From Oslo to London, where the Mongol Rally starts in Battersea Park.
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Another hot day in the Norwegian capital starts off with a few phone calls to see how things are progressing. Toyota say they will have the car ready at the end of the day, although they still don’t know what the problem is.
No news from the Russian or Iranian embassies. Hopefully no news means good news.
After a healthy Norwegian breakfast of seal-pups and whale blubber (tasteless, I know, but funny) we are off to see if we can find us a cheap dashcam for the car. They are pretty cool for being able to document when we drive off a cliff in the Pamir mountains or when the Kazakh drunk driver in front of us crashes his truck through the local fireworks factory.
We needed to pick up a few more useless items as well, so the day goes by fast. Finally, the Toyota workshop calls, telling us they have managed to sort out the problem. It was due to an unstable airflow meter that had screwed up the smooth running of Yaris Hilton. Although before they came to this conclusion, they had changed a few other rather expensive things too. So when we are presented with the bill, we realize that we might not be able to invest in our Kirgizistanian goat farm after all.
Oh well. All proper ladies need a good bit of pampering, especially before going on a rough ride. We bring her back to the Yak In Black- Oslo support team’s (Andreas’) garage, to tie up a few loose ends.
Day 4
Finally, we are leaving Norway – but first we have to meet up with Pål, our Visumhjelpen contact. Hopefully, he has some good news for us.
He does. The Russian visas arrived just half an hour before the ferry starts to board. He can also tell us that the Iranian embassy have said that they could sort out the other visas faster than expected. A month late, if you ask us. But then we would have to wait until tomorrow to get them. After a bit of consulting with Pål, we decide to take our chances of getting the visas in Istanbul, as long as he can get the registration number from the Iranian embassy for us.
Off to the ferry we go. The odometer shows 173292. We see the coast of Norway disappearing behind us, and realize that the journey finally has begun! 🙂
Day 5
After a good night’s sleep on the ferry and an even better breakfast, we make port in Kiel, Germany to a hot and beautiful day. It’s only 09:30 and already it’s 25 degrees outside. After about 15 minutes we are on the Autobahn and shortly after we pass the last of the 120kmh signs.
This means no more speed limits, woohoo!
Only thing is that the weighted down Yaris with the roof box can hardly do more than 120 kmh anyway.
After another 10 minutes there is a noise and the roof box pops open.
At 120kmh!
On the Autobahn.
Poop!
Snorre manages to swerve the car over to the right shoulder and stop, while at the same time keeping an eye on the mirror, hoping all our stuff doesn’t fall out. He jumps out just as an 18-wheeler runs over the pillow his mum gave him before departure. Thankfully, not much else has fallen out and the trip continues quickly – the fine for stopping on the Autobahn is 70 €.
The sun is relentless and soon the temperature in the car is close to 40 degrees. Even with the windows fully open.
Anyway, south we go.
For hours we drive, only stopping a few times for petrol. The goal for the day is actually to get to the Nürburgring where we would like to try to set a new Mongol Rally track record. However, with the GPS leading us astray (goddamn fancy tech) and the slow-moving traffic plus the roadworks, we realize that we won’t be able to get there before the track closes.
Bummer.
So, north of Köln we change the course. New heading: London. We’ll drive as far as we can before the heat gets the better of us, and we’ll see where we end up.
Germany, The Netherlands and Belgium go by in a blur, and suddenly we pass into France.
After a few more miles we are in Calais and have lined up for the Eurotunnel. On the UK side it is pouring down, which is really refreshing after a long and hot day in the car.
An hour and half later we are in Clapham, London.
After more than 1000 kms, we get a feel for what’s coming.
Thanks a lot to Emma and Dan for letting us stay at their apartment.
