the port, 3 hours later we finished the rest of the paperwork and finally were out of customs and into Baku.  You can do the math. I do not know the exact amount of time it has taken us to get out of Central Asia. Bruised and battered, tired and sore, our time in Central Asia has come to an end at the cost of somewhere around 4 days worth of paperwork and stamps, 6 days of off roading and sleeping the cars, and a chunk of my sanity.

Within an hour of our entrance to the streets of Baku we made our way to MacDonalds, the first one since months ago in China. It was one of the best meals I have ever eaten…in a world with no consistancy or for that matter even food regularly available, the friendly sight of the golden arches is a weird kind of solace after the experience we just had.

I apologize for grammar/spelling errors in this post, but there was no time to proof read this puppy…I must leave the internet cafe and carry on for the last week in Asia.  Europe, here we come.

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in Expedition Updates, Kazakhstan, Road Conditions, Uzbekistan | Comments (1)

It is truly a different world.

By Steven Shoppman in

November 12, 2007 – 12:08 am

In each country there are things that happen or things you read that remind you just how upside down the world is that surrounds you.  On my recent trip back to the states, I purchased some 2-way radios for the trucks.  When I was meandering about town trying to find the best setup I found myself in a shop catering mostly to long distance truckers passing through Denver. Inside I explained just what I was up to and the manager looked at me in surprise.  He could not believe that I was only in Mongolia days earlier and now standing right in front of him.

He informed me that the CBs may not be legal in some of the countries that we would be traveling through. I replied by saying, “That’s okay, we can just pay a ‘fee’ to the customs officers and we will be on our way.”

“But, won’t that get expensive?” he replied.

I informed him that these fees are sometimes one or two dollars.  A gentleman behind me interjected, “Man, you really are living in a different world right now, aren’t you?” The truth is we are.  Some days it seems we are so used to it that I surprise my own self with the thoughts I have in my head. I expect it to take 2-3 times as long to get anything done than it would in Western countries.  When we cross borders many times I am surprised to see that the border is organized enough to have a logbook, let alone a computer. Just finding a place to withdraw money can take an entire day or even longer.

Many of our blogs speak of the different customs and cultures we have encountered, but today I have something really special to show you all.  It is a true testament to just how much thoughts, ideas, and the media are controlled in that backwards place we call China. Below is a clipping from a newspaper that one of our latest joinees, Tash, had tucked in her guidebook. It was published in the newspaper in Xi’an no more than 2 months ago.  This article looks like something you might read in a modern uncensored newspaper as a joke, or perhaps the local science journals in 1872.

An elder resident of Xi’an, surnamed Li, said that couples sleeping in the same bed was “not scientific and healthy”.

Li, 67, made a presentation to the city with his idea of separate sleeping arrangements for couples. “You have to take your wife’s breath, and you are disturbed by her moves in the bed with limited room,” he said. “How can you sleep well?” He suggested that couples be separated when they sleep. But some residents disagreed with his ideas, saying that couples should sleep together if they feel comfortable and happy, though other residents thought that Li’s suggestion had some merit. Health experts said that different couples have different ways of sleeping and they should choose whatever way is suitable for them.

Good thing they have some “health experts” on this one. For those of you that do not live in a country that has extreme levels of censorship, take a moment to remember just how privileged you are.

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in China, For some laughs, Trip Thoughts, World News | Comments (0)

Fuel costs and more

By Steven Shoppman in

November 10, 2007 – 10:52 pm

Earlier on Steve Bouey put together statistics about our fuel consumption and the cost of fuel in various countries. We have recently turned this into a static page on the site so that it is easily accessible to all of those adventurers out there that could use it.

Soon we will be putting together even more stats including times at borders, things to watch out for in other countries, and probably even some silly ones about mishaps on the road. So click the link below or navigate to it under journals at the top to find out more about our statistics.

http://theworldbyroad.com/wordpress/mileage-fuel-consumption-and-cost/

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in Expedition Updates, Statistics | Comments (0)

Keeping The Faith

By Steve Bouey in

November 9, 2007 – 6:03 am

I have to admit, our time spent in Kazakhstan was less than to be desired. A series of events, albeit isolated, left a pretty bad taste in our collective TWBR mouths and we were extremely ready to leave. I do not want to take our experiences in Almaty, Kazakhstan and use them to generalize the entire country because I am sure our experiences were isolated… at least I hope so. The fact of the matter is, when you do have bad experiences they tend to stick with you for a while. So as to prevent our misfortunes from permanently burning a negative image of the country in our minds, we packed up what was left of our stuff and headed south into Kyrgyzstan.

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Let the healing begin

What a difference a few hundred kilometers can make. In fact, just getting out of the hustle and bustle of Almaty aided in the mental healing process that needed to begin sooner rather than later. Once we were back out in the Kazakh countryside, we experienced much more hospitality. In Almaty, we were charged $7 for a dirty towel (which is what I thought typically happens when you use one), but in the countryside, a farmer worked around our tents even though we were camping in his field, apparently in an effort not to disturb us.

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Even the local labor force came out to welcome us

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Crossing the border into Kyrgyzstan further aided in restoring our faith in humanity. People were actually smiling and waved as we passed through their village or town. Instead of dodging oncoming traffic, speeding for no apparent reason, locals on horseback were racing along side the Tundra shouting out a welcoming "hello!"  In Kazakhstan, we were refused a room at the cheapest hotel in Almaty because we must have looked "undesirable" even though our money was still green, but the family who ran the guesthouse in Karakol, Kyrgyzstan wanted us to join them at their table for dinner and in Bishkek, the owners of the guesthouse went out of their way to help us find out more information about getting visas for Uzbekistan.

The healing process continues for us here in Uzbekistan. The people here are extremely friendly and genuinely curious about where we are from. Small children, parents and grandparents alike all wave and greet you with a warm hello. In fact, I think we received more waves and heard more hellos in the first hour of being in Uzbekistan than we have on the entire trip… all this in a country that we were supposed to be weary of. The food here is amazing and I am actually beginning to feel better about wandering out of view of our trucks. Unfortunately, all of the car alarms here in Toshkent sound exactly like the ones on the Thundra and Little Pepe, so I still wake up at night and run out into the street in my boxer shorts to see if everything is o.k. when I hear one go off.

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The local Uzbek welcome wagon met us at the border

Ultimately, if you are in a bad situation, the best thing you can do is try to get out of it and for us, that meant moving on quicker than we had planned. In our experience on The World by Road, sometimes moving on means moving on into more unpredictability and uncertainty. We were hoping that in this case, moving on would be positive and as far as we can tell, it has been just that. At a time when all of us had lost a lot of our faith in humanity, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan were just what the doctor ordered.

By Steve Bouey | Posted in Kyrgyzstan, Trip Thoughts, Uzbekistan, World News | Comments (0)

TWBR Can Change You

By Steve Bouey in

November 8, 2007 – 6:04 am

TWBR has the ability to change a lot of things about you. TWBR has the ability to change the way you interact with people. TWBR has the ability to change the way you view the rest of the world. TWBR has the ability to change the way you look at yourself. Recently, I was looking through some of my identification cards and it became quite obvious that TWBR also has the ability to change to way you look period. Don’t get me wrong, I still look good…  had to throw that in there to let some people know that TWBR has not damaged my ego at all… and there are still no signs of any gray hairs even though I have now entered my thirties. However, it is kind of funny to look in the mirror from time to time ( in our case usually the rearview mirror) and see who is there.

For the most part, the "Metamorphosis of Bouey" seems to be tied directly to my hair. Whether is the hair on my head or the hair on my face, TWBR has contributed to a lot of experimentation and usually results in a good laugh or two. So, for all of you who have not been able to witness my various transformations, here are some photos for your viewing pleasure. I know Galuh in Indonesia will get a serious kick out of this since she is always making fun of my hair.

Steve Bouey Passport

Ah, new Passport and apparently ready for the Army – 2004

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Still keeping it clean in ’04

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Getting certified to dive must make your hair grow – 2006

Steve Bouey Driving Permit

No comment – February 07

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Australia makes your hair shrink – April 07

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The man with the fuzzy face – October 07

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Wow, TWBR is really starting to work some magic – October 07

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TWBR can also lead to mental problems – November 07

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Getting ready to apply for a job at Blackwater – November 07

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Beards are out in UZ but I’m bringin’ back the stash – November 07

By Steve Bouey | Posted in For some laughs, Trip Thoughts | Comments (2)

Apparently, We Are Not Alone

By Steve Bouey in

November 7, 2007 – 6:01 am

We have been through a descent number of countries on our way around the world, have seen our fair share of cars and have a pretty good grasp on the type of cars that seem to be most prevalent. Without a doubt, Toyota comes in as the heavyweight to date in terms of the sheer number of cars they have on the road. This is true in terms of both new and used cars. In Australia, the farm-utility Land Cruiser dominated the outback. Cambodia was where early 90’s model Camarys go to die but somehow do not.  In China, new Prados, Land Cruisers and minivans shuffle the affluent around clogged and congested city streets. We have also seen quite a few Toyota models that are not available back home in the States. Everyone knows what a Toyota is and everyone seems to regard Toyota as the best manufacture out there.

Just as there are Toyotas we have never seen on the road in the States, people in other countries have never seen the Toyotas we are driving on their roads. The Thundra and Little Pepe both turn heads everywhere we go and gear-heads are always eager to get a glimpse under the hood… when they do, we are stuck for a while.

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When we were in the early planning stages of the expedition, people suggested driving older model 4×4’s so we would fit in better and not turn as many heads in the countries we were driving through. We were warned that driving big, flash, new cars would attract unwanted attention. We did get robbed in Almaty, but I do not believe it was a result of the type of car we were driving (there was a 2007 Range Rover just down the street) and even if it was a factor, overall, driving brand new, flash, out-of-the-ordinary trucks has had a much more positive impact on the expedition. People are attracted to our trucks and because of that, we have met a wide range of individuals who are willing to help us out… from Cambodian Generals to Mongolian mechanics to Russian border guards. It is also reassuring to know that if we do hit rock bottom, someone is willing to buy the Tundra essentially on the spot… we have already had over three offers – all over $35,000 US in cash.

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We have seen a fair amount of FJ’s on the roads

Being on the receiving end of all of this attention, especially when you are driving the Thundra, is kind of nice. In some ways it makes you feel like a bit of a rock star. I have said it before, but I would hedge a bet that by the time we finish the expedition, our Tundra will be the most photographed Tundra in the history of Tundras. I have no clue as to the number of times people have whipped out a camera or cell phone to snap off a few shots of the Tundra. It does not matter if it is a gas station, service bay, tourist attraction or even a police checkpoint, someone is out there adding a pic of the Thundra to their photo collection.

Given that our Tundra has been the focus of so much attention, it was a bit odd when I found myself whipping out my own camera to take a picture of someone else’s 2007 Tundra. Without a doubt, we were definitely the first people to take a 2007 model Tundra outside of the United States and I did not really expect to see any others, at least not until we hit South America.  I would also bet that you could count the number of 2007 Tundras outside of North America on your hands, so when I did see a new, bright red 2007 Tundra stopped at a traffic signal in Almaty, Kazakhstan I was quite shocked. If you remember from a previous blog, Almaty had already given our preconceived notions of Kazakhstan a good rattling, mainly due to the overwhelming presence of luxury cars but when I saw that Tundra, it stood out from all of the other fancy cars around it. My excitement level was akin to a kid opening the GI Joe action figure they wanted at Christmas. I wish I could have shown the Russian guys driving the Tundra my Tundra as I am sure it would have lead to an interesting encounter. These dudes obviously had cash considering how much it would cost to import such a vehicle and in Kazakhstan, there are only a few ways to make that kind of cash. I do not want to insinuate as to what their occupation was, but either way, it would have been nice to add them into our little black book of international contacts… contacts that we would have not been able to add if it were not for the Toyota trucks we are driving.

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By Steve Bouey | Posted in Kazakhstan, The Toyotas, Trip Thoughts | Comments (0)

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

By Steven Shoppman in

November 6, 2007 – 4:05 am

We cannot thank all of you enough for your continued support of the expedition. Visas, fuel, accommodation and just about everything else are extremely expensive here in Central Asia.  In fact, we were recently charged and extra $50 “rush fee” for our Uzbek visas.  Apparently, it was a rush because we were early for our appointment to have them put our already approved visa stickers in our passports. I am guessing that Uzbekistan will not be seeing the extra $50 per visa on any of the accounting books, as it had to be paid in cash to the sleazy “diplomat” behind the glass.

I cannot stress enough how grateful we are to all of you for your continued support.  It is these donations that will continue to allow us to succeed in out mission to make it around the world in one piece.

Our most recent thanks go to:

Stephen Hibbard

The Magaras (Again)

Katie Shoppman (My sister, the subscriber)

Elaine Geffen

Brian Rogers (Recently Subscribed)

If you are interested in joining the ranks of these fine people, just click here.

By Steven Shoppman | Posted in Expedition Sponsors, Expedition Updates | Comments (0)