Friday August 26th
So today the bordercrossing thanks to Neil, returning yesterday at about 10 PM, of course with the
proofs of insurance.
A ten minute drive to the border and then practice patience.
Lots of officials running around. One checks this and the other one checks that. The following one this again and the fourth one that again. But to get that far you first have to fill out some forms. And those also get checked. And then the car.
I have to open everything. Each and every box is examined. "Have you got fresh meat with you ?"
Without second thought I say no. Then a packet of bacon shows up. "And that?"
"That has been smoked". So it's not fresh. That proves to be good enough. Fortunately we cooked the
fresh meat we bought in Ivalo in its whole yesterday. Therefore that causes also no problem.
Then we can go, but first I have to fill out the set of forms again, because they have not been filled in well according to that gentleman.
As we want to get in the car, we are checked once again. By a soldier. For that I have got a course note that I to hand over to him. The jester already has examined the car entirely about half an hour ago!
Twenty meters down the road we have to stop again. Our license plate number is taken and reported to the next checkpoint. Then we can drive on. After approximately 10 kilometers we get to that checkpoint.
A group of young soldiers is standing there, making fun.
Do we want to buy mushrooms? No, we don't know how to handle them. Cigarettes? Sorry, non-smokers. Do we see a glance of disbelief on their faces?
We can go on. Two hundred meters down the road the others are waiting near a shed that appears to be a fueling station. We refuel 80 liters diesel. That costs approximately 48 euro. Not bad at all. Later this still proves to be on the expensive side. The clerk tries to deceive us for about 50 roubles but Yvonne catches him.
Once we are all done we drive eastbound. We now must meet Alex again who went by the North. And that succeeds. Although we are terribly late, we meet him on the agreed spot. Appears that he was about to leave. Fortunately he waited a few more minutes when he heard an English voice on the CB. After passing one more checkpoint we continue for the city of Vernetochomskije.
There we meet the contact of a hotel. Against payment of 400 euro we are registered as staying in that hotel for one night because a stay in a hotel for expatriate is obligatorily. In reality we will never see this hotel. Appears that the rules have changed and that we must "stay" two nights. That costs once more 400 euro. This has not been taken into account. Neil asks if we agree that we take half at our expense. We agree on that. For him it's also a setback. In the meantime some of us buy some fruits from a couple of women at the road-side. That is not really cheap. Special rates for tourists? And on we go. Just outside the city the road gets piteous. Large potholes. Everyone swerves from left to right and back to avoid the largest holes. There is not a bit of asphalt to see. Nevertheless we are surpassed by a Russian private car. Dad, and mum with a kid on her lap. After about fifty kilometers or so, Neil decides to call it a day and a bit away from the road, with view on a lake, we make camp.
A ten minute drive to the border and then practice patience.
Lots of officials running around. One checks this and the other one checks that. The following one this again and the fourth one that again. But to get that far you first have to fill out some forms. And those also get checked. And then the car.
I have to open everything. Each and every box is examined. "Have you got fresh meat with you ?"
Without second thought I say no. Then a packet of bacon shows up. "And that?"
"That has been smoked". So it's not fresh. That proves to be good enough. Fortunately we cooked the
fresh meat we bought in Ivalo in its whole yesterday. Therefore that causes also no problem.
Then we can go, but first I have to fill out the set of forms again, because they have not been filled in well according to that gentleman.
As we want to get in the car, we are checked once again. By a soldier. For that I have got a course note that I to hand over to him. The jester already has examined the car entirely about half an hour ago!
Twenty meters down the road we have to stop again. Our license plate number is taken and reported to the next checkpoint. Then we can drive on. After approximately 10 kilometers we get to that checkpoint.
A group of young soldiers is standing there, making fun.
Do we want to buy mushrooms? No, we don't know how to handle them. Cigarettes? Sorry, non-smokers. Do we see a glance of disbelief on their faces?
We can go on. Two hundred meters down the road the others are waiting near a shed that appears to be a fueling station. We refuel 80 liters diesel. That costs approximately 48 euro. Not bad at all. Later this still proves to be on the expensive side. The clerk tries to deceive us for about 50 roubles but Yvonne catches him.
Once we are all done we drive eastbound. We now must meet Alex again who went by the North. And that succeeds. Although we are terribly late, we meet him on the agreed spot. Appears that he was about to leave. Fortunately he waited a few more minutes when he heard an English voice on the CB. After passing one more checkpoint we continue for the city of Vernetochomskije.
There we meet the contact of a hotel. Against payment of 400 euro we are registered as staying in that hotel for one night because a stay in a hotel for expatriate is obligatorily. In reality we will never see this hotel. Appears that the rules have changed and that we must "stay" two nights. That costs once more 400 euro. This has not been taken into account. Neil asks if we agree that we take half at our expense. We agree on that. For him it's also a setback. In the meantime some of us buy some fruits from a couple of women at the road-side. That is not really cheap. Special rates for tourists? And on we go. Just outside the city the road gets piteous. Large potholes. Everyone swerves from left to right and back to avoid the largest holes. There is not a bit of asphalt to see. Nevertheless we are surpassed by a Russian private car. Dad, and mum with a kid on her lap. After about fifty kilometers or so, Neil decides to call it a day and a bit away from the road, with view on a lake, we make camp.
Saturday August 27th.
At ten we leave. But because the clock here is two hours ahead compared to the Netherlands and
three hours to the UK, that's at 8 o'clock Dutch time or 7 o'clock UK time. Therefore it feels pretty
early.
The road is and remains bad. That will remain the rest of the trip this way, therefore I no longer have to mention it. Eventually the so called road finishes and we are entering tracks. Of course not better at all. But that's what we are here for. And also for rivers without bridges.
Soon we get to the first crossing. Neil goes in first. He is a bit quick there and this way Vaughn, not following very closely behind, doesn't see where he exactly enters the river. And thus things turn wrong.
Vaughn takes a different route and finds himself stuck on a submerged rock, his car pivoting on top of it.
Slowly the car fills with water. The engine keeps on running. After some problems Neil gets him out. I go in as second one without any problem and the others as well.
As Vaughn and Lisa get out of their car, water runs from everywhere. Everything is wet. The seats and the interior but also their luggage. The sugar cubes e.g. are no longer recognizable. All has to be cleaned and more or less dried so we can go on.
Unfortunately Vaughn and Lisa's Disco doesn't want to start. The engine turns over, but doesn't want to fire up. Whatever we try, no luck and we start to fear that the engine management system got wet and is damaged. After some searching Mark discovers a little black-box thingy, high up behind the dashboard. In any case electronic, wet and water dripping from it. After a lot of messing about and trying, Mark, Folkert and me get it out. When we open it, it's still soaking wet. It proves to be the anti-theft system. I'm able to dry the printboard with hot air from a gas burning soldering-iron. That takes half an hour. Once we have put everything together again, the engine starts immediately.
Afterwards Mark seals the entire little box and leads with some kind of water resistant goo to avoid this kind of jokes at least for the near future.
It took about an hour and a half to get it running again.
The next crossing it is our turn. After five meters there is no more traction. The tyres no longer can find any grip and won't move forwards or backwards.
Fortunately the car stays dry. From the opposite direction a military Kamaz shows up. The driver and passengers tell Neil they want to watch us crossing the river since they are in no hurry and manoeuvre their vehicle out of the way, making a mess of the track. It takes some time to get us moving again due to some problems with the winch they want to use to pull us to the rear. Once we are free the Kamaz-driver decides it takes to long and wants to cross first. After the truck has passed, I give it another try and this time I do the crossing 'whistling and with two fingers in the nose' (A literally translated Dutch expression that, as far as I know has no English equivalent.) and climb the soft and muddy riverbank.
Then Mark does the crossing without any problem. I have their video-camera with me and am taping them. Climbing the bank, the Defender slides in the track of the Kamaz and there is a loud "bang", mud flying my ears. One of the tyres exploded. Stands accidentally splendid on tape. Because of the mudhole the Defender is in, it's quite a job to change the wheel. Afterwards we find out that a piece of PSP (Perforated Steel Planking) with sharp edges is buried in the mud. And that costs Mark a nearly new tyre. A tear of about 15 centimeter really is beyond repair. Fortunately the rest of the day is less shocking, in spite of a number of rivercrossings. At about 18:00 we make camp. Just beyond a little stream where we replenish our water stocks. A nice meal and a drink. The sun still shining, but later it is sociably around the campfire with strong tales.
Sunday August 28th.
Sunday, resting day. Well, forget about it. Today's camp is almost 44 km further direction
Monchegorsk.
Although no really crazy things happened today, it still was a nice day.
We passed a lot of little bridges or what is left of them. From time to time you had to be very careful
driving over them. This because enormous nails were used at construction. And if I say enormous
nails, than I mean enormous nails. Thirty, up to as much as fifty, centimeters long. And now, the
wood rotting away, these nails are sticking out dangerously. But everything goes well. Also the two or three
real crossings we have. Once I must pull loose Neil. In a large and deep pool he takes a wrong routing and
gets stuck.
Time to time the track is terribly bad. And then, all of a sudden there is a good part. Thus it varies. With the nice sun shining it is no punishment at all. Lunch we have near a village, where nobody is to be seen.
By the evening we try to reach a little lake but that fails. Therefore we camp along the track.
Around dinnertime it is raining. Some light showers, but thunderstorms growl in the distance. We have a small tarpaulin that we can fix to the car and this proves to be handy. We stay nice and dry. When I try to download the track-file from the GPS, it acts strangely. Fortunately I get the trackfile downloaded before it freezes completely. A full reset is needed to get it working again. All settings are gone, but that's the least. That I can fix sitting at the campfire.
Just after we started this fire in the middle of the track, engine-noises get audible. The sound closes in and a few minutes later an old truck, driving slowly, appears from the woods, following the track.
The driver doesn't seem to be surprised at all. He doesn't change his pace a bit, diverts a little bit to the left to avoid the fire, waves friendly and drives on.
Monday August 29th.
The sun is shining when we wake up but immediately thereafter it starts to rain.
Our tarpaulin proves to be worth its money (4 Euro or about 3 BP).
Departure is at about half past nine.
The track is good, but that rapidly changes. It changes into a mixture of boulders and mud, certainly now it has been raining. It is an alternation of weather conditions, but as the day progresses it tidies up nicely. Splendid clouds, frequently threatening but no raindrops.
Virtually everybody was wearing rain clothing at departure, but soon you can see somebody getting rid of his "Wellies", another one his raincoat.
Gradually also the area changes. It gets wetter and wetter but driving conditions are good. As usual Neil leads, but gets hardly ever stuck.
Good driver, but also the rig performs very well.
It is a splendid area. When we will show our video- images in the Netherlands, nobody will believe that you can go here by car, let alone with a group.
Around two o'clock in the afternoon there is a bit of consternation. Over the CB Neil announced that we are making very good progress and that we will make camp in a couple of kilometers. We still have to cross a small stream but that's it. Then we hear Netty on the CB telling that Vaughn and Lisa's car, at what seemed to be a simple passage, gave a loud 'bang' and lost traction. The right hand drive-shaft of the rear-axle is gone. There is no spare. They didn't take that along. Whatever they might need, call it, they have it. But no spare drive shaft.
"Well", Vaughn later says, "it's not on the list", referring to the vast list of spare
parts Neil says you should bring with you.
The broken shaft is removed and the car is towed to the camp spot.
Of course Vaughn and Lisa, particularly Lisa, are impressed. The way it is now, it won't be a big
problem to get their car back to inhabited world but nevertheless this will have influence on their trip.
Folkert does some cleaning up because after removing the drive-shaft the opening has not been sealed and water and dirt got in the axle-housing and differential. I give him a hand and this way one hour and a half later, everything is in order and there is no objection to go on tomorrow. In the meantime Mark also does some small repairs to his Defender. The diff-protectors of front- and rear axle have been damaged. I can supply an appropriate bolt in substitution for a damaged one. All taken care of, we can gather around the campfire later on. Wind has increased, it's getting cold.
The road is and remains bad. That will remain the rest of the trip this way, therefore I no longer have to mention it. Eventually the so called road finishes and we are entering tracks. Of course not better at all. But that's what we are here for. And also for rivers without bridges.
Soon we get to the first crossing. Neil goes in first. He is a bit quick there and this way Vaughn, not following very closely behind, doesn't see where he exactly enters the river. And thus things turn wrong.
Vaughn takes a different route and finds himself stuck on a submerged rock, his car pivoting on top of it.
Slowly the car fills with water. The engine keeps on running. After some problems Neil gets him out. I go in as second one without any problem and the others as well.
As Vaughn and Lisa get out of their car, water runs from everywhere. Everything is wet. The seats and the interior but also their luggage. The sugar cubes e.g. are no longer recognizable. All has to be cleaned and more or less dried so we can go on.
Unfortunately Vaughn and Lisa's Disco doesn't want to start. The engine turns over, but doesn't want to fire up. Whatever we try, no luck and we start to fear that the engine management system got wet and is damaged. After some searching Mark discovers a little black-box thingy, high up behind the dashboard. In any case electronic, wet and water dripping from it. After a lot of messing about and trying, Mark, Folkert and me get it out. When we open it, it's still soaking wet. It proves to be the anti-theft system. I'm able to dry the printboard with hot air from a gas burning soldering-iron. That takes half an hour. Once we have put everything together again, the engine starts immediately.
Afterwards Mark seals the entire little box and leads with some kind of water resistant goo to avoid this kind of jokes at least for the near future.
It took about an hour and a half to get it running again.
The next crossing it is our turn. After five meters there is no more traction. The tyres no longer can find any grip and won't move forwards or backwards.
 |
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Fortunately the car stays dry. From the opposite direction a military Kamaz shows up. The driver and passengers tell Neil they want to watch us crossing the river since they are in no hurry and manoeuvre their vehicle out of the way, making a mess of the track. It takes some time to get us moving again due to some problems with the winch they want to use to pull us to the rear. Once we are free the Kamaz-driver decides it takes to long and wants to cross first. After the truck has passed, I give it another try and this time I do the crossing 'whistling and with two fingers in the nose' (A literally translated Dutch expression that, as far as I know has no English equivalent.) and climb the soft and muddy riverbank.
Then Mark does the crossing without any problem. I have their video-camera with me and am taping them. Climbing the bank, the Defender slides in the track of the Kamaz and there is a loud "bang", mud flying my ears. One of the tyres exploded. Stands accidentally splendid on tape. Because of the mudhole the Defender is in, it's quite a job to change the wheel. Afterwards we find out that a piece of PSP (Perforated Steel Planking) with sharp edges is buried in the mud. And that costs Mark a nearly new tyre. A tear of about 15 centimeter really is beyond repair. Fortunately the rest of the day is less shocking, in spite of a number of rivercrossings. At about 18:00 we make camp. Just beyond a little stream where we replenish our water stocks. A nice meal and a drink. The sun still shining, but later it is sociably around the campfire with strong tales.
 |
Sunday August 28th.
Sunday, resting day. Well, forget about it. Today's camp is almost 44 km further direction
Monchegorsk.
Although no really crazy things happened today, it still was a nice day.
We passed a lot of little bridges or what is left of them. From time to time you had to be very careful
driving over them. This because enormous nails were used at construction. And if I say enormous
nails, than I mean enormous nails. Thirty, up to as much as fifty, centimeters long. And now, the
wood rotting away, these nails are sticking out dangerously. But everything goes well. Also the two or three
real crossings we have. Once I must pull loose Neil. In a large and deep pool he takes a wrong routing and
gets stuck. Time to time the track is terribly bad. And then, all of a sudden there is a good part. Thus it varies. With the nice sun shining it is no punishment at all. Lunch we have near a village, where nobody is to be seen.
By the evening we try to reach a little lake but that fails. Therefore we camp along the track.
Around dinnertime it is raining. Some light showers, but thunderstorms growl in the distance. We have a small tarpaulin that we can fix to the car and this proves to be handy. We stay nice and dry. When I try to download the track-file from the GPS, it acts strangely. Fortunately I get the trackfile downloaded before it freezes completely. A full reset is needed to get it working again. All settings are gone, but that's the least. That I can fix sitting at the campfire.
Just after we started this fire in the middle of the track, engine-noises get audible. The sound closes in and a few minutes later an old truck, driving slowly, appears from the woods, following the track.
The driver doesn't seem to be surprised at all. He doesn't change his pace a bit, diverts a little bit to the left to avoid the fire, waves friendly and drives on.
Monday August 29th.
The sun is shining when we wake up but immediately thereafter it starts to rain.
Our tarpaulin proves to be worth its money (4 Euro or about 3 BP).
Departure is at about half past nine.
 |
 |
The track is good, but that rapidly changes. It changes into a mixture of boulders and mud, certainly now it has been raining. It is an alternation of weather conditions, but as the day progresses it tidies up nicely. Splendid clouds, frequently threatening but no raindrops.
Virtually everybody was wearing rain clothing at departure, but soon you can see somebody getting rid of his "Wellies", another one his raincoat.
Gradually also the area changes. It gets wetter and wetter but driving conditions are good. As usual Neil leads, but gets hardly ever stuck.
Good driver, but also the rig performs very well.
It is a splendid area. When we will show our video- images in the Netherlands, nobody will believe that you can go here by car, let alone with a group.
Around two o'clock in the afternoon there is a bit of consternation. Over the CB Neil announced that we are making very good progress and that we will make camp in a couple of kilometers. We still have to cross a small stream but that's it. Then we hear Netty on the CB telling that Vaughn and Lisa's car, at what seemed to be a simple passage, gave a loud 'bang' and lost traction. The right hand drive-shaft of the rear-axle is gone. There is no spare. They didn't take that along. Whatever they might need, call it, they have it. But no spare drive shaft.
Folkert does some cleaning up because after removing the drive-shaft the opening has not been sealed and water and dirt got in the axle-housing and differential. I give him a hand and this way one hour and a half later, everything is in order and there is no objection to go on tomorrow. In the meantime Mark also does some small repairs to his Defender. The diff-protectors of front- and rear axle have been damaged. I can supply an appropriate bolt in substitution for a damaged one. All taken care of, we can gather around the campfire later on. Wind has increased, it's getting cold.
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