Isn’t she beautiful?

Look at her. Isn’t she beautiful? And she looks like she wants to go all the way.

May we introduce to you: Fräulein Niva – our brand new Lada 4×4 Model 2131. Powered by a 1.7 litre, 83 HP petrol engine with a 4WD made for adventures that don’t need roads. She will be our ride, home and companion for the next five months to come.

It is merely a week until we leave our family, friends, home and work behind to start the road trip of our lives that will take us from Germany through the Balkans, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, over the Caspian Sea to Kazakhstan. From there, following part of the Silk Road, and with it the Pamir Highway, through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia, Fräulein Niva will take us back to Mongolia, one of the countries that we love with all our hearts and have the best memories about.

We will drive between 20,000 and 25,000 km. Our trip will take us over two continents, through three climatic zones, at least 21 countries, some of them twice.

We will cross Earth’s biggest and visit its deepest lake. We will climb mountains, dive in the sea, drive through the desert, float on rivers and walk through canyons.

But most importantly, we will meet old friends and hopefully make new ones along the way with the amazing people that we will eat, drink and talk with.

To be honest, apart from the direction we are planning to go, we have no idea of what this trip will bring. Maybe the car will break down or we’ll end up in an accident. Maybe we or a loved one will get sick and we’ll have to return. Or maybe we will meet the most incredible people somewhere half way and stay with them for the rest of the time we have.

Also, we don’t know in which direction this blog will develop. The original idea is to provide friends and family with photos and updates from our trip.

Maybe it becomes something bigger, or maybe we will just be too lazy to write anything and this was our first and last post.

Just stay tuned.