greetings from N 53 50.378, W 1 30.273

And here's the view from that very spot, just 0.16 miles from my front door ... it would have been a photo of a Lemur from Tropical World - but they only seem to come out on sunnier days.

I've spent this afternoon in my local park testing out my new GPS - a big thanks to everyone in the office for such a great leaving gift.

Last night was my official leaving drinks from work, it was great to have a final beer with you - over the last 10 years I've made some really good friends and I know I'll miss you all. I don't recall it's name, or even who bought it ... but I'm sure it was the shot with the whole cherry at the bottom that did for me in the end. Enough said.

Over the next 3 days I'll be sorting the last few items of kit, taking one last riding lesson and seeing family for the last time before we leave.

I fly to Amsterdam on Monday for 3 days - not part of our main trip, but it'll be good to have some actual travel to report back on - bring it on!

blueprint Mongolia ...

At last our plans for Mongolia are in place ...

With the help of a guesthouse in the capital, we've organised 3 weeks in a Jeep with camping equipment exploring the country in big loop down to the Gobi Desert in the South - then back up to the pine forests & pristine lakes of Northern Mongolia for our horseback expedition.

The trip promises everything from a visit to a Soviet-era spa resort (where you get covered in mud & take vitamin injections !?!) to the ruins of monasteries and ancient cities.

It should be a real wilderness adventure, and other than a night staying with a Nomadic family in a traditional Ger we'll be in a tent for the whole 3 weeks - it should really test our resolve (and definitely our toilet habits).

Anyway, much more on that after the event.

The last big task on the list got done this week - we sold our Smart Roadster on Ebay in just 48 hours - at £12.99 for a classified ad and no "tyre kickers" I was impressed - Autotrader watch out !

So with all the hard stuff done, it's just a question of sorting our gear out, along with hotel bookings for those few spots where our dates are fixed. If we get really stuck of course, we can always try a spot of couch surfing - now if I can just find the Ger section of the website ...

Putin is my hero ...

Last night we had our official leaving party - only 3 weeks left now !

Big thanks to Anton and Mike for DJ-ing - I hope you both still managed to have a good time.

Here's our new Russian emergency pack - miniatures with Russian-English translations of phrases designed to introduce us to the locals - courtesy of Dan & Alison.



We'll need to pick our moment carefully if we're going to use the Putin one ... I'll certainly need to improve my knowledge of Russian politics first!

Passports & visa's finally arrived this week - and the dreaded tax return is done (far worse to do when away). Otherwise it's been intense email traffic between Leeds and Mongolia, hopefully we should get our plans finalised this week.

Check out the new media section - links to my photos and video, so you can go beyond the few highlights that make it here.

Due to the Easter weekend we didn't manage to catch up with all of you last night - but remember, there are still 21 drinking days left - so we'll try and fit you all in before the end of the month !

Lichtenstein calling ...

Despite the fact that it is the 1st of April, I am still the fool.

Of course I should have checked which day trains leave Ulan-Bator for Beijing before choosing the dates for our visas ... but despite this realisation that I definitely haven't thought of everything, I still think I can reflect on a good week of travel planning.

Firstly, on Monday my horse-riding lesson was dramatically different - something "clicked" and I seem to have made the transition from arkward, overbalancing fool to having a nice relaxed rising motion and generally in substantially greater control of my horse. This is very good news indeed, as we arrive in Mongolia 6 short weeks from today ...

Then, on Wednesday our trans-Mongolian train tickets made a suprise early arrival (just 3 days after the Sunday they went on sale in Russia) - I would definitely use Real Russia again, great service - thanks guys. We also had the very last of our vaccinations - I'm not sure whether my arm or wallet is hurting most - the final killer blow? £175 worth of Malaria medication on private prescription.

Friday saw me doing something I've been putting off for a long while and I went shopping for an international mobile phone service. Now I've got to be honest and say that despite my very low expectations, it really wasn't so bad after all in the Carphone Warehouse and I ended up choosing the pay-as-you-go service from SIM4travel. With free (or reduced cost) inbound texts and calls this would be a great option for anyone on holiday - plus you get a Lichtenstein phone number!

This weekend my internet research led me to travel to Lancashire for a visit to Whalley Warm & Dry to get properly kitted out for the elements. They have a superb range of Paramo waterproofs, and excellent discount prices on their website (available in-store if you ask).

Finally (and probably best of all) on Friday night I went to Elland Road to see Leeds United finally win a match, beating Preston NE 2-1 in a glorious victory to lift Leeds off the bottom of the Championship for the first time in weeks!

Now, you're probably thinking "what has this got to do with travelling round the world?" - so in order to make the connection it looks like I'll have to seriously consider "adopting" some new teams by going to see them play (sorry Mel) - Katmandu United here we come!

passports, permits and plans

Pre-departure planning continues to move ahead at speed ..

Finally on Tuesday the visa agency responded with our much anticipated passport numbers - so, all being well, our agency in Russia should have purchased the Trans-Mongolian tickets as they went on sale today.

I got my international driving permit this week (£5.50 from large post-offices) which looks a little like a ration book from the war - complete with translations in languauges I can't even identify, much less speak. Curiously it appears to entitle me to drive everything from a motorcycle to a heavy goods vehicle (with or without trailer) - vehicles I haven't even driven in this country, much less passed a test for ....

My thoughts have now turned firmly to planning our time Mongolia in a little more detail - and with hundreds of thousands of square miles of unowned, unfenced land to explore there are plenty of options. We hope to arrange our own transportation and local guides, so this part of the trip should have a real expedition feel to it.

After Mel rejected the first of my proposals for this part of our trip (I'll allow you to work out why from the link) - I'm now looking into feasibility of travel by chartered Jeep to the Gobi Desert in the South, before making our way North to Khovsgol Nuur and swapping to horseback to explore the National Park surrounding the lake.

I will leave you with this photograph I took on the staircase of a guesthouse in Chang Mai, Thailand when I travelled there in December 1999. I can only suppose they had experienced previous cases of mistaken identity - although I remain unsure of what the checking procedure would have actually involved ...