Read about Ron & Viv's journey in 2008.
UK of Great Britain Flag
Scotland Flag
Norway Flag
Sami Flag (Norway)
Finland Flag
Russia Flag
Kazakhstan Flag
Russia Flag
Mongolia Flag
Overland across Europe, Russia, Kazakhstan & Mongolia
May to October 2008Click on read more to go to the corresponding trip diary page.
In these Trip Diary pages on each country there are hundreds of GPS points listed to camps, towns, places of interest, hotels and more.
England
1st to 28th May 2008
Arriving
After our month in Africa we arrived at Heathrow, hired a vehicle and drove out to Frogs Island 4x4 Centre near Abingdon, just south of Oxford, where our Patrol was waiting for us. ... read more
Scotland
28th May to 8th June, 2008
We headed north on the A1 and had a good run (except for the headwind), bypassing Edinburgh pretty easily before stopping at Dundee and a camp nearby. ... read more
Norway
11th June to 27th June 2008
Two things you quickly learn about Norway once you get there. One the scenery is truly spectacular – if it is not the most spectacular country in the world then it is up there with the best of them. ... read more
Finland
27th June to 8th July 2008The first night in Finland we camped amongst a pine forest, which was pleasant enough except for the mossies and then the rain. It was something that became the norm for the next few days in this country. I guess you can't get 186,000 lakes studding the country along with numerous rivers that were in full spate while we were there with the snow melt without rain and we got our fair share of that in Finland. ... read more
West Russia
8th to 21st July 2008Then it was on to Russia. Not to put a too fine a point on it, we were looking forward to our first border crossing into this vast country with a great deal of trepidation. Talk to most Norwegians and Finns and you'd feel the same way. Maybe it's because they live right beside a very powerful neighbour; maybe its because Russia has long been seen as an invader or at the very least an intimidating one; maybe the memories of WW2 haven't lost their sting even after 60 years. Whatever the case there doesn't seem too much love lost between them! ... read more
Kazakhstan
21st July to 5th August 2008
Occasionally when you are travelling you come across some unknown or unheard of place that knocks your socks off, wows you to your core and blows your mind. Well, we've found one this trip – and it is Kazakhstan. The Russian/Kazakhstan border was just a plain hassle; not just for us but for the locals as well, so we joined the queues at 10 am, chattered to the mainly friendly people who were in exactly the same boat. ... read more
5th to 9th August 2008
As we headed north, the road remained pretty good and we got to Rubtsovsk , a fairly large town on the way north to Barnaul. We tried to find a spot to get Neil's truck repaired and found a guy (he had been an officer in the Russian Coastguard and was once based in Vladivostok) who spoke a bit of English – with him we found a small auto-repair business, which was on the main road into the centre of town. ... read more
Mongolia
9th August to 22nd August 2008
Getting thru the Mogolian side of the border was pleasant enough – the customs people even say ‘thank you' when you hand them a passport or whatever – a bit of difference to the Russian side! Still everyone from the lowest to the highest official wanted you to change money – so we did! ... read more
Mongolia - the Gobi
23rd August to 2nd September 2008Our first camp after leaving UlaanBaatar was about 80km south of the city. It's quite dramatic as you get on the southern side of the mountain range away from the city, the change from 21st century city and all its pollution, crowds and congestion to the grassy hills dotted with the white of ger camps with their flocks of sheep and goats being herded by cloaked horseman. ... read more
Mongolia - Ulaanbaatar
2nd to 6th September 2008Back again at the Oasis Guesthouse and we spent a few days around UB waiting for a spring to arrive for Rod's truck and while we were there we did a city tour, the girls went shopping and the boys played with their cars. ... read more
6th September to 4th October 2008The road north to the border was pretty good and we reached there the next day and took the 3-4 hours to get thru both border posts. We camped just north of the border town of Kyakhta in amongst the pine forest. Kyakhta was once the centre of the tea trade and in the mid 19 th Century up to 5000 cases of tea arrived via Mongolia making the people here rich while many became millionaires. ... read more
The grand adventure is over … until the Americas, south to north in 2010!!
Diesel Fuel Price
Prices current as at May to October 2008
Note:
1: Quality of fuel will vary.2: Diesel is more readily available than unleaded petrol, especially in rural areas.
3: Diesel is generally slightly cheaper than unleaded.
UK - Great Britain
Fuel - Av price – GPB£1.30 /litre (AUS$2.70 litre)
Scotland
Fuel - Av price – GPB£1.30 /litre (AUS$2.70 /litre)
Norway
Fuel - Av price – NOK 1.47 /litre (AUS$3.10 /litre)
Finland
Fuel - Av price – Euro 1.300/litre (AUS$2.38 /litre)
Russia
Fuel - Av price – RUB 26 to 30 /litre (AUS$1.23 to $1.42/litre)
Kazakhstan
Fuel - Av price – KZT 95 to 100 /litre (AUS$0.80 to 85 cents/litre)
Mongolia
Fuel - Av price – MNT 1925 to 2085/litre (AUS$1.80 to $1.95 /litre)