Been a long time in happening but finally I will finish off this tale.
As most people are aware Lyn had to go home as her father took bad. That left David and I to carry on and we had some adventures in Mongolia first with the motorbikes, then after the second leg of the Chinese trip got cancelled at the last minute by the Chinese, with others we met. There was Dimitri and his friend and a Swiss couple who offered to take me with them on their adventures however, I thought it best to stick with David as the poor fella was now by himself.
We went down the Gobi with Dimitri and his lady friend and then after a month in Mongolia and armed with a transit visa for Russia and another Kazakh visa we set off on the long journey back to the UK
Gee, that was some trip. We drove, then he would stop for a sleep, then drive again, and on and on it went. We went into the small town of Mikalovka near Irkutsk where David and Lyn had made friends back on the 1998 trip across Russia. Here David caught up with one family he had met and they remembered him too. He visited the school and although there was no-one there that had met him previously others had heard about him, bloody famous, that's what he was. He also learnt that the young chap Maxim who had helped with the car repairs had been shot dead some years ago. That was sad as he had been a nice person and a very helpful. Must be ******* his family too, as at the time Lyn and David had met them in 1998 Maxims brother had not long before been killed in a car accident.
After that break, we drove and slept and drove again. David decided he was making good enough time to get right across the country before his transit visa expired so we didn't go back into Kazakhstan. As it turned out we got to the Latvian border in under 7 days from leaving Mongolia. That's extremely good going, more than 1000 k's a day. Even my eyes are getting a bit glazed I fear. We had a days rest after crossing in Latvia, drove a little bit, slept a lot, and had a bit of a look around taking our time across western Europe. Went into Warsaw and Hamburg and a few other places to have a look around. Saw the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, a famous landmark there.
Eventually we made it back to England and to Heather's refuge for exhausted travellers.
Lyn's father passed away in November and David and I got back just after the funeral, the train being late as per usual.
Lyn took one look at me and said I was a 'grub' because I was so dirty. As if it was my fault, after all, I wasn't clean when she had left and after that we have visited more deserts, I'd fallen out into the mud in Mongolia, got sat on by Lorraine, no way could I have stayed clean.
Well, Lyn looked at me for a few days then finally decided there wasn't anything else for it but a wash. I got dumped in a tub of quite chilly water with plenty of soap suds. I got squeezed and pounded until I was certain I would never be the same again, the water then squeezed out of me and sat in the sun on the bench for a couple of days.
L now tells me I look as good as new, and I must admit I feel a lot better with out all that dust etc.
I am now sitting on the lounge here awaiting the next adventure that I hear might not be all that distant. Perhaps it will be to see the 'northern lights' in Abisko in Sweden, if these humans of mine can get their act together.
But for now this is all from me, until next time
love and hugs all round from this stuffed toy
Benny Bean Bear