Once upon a time...

Chapter 1 - The Yaks Head East

Once upon a time, in a faraway land called England, there lived two very brave and handsome yaks- Elliott and James. Despite their good looks and delightful chat, they never felt fully satisfied with life in the hustle and bustle of Cambridge. Although they had some wonderful friends and family, the yaks were lonely.

One day, the two intrepid herbivores decided that they would go on an adventure in order to find the long lost yak-bros they yearned for in Mongolia. The only problem was getting covering the 10,000 miles to get there, especially as yaks are not allowed on airplanes. Fortunately, a sympathetic genie called ‘Hilton Group' gave them a magic car called ‘Catharine the Chatwagon’ to carry them safely to their herd.

With months of planning and more presents from other helpful genies such as ‘Yik Yak’, ‘SyndicateRoom’, ‘Synopsys’, ‘Walden Capital’ and ‘Kalimex’, the shaggy mammals were ready.

Lolloping away from Goodwood Motor Circuit with a range of other migrating animals, the Yaks were quickly across the English Channel and in Brussels by 10:30pm. Having driven around the city a few times (completely purposefully) to see all there was to see, they reached the campsite. Despite the name of the city however, Elliott and James were disappointed not to find any tasty Brussel Sprouts to satisfy their hunger after such a long trip, and had to settle for some late night sandwiches.

The campsite was a quaint place for a yak to rest, and consisted of a field surrounded by various derelict buildings- one of which was hosting a music festival. Having snuck a peek of the party, the weary yaks headed to their pens for the night, in preparation for a long day on the road.

This blissful slumber was however rudely interrupted by two guards shouting ‘Police’ and ‘Private’ at the dazed and confused congregation of travellers at 4am. Very politely, all those disturbed enquired what the issue was, and proceeded to move their wagons the required 100m across the field before then moving them back to pack up 3 hours later.

This completely fair and justified interruption however did not deter the determined yaks, and they were heading East in the Chatwagon again by 8:30am, after a luxurious baby wipe bath (Johnson’s no less). On the sturdy ground of Belgian, German and Czech roads, the yaks quickly rampaged the 1000km to Prague, leaving Cologne, Frankfurt and Nuremberg in their dust.

With Prague in their sights however, Elliott and James saw a glum looking pair of travellers heralding from Sweden on the side of the autobahn. Being Yaks (the friendliest of all the cow species), they pulled over and provided assistance in the form of some Quick Steel Putty (donated by ‘Kalimax’), in order to plug a leaking coolant system. With other good Samaritans stopping by to help out too (by providing whiskey), the problem was soon fixed and Prague was entered at 10pm.

Hepful Yak, 100km outside Prague

After again deciding to take a scenic tour around the city, after hearing some wonderful things about the northern residential neighbourhoods of the capital, the Yaks found a huge abandoned railroad warehouse full of music, beverages and other adventurers. After pitching their pens on some very comfortable concrete, Elliott and James quickly put on their smart hides, complete with bowties, and headed to quench their thirst and strut their moves on the D-floor (Elliott wasn’t nicknamed ‘Michael Yakson’ for nothing).

Location of 'Czech Out' party in Prague. and a well groomed Yak

Having drunk their fill, the yaks awoke the next morning to the pleasant noise of engines, smell of car fumes, and rather sore heads. After some coffee, a wash in some portable toilets and a grocery shop, they were back in the Chatwagon by a rather lazy 11am. After a detour to a giant Tesco for more supplies and some scenic Prague-based driving, Elliott and James tackled the Czech, Slovakian, Austrian and Hungarian roads that led the way to Budapest, via Bratislava.

The morning after Czech out

With the journey so far requiring little input from the designated navigator yak (apart from trying to try out as many different roads in each city as possible), Elliott and James have had to find ways to fill the time when not behind the wheel. You will be interested to know that while Elliott is well on his way to becoming a Pokémon Master Legend, with a Bayleef and Flaffy the pride of his team so far, James is reading ‘War and Peace’ in preparation for our trip to Russia. Make of that what you will...

With a tenth of the trip under their belts, the Yaks are now looking forward to getting away from the grey roads of Western Europe, and into the grassy, mountainous and more yak-friendly lands of Romania, with a visit to the home of Dracula in Transylvania next on the agenda.

If you can’t wait for the next chapter of this heart-warming tale about courage, determination and Yaks, more regular updates are available by via this tracking page: http://tracking.theadventurists.com/#mongolrally/mongolrally2015