Leaving Chita, the roads had been plowed and were nearly dry. We made good time. There were very few people or villages now, since previously this was only a “cart road” or nothing; deep permafrost mud in the summer and impassable snow in the winter and no bridges. The Trans-Siberian Highway is the unofficial name for a […]
With the excitement of the Golden Eagle Festival over, we were quickly brought back to reality and the fact that The Turtle V had a serious suspension problem. The good news was that repair parts from Hellwig Products in Visalia, CA were waiting to be sent. The bad news was that there was nothing remotely like […]
In order to complete the Mongolia series, we are reposting Monika’s Birthday blog. Only she can get away with celebrating two birthdays in one year! What’s a birthday? Just another number on the calendar right? Not for Monika! Her birthdays are special and can last for days, depending on what she dreams up each year. […]
It was 23°F outside under a blazing blue sky as the second day of the 16th Annual Golden Eagle Festival began. Different from the previous day’s event where eagles had to attack a dead rabbit or fox being drug behind their trainer’s horse, today they had to zero in on their owner who held a chunk […]
After a harrowing 5-day/900-mile, (1,500 kilometers), drive across the amazing expanses of the northern Gobi Desert, (see previous blog), we arrived at the site of the 16th Annual Golden Eagle Festival just outside of Bayan-Olgii in Western Mongolia, and parked to join the growing crowd of spectators. Some of you may recall that when we crossed […]
After our fresh noodle dinner we spent a quiet night in the hotel parking lot. In the morning we met Green in her room and did some email before heading towards our next stop, Xiahe in the Gannan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Gansu Province. It is famous for its Labrang monastery, the largest edifice of the […]
As we picked up the highway coming out of the valley below Song-Köl lake, we figured we’d better top up our fuel before we hit the Chinese border. The last possible place was the town of At-Bashy. We weren’t the only ones with same idea. Trucks, buses, cars and people with jerry cans were all […]
Leaving our camp on Ysyk-Köl, where we wished we could have spent a month, the pressure of our exact date to enter China was not to be ignored. We had kept tabs on the progress of our Chinese Visa back in Bishkek and all was going well. We needed to hurry now, but we didn’t […]
The 2017 SEMA Show has come to its usual dramatic end. For those of you who are automotive fans, it was another extravaganza of everything that rolls and a few things that don’t. The numbers are not in yet, but if the attendance of the 2016 SEMA was 160,000, you can bet this year topped […]
Just to give you a break between the Tunnel of Death in Tajikistan and our continued travels along the Silk Road, here is a little current information about the amazing SEMA Show in Las Vegas. This is probably the largest automotive aftermarket parts display in the world and many of our sponsors are here. With […]
