Cape to Cape Expedition
Cape to Cape Expedition
Omsk - Russia - (Омск)
15th February 2008
Steve and Simon decided to continue driving into the night and reached Omsk and the comparative luxury of Hotel Tourist . They have had a shower and are staying in Omsk for today and tonight. The weather has got a lot colder and very snowy and they said its a pity they didn't have the camera because they would have taken lots of pictures. The Cooper Tires are performing extremely well and the Land Rover is getting good traction on the icy roads both driving and stopping.
Steve has found his mobile and I rang it at 4 o'clock not realizing they had gone to bed; hence the clock above! Today they bought another digital camera and some memory cards. The plan is to take pictures then courier the cards home from Yakutsk. They also repaired the headlight and fixed the heating in the Land rover - there must have been an air lock in it.
Eclipse Scientific Group I.T department have done an amazing job of sourcing another laptop, 3G card and software and its all ready to be couriered to The Adventure Club where Nikolai can take it with him when he goes to meet the expedition in Yakutsk in about 10 days time.
Although the map shows them going through Kazakstan they actually went north and around as separate visa's would have been necessary.
14th February 2008
Well I suppose it had to happen. We had found a secure parking place and got into our BASK sleeping bags that are proving to be extremely warm and comfortable. Both of us slept very well; too well as we didn't hear the robbers breaking the window below and stealing the laptop, cameras, g.p.s and sorting out the 1st Aid Kit taking the antibiotics and anything else they recognised. Surprisingly they left the satellite phone and didn't riffle through any of the clothes or equipment bags. The only other thing that took their fancy was Simon's wash bag while Steve's was ignored !
Steve rang Nicky this morning and sounded quite upbeat about it. I think it was because it wasn't them, or their passports, money or tools / equipment that was targeted. "At least we can carry on" Steve said.
So, no more photos for a while until they / we can sort out a way of getting them sent back. The plan is to buy a camera at the next town.
When I spoke to them they had just spent 2 hours navigating round / through / round again and back through a town as they found themselves heading towards Ekaterenburg which is in a "no-go area". They are about 250km from Kurgan and think they might try and find a hotel in the town tonight. I'll update later if I hear anymore.
