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Students in a taxi are hailed at the Russian border
Amar Singh, Evening Standard15 Aug 2008
A pair of British students attempting to drive a taxi from London to Mongolia are being held at the border between Kazakhstan and Russia.
Edward Monckton, a 20-year-old who studies art history at University College London, and Max Firman, an engineering student at Bristol University, also 20, set off on the Mongol Rally charity race in June.
They have been stuck in no man's land at a border crossing near the Kazakh town of Semey since Monday, after Russian officials refused them entry as their visa had the wrong date.
Kazakhstan will not let them back in, leaving the pair stranded in the area between the two border posts which the students have dubbed "taxistan".
Things took a turn for the worse on Wednesday when their co-driver - 68-year-old American Jimmy Walker - was taken to a Russian hospital with dysentery, after they appealed to officials.
Charles Oliver, a friend of the drivers, said: "They are stuck in no man's land but their spirits are high. It was worse before as they all had dysentery but things are better now."
"The Kazakhs have been feeding them sausage and tomatoes but the Russians are being more difficult though they have allowed them to use their toilet.
"It's all because one of the visas had the wrong date on it and the Russians are very jumpy about borders at the moment."
Nevertheless, the pair have been able to access the internet and update their blog as they wait for problems with their paperwork to be resolved. On Wednesday they wrote: "Spirits remain high. Taxistan owes a debt of gratitude to all passing Mongol Rally teams whose donations of food, water, medicine and most importantly a cricket bat have helped to keep us alive and sane." Yesterday they said: "Judging and testing the limits of the Russians' sanity is an art form we are perfecting. A spot of pre-breakfast cricket in our boxer shorts continued to keep the morale high."
The Mongol Rally, of about 300 cars, set off from Hyde Park on 19 June and is expected to finish in Ulaanbaatar next week.
