London to Mongolia
22 March - 13 July 2009
Since we will be living on the road for 4 months we think this is a very important section. We will have a great truck and bunch of people and where we live, sleep and eat adds a huge amount to the enjoyment. We have used our years of experience and researched the options to make it as exciting and comfortable as possible.
The accommodation
This will depend where on we are and what we are doing. This is an overland trip and so where possible, we camp. This may be in organised, serviced campsites or free camping wherever we choose. Expect to camp about 60% of the time. In most cities and large towns we will use a mix of comfortable small hotels, guest houses and home stays. This said, the quality of accommodation does vary, most is of good quality, but at times we have to do with what's available.
Camping is our preferred choice as it allows us to keep our costs down and get off the beaten track. Free or bush camping has been seen as a highlight by past travellers. This is when we use the truck's self-sufficient design to get well off the beaten track and setup camp wherever we want. Imagine yourself high up in the stunning Himalayas near a local village where we get the chance to invite a couple of locals for dinner and begin to understand the local customs. Or in the vineyards of a Georgian family, or on the beach in Thailand. How about in a traditional yert with a Kyrgystan family? For many of the people we meet en route like this, we will be as much a novelty and a treat to them as they are to us.
Once you get used to camping and the way we set it all up it is a great way of living. The tents are large two person heavy duty expedition tents with heaps of room for two people and your kit. They are easy to put up and are designed for our type of expedition. Bring along a good roll mat and sleeping bag and you are sorted. Normally you can expect to camp for a couple of days and then have a night or two in a hotel or homestay to enjoy.
This said I am sure on our journey there will be a couple of shockers, but an adventure at times is best relived after the event. Past experience has been really positive with the free camping raved about by the most unlikely people. It's all a matter of how you do it!
The food
We believe the local food is a huge part of travelling and love preparing the local ingredients and trying local specialities. We will try to eat local food wherever we go as once you know what to order most places we are visiting offer amazing food. This could be from a streetside vendor to a speciality restaurant in some of the towns and cities. When staying with local country people they will cook local specialities for us. Its all part of the experience as we live the country through their food.
At times, the thought of bangers and mash, a Sunday roast or a veg lasagna would go down a treat. No worries we will cook it up as we travel along. If you have a special dietary requirement, in most cases this will not be a problem and we will be able to serve a great selection from all the fresh supplies we will pickup enroute. We also stock the truck with a range of goodies before we leave the UK.
So who does the cooking when we are camping? Don't worry we won't throw you in at the deep end and expect an amazing 3 course meal for 20 people. We will be hands on here. About once a week you will get your chance to help out as we cook up a storm with the amazing local ingredients, feel free to jump in anytime if you enjoy cooking. You get to hit the local markets and haggle for amazing fresh products. Find something interesting or different bring it back and lets see what we can do with it. Its all one great culinary adventure. As to the washing up, we all get to do our bit but we all muck-in and it's no major thing. The truck is well kitted out and makes cooking a pleasure!