Norbert's rally from London to Mongolia

Out of Kazakhstan and into Kyrgistan. More super late arrival and dinner at some unnamed hotel. In between a scare that a passport was lost, but found again. More border hassles, not a lot touristy stuff to see, but some nice landscape on their way East along the silk road. And another quick reentry into Kazahkstan is on the menu as here these states are intertwined. And in between some absolutely amazing manicured road to Almaty.
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After several days of no comms for lack of internet connectivity, I finally got some email from our two adventurers: Yesterday they reached Semey, the gateway to Russia. They managed their way through Kazahkstan including some more dangerous regions without getting harmed. By now they have probably crossed into Russia. They even bumped into another Ambulance with the folks from the Italian team.
As the crow flies they're now less than a thousand miles from their destination in Ulan Batoor in Mongolia, but given how the roads meander this is probably a longer trip.

Here some shots from Kazahkstan.
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In a surprisingly swift border crossing of only one hour they moved from Kazahkstan to Russia. The driving is still endless with shoddy and also well maintained roads alternating. They made it to Novosibirsk, where they spent some time sight seeing the relicts of the USSR.
My guesstimate of 1,000 miles turned out to be more like 1,600 real miles as they make their way around some big mountains. Their route is now mostly through Russia, Siberia to be exact until they get close to Mongolia and Ulan Batoor. Hopefully they'll find a WiFi shop along the way to keep us posted. If nothing else, Ulan Batoor has internet connectivity as I once Skyped with Bob when he was there the last time.
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They spent the night in Irkutsk at a youth hostel as no hotel had any rooms left. But they coped even with that "indignity" and carried on on the "highway" (read a dirt road with holes) around Lake Baikal (deepest lake in the world). Yesterday they arrived in Ulan Ude (see the pics below) where at their hotel Putin had a meeting with Kim El Yong, yes the tiny guy with sun glasses from North Korea. Not sure whether the Russian KGB liked their strange looking ambulance right in front of the hotel, but I guess that's another story.

Now they're about 400 miles and one border crossing away from the finish line.

Godspeed my friends on the final stretch!
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After leaving the hotel, Russian security forces told them to get out of town fast as Putin and his team were arriving. Then they had a surprisingly uneventful drive to the border. Googling the roads to the border I was sure this would be a hair raising part but apparently not.

They spent an entire day at the customs on the Russian/Mongolia border with the end result that they were let in. Unlike the British team, which managed to get into Mongolia, but not their ambulance, so they’ll spend Friday getting that accomplished. Meanwhile our two heroes will tackle the final 250 miles to Ulan Batoor and God willing arrive their on Friday evening.
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THEY MADE IT!!!!

10,000 miles, 2 months and 17 countries later they have finally arrived in Ulan Batoor. Samson, their ambulance still in one piece. Bob has been to Ulan Batoor last year so for once they actually knew where they were going.

I can’t wait for them to return and tell us all about it.
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They are currently on their way home: After arriving in Ulan Batoor, they handed over the ambulance to the local hospital and then booked a 3 day tour of the Gobi desert. After all “just” driving 10,000 miles wasn’t torturous enough.

Looking forward to hear their full report when they arrive.
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Bob and Norbert gave a presentation and speech yesterday in front of about 100 family and friends audience at the Willis Tower.

They're both not just great adventurers but also solid public speakers. I enjoyed their thoughts about the journey of a lifetime tremendously.