The Car
Our campaign to get a free 10,000 mile test drive in a Chevy Volt came to naught. In the interest of time and urgency we settled on a Suzuki Swift. Our new ride has 47,000 miles on the clock, a …
Category: Mongol Rally 2011
Our Mongol Rally Route
It sounds simple enough – overland from England via France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan, and Mongolia. The numbers are a little staggering at times; in all the rally is about 10,000 miles long. That’s …
Thank You! Thank You! Thank You!
Regardless of whether or not you travel with anyone, no adventure is ever a solitary undertaking. The people that inspire you, the people that support you, those at home, those that you meet on the road, those that read your …
Everything You Know is Wrong
Thus far on this trip everything we’d been led to believe has been wrong. Here is a quiz based on our experiences. Answer true or false to the following questions: Border crossings are a reason for officials to extort bribes, …
Perseverance
We have stayed for several days in Ulaanbaatar awaiting our flights home. UB is a great place to absorb the history and culture of Mongolia whether through the National Museum, the Mongolian National Song and Dance Academic Ensemble, or the …
Ulaanbaatar!!!
We left Bayanhongor after tackling SIM cards and money exchanges with the vague notion that if we could we’d head all the way to Ulaanbaatar and find a hotel there. Rumor had it that the road from Arvaykheer to UB …
Utilities
One definition of a utility is something that you take for granted until it’s not there. Think about electricity. Most of the time we flip a switch or push a button and pay our bills. It’s only when all the …
Dirty Old Men
It’s been eight nights since Astana and our last shower. We’re grungy, dusty, dirty and smelly. It’s great! Yesterday we made our first big river crossing at the edge of the Gobi. As filthy as we were, we still didn’t …
What begins with ‘F’ and ends in ‘uck’?
The less than 10-year old rule is waived for teams taking emergency vehicles on the Mongol Rally. This year there’s at least five ambulances, a school bus and a couple of fire engines. Having met Team Ready to Mongol at …
Cliff and Berm go to Mongolia
There are no roads in Mongolia. That’s not entirely true. There are roads, some of which are paved after a fashion, but they amount to a paltry 1,500-ish kilometers in a country twice the size of Texas or three times …