Car Maintenance and Rivalry

Sunday 23rd August Today 23rd August at a beautiful place called Terelj, a riverside camp spot noted by locals as a favourite camping area… lots of trees/shade and lots of fresh water in a variety of creeks to select from to camp beside. We used this day to do some maintenance on our vehicles and to give them a good old clean out in the back canopy area. The Ford Ranger has been highlighted in recent times as a problem vehicle by the Cruiser team, however on this day 23rd Aug 2015 the Cruiser displayed some extreme short comings…

• Their electrical system has completely failed leaving the very disgruntled master of machinery in a state of depression.
• Overnight the Cruiser fridge stopped working. On investigation the grand master (Mr Taylor) discovered his axillary and main car batteries were as dead as a door nails. Alas! The Ranger crew came to the rescue allowing Cruiser cripples to tap into their highly sophisticated solar energy system to charge their main car battery. Ranger Elites did offer to tow the Cruiser Cripples on the morning of the 24th Aug, but the stubborn Cruiser team declined any form of a tow. So, out come the jumper leads to start the old cruiser then off to town to find 2 new batteries. I must admit the Ranger did have a minor battery issue as well – however the solar system soon rectified that issue.

Mr Taylor made a fatal mistake this afternoon and suggested he too may arrange a solar power system. This I assume will happen tomorrow. No doubt you can imagine the banter around the camp between the two teams.

The Ranger does have a dust issue, this has been addressed by installing a forward vent (100mm sewer) to capture air to pressurise the rear canopy. We also installed 6 more electrical adaptors hard wired into the main electrical system. This allows things like the GPS to be permanently connected along with computer and phone charge cords. This simply makes life easier. We also installed a new shower pump to keep the Mumma Bear Princess happy. She just won’t go into cold creeks for a bath. A few other minor adjustments finished off a very successful day. On the other hand the Cruiser Cripples are in limbo until the 24th Aug. Tomorrow we head back into Ulaanbaatar to visit the Kazakhstan embassy to apply for our visas. When this has been done we will head up north into northern Mongolia for a few days while the visas are being processed. Once the Kazakhstan visas are in hand we then travel North West to the western border to enter Russia. We expect to enter Russia on the 8th Sep. Tuesday 25th August We found the Kazakhstan Embassy and were told as of July 2015 until December 2017 no visas are required. Great news and no expense! So we headed off up north for a few days until the Taylors decide what to do with their troublesome Cruiser. I think they need solar panels. Let’s wait and see what they do. Wednesday 26th August It is now 26th Aug and another beautiful morning camped beside a large lake. This started out to be a great site until a crazy drunken lady turned up. I will let Lynn tell that story as she and Alan had more to do with her than Donna and I. Friday 28 August It is now Friday 28th Aug. Last night we pulled up beside a great running creek on a grassy spot with some shade trees. Prior to setting up camp we visited one of Mongolia’s oldest Monasteries. We then set up camp about 4km from the Monastery, played some games and cooked up some tea. Woke up to thunder and lightning all round and packed up the roof top tents just before the rain came down. Then headed south west towards the Russian border some 1500km away. Alan and I had a ball in the mud tracks leading out of the camp site – some 40km of it slip sliding around in 4wd most of the time crossing large creeks. We then headed into a town called Orhon and back on the bitumen roads. Alan is negotiating with a Solar Energy Commission to have Solar fitted to his car (just like the Ranger). Getting a firm quote seems to be a mission. Good idea to get solar as we leave the cars for quite a few days at a time and the fridges on, so solar is the answer. Just another example of Ford leading the way. If the quote comes back in on target we will head back to Ulaanbaatar to have the system fitted. Until next time!