2019 Siberia and Central Asia overland thread

[kiwi1973]

I'll admit there were times when I wondered if this trip would come together. There's been some red tape, bureaucracy, visa issues and mounting costs to deal with.....but I just unloaded my trusty Shogun/Pajero today in Russia! As long as we can make our way safely out of this crazy Russian city in the next few days then it's all go! We should reach the Gobi Desert in June.

[aussieintas]

Good luck bud

[bennyb29]

I'll admit there were times when I wondered if this trip would come together. There's been some red tape, bureaucracy, visa issues and mounting costs to deal with.....but I just unloaded my trusty Shogun/Pajero today in Russia!

That's great news! Looking forward to reading details of your trip. (Y)

[Dmitriy]

I'll admit there were times when I wondered if this trip would come together. There's been some red tape, bureaucracy, visa issues and mounting costs to deal with.....but I just unloaded my trusty Shogun/Pajero today in Russia! As long as we can make our way safely out of this crazy Russian city in the next few days then it's all go! We should reach the Gobi Desert in June.

Good luck for you!
I’m from Almaty, Kazakhstan, so maybe meet you here ))
Just mentioned your trip on popular car site DRIVE2.ru (com) so possible you will meet some other Pajero owners all over your way ))

https://www.drive2.ru/l/532406071231250459/

One guy just picture car in Khabarovsk.



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[benckj]

Trip of a life time that family will never forget. Hope it goes well and keep us posted when you can get coverage. Don’t drink too much vodka especially in public!

[kiwi1973]

Good luck for you!
I’m from Almaty, Kazakhstan, so maybe meet you here ))
Just mentioned your trip on popular car site DRIVE2.ru (com) so possible you will meet some other Pajero owners all over your way ))

https://www.drive2.ru/l/532406071231250459/

One guy just picture car in Khabarovsk.



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I've seen my Pajero show up on a couple of Russian Instagram accounts! We will be coming through Almaty. We quite enjoy a city stop after we've been out remote for some time, and by the time we reach Almaty we'll have spent up to a couple of months in remote parts of Mongolia and coming down Kazakhstan.

The Russian 'road trip' part of my journey is nearing its end and the first 4wd section will soon be underway, though (as explained in another thread) I have a couple of issues with the Pajero to get on top of ASAP (Russian visas are running out!).

Here's a few photos from the Russian Far East.

[benckj]

Excellent,glad your making progress West. What sort of mechanical issues are you having?

[kiwi1973]

First video produced from Central Asia expedition

First video from our Central Asia expedition comes from Mongolia's north east and can be seen at the link below. Under 4 minutes long and captures nearly a week of touring.

https://youtu.be/_0YmlCMzNZU

Next up we're heading south to the Gobi Desert, so even more stunning images and a new video coming in the next couple of weeks.

I should add that the Pajero has been running beautifully. On some rough corrugated tracks it feels like some bolts may rattle loose from somewhere, but once back on road she drives smoothly and like new. You wouldn't know it has more than 200,000 kms on the clock.

[rgrubby]

Really enjoying the blog Aaron. Just read the last one, looks like a great adventure so far with much more to come.
Thanks for sharing

[LukeMS]

Wow, seems like you are on an incredible journey! I'm sure it will be amazing for your kids as well! What a great way to grow up, learn and experience the world we live in!

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[erad]

You could not give your kids a better grounding in life. They don't need school when they have that sort of experience behind them. Mind you, you are getting some incredible experience as well.... may the rest of your trip go well for you all.

[kiwi1973]

New video - Gobi Desert part 1

I've just put up a new video from the Gobi Desert. This is part one and part two will follow, when we complete that section!

The Pajero is taking a hammering on the corrugations, but coping fine.

https://youtu.be/bwynz-St0l0

[Dicko1]

Great video. Not many trees around!!!

[benckj]

The roads or tracks are actually much better condition than I thought they would be. I’m sure there are challenging bits along with river crossings but for the most part you are making great progress over this long journey. Are you on schedule?

[kiwi1973]

The roads or tracks are actually much better condition than I thought they would be. I’m sure there are challenging bits along with river crossings but for the most part you are making great progress over this long journey. Are you on schedule?

Something I first discovered a few years ago in Morocco is that whilst ideally everyone living among these sorts of conditions would have a 4wd, few local people living in some countries can afford one. So quite often old 2wd cars are being hammered on these routes. Or another way to put it is that many of the routes have to somehow accommodate ordinary cars.

The single most popular car by far we've seen is the Toyota Prius, and you'd be amazed at some of the tracks locals take them on. They end up getting a bit rough, with gouges out of bumpers etc. I've also seen a few 2wd cars around that have had suspension lifts just to help out a bit.

That said, we have gone into areas where there are no Prius or regular cars to be seen. It's not that the terrain is difficult by 4wd standards, but cars are eventually ruled out by things like not being able to cross a river, or sand etc. As we progress further into 4wd terrain it has become obvious that the Toyota Landcruisers dominate. Not Prado's - hardly any of those to be seen - but the full size 100 and 200, including Lexus equivalents. Almost every second vehicle around the Gobi is a Landcruiser 100/200. Probably more 100's - an equal split between 100 and 105. And of course there are plenty of old Soviet style 4wd vans getting about.

I digress here but... There are virtually zero of the popular double cab utes to be seen! Those are popular in NZ and Aussie, but we don't see any here and haven't seen any in Russia either. This could be a topic all it's own, and one that interests me. I had considered one day putting a Norweld type aluminium canopy on a double cab ute to provide a touring vehicle with greater payload, but as they aren't seen here that may be a poor move for an international 4wd touring vehicle. What does increasingly make sense is cutting the back off a 100 series Landcruiser (maybe a 200) and converting that to a ute with canopy. Previously I didn't get why people did that, but looking at the abysmal reliability/durability feedback for most of the modern double cab utes it makes more sense all the time. I'd love a ute as reliable as a Pajero, but I don't know if there are any? Sorry, way off topic now.

I think the number one thing we need to remain aware of is that some of these not overly challenging tracks would quickly turn challenging if we had serious rain. So far it's been dry.

We are basically on schedule. I have a plan to work to, but we are always willing to spend more time in places we like and less in places that prove less interesting than expected. Because we camp, we have no set hotel bookings to keep. This also makes us very free. As long as we reach Europe in time for Christmas, we're doing ok.

We have decided to spend longer in Mongolia than originally planned. We had 30 day visas and have extended them by a further two weeks. Mongolia is great - it was always going to be great, but it's probably even better than expected and I can see myself returning here on a future trip to explore more.