The Mongol Rally 2012

Three supposed masters of engineering from Scotland putting their balls and brains to the test. Clueless, talentless and over ambitious!

The Challenge: Drive 10,000 miles from the UK to Mongolia in very very small cars to raise money for charity.

It is completely devoted to charity and every team that participates must finance their own travel expenses, meaning that all money raised goes directly to charity!
The Mongol Rally isn't about comfort and it doesn't have a great deal to do with style, what we seek is adventure. The whole point is that it's difficult. Hence why we are tackling some of the worst roads in the world in a chariot with an engine size of under 1 litre (ish).

Why are we doing this? The main objective of this rally is fundraising to help selected charities. Lotus is the Mongol Rally’s official charity which is a non-profit, non-government organisation working with vulnerable children and families to provide the basic human rights of shelter, food and education. They care for up to 150 abused, orphaned and abandoned children at any one time. Initially set up to provide basic needs for survival for just a handful of children in one apartment, Lotus has developed a kindergarten and a primary school to provide educational foundation, and is developing vocational pathways for employment opportunities. Please donate to our cause:

We Made It!

Posted by Ross at 24th August 2012 at 15:29

After 36 days of incredible driving we made it to Ulaanbaatar last Friday. Met some incredible people on the way and have some incredible stories to tell. After trawling through the 1500 photos we took enroute, I thought I'd put a blog up with a small assortment:

Us leaving Goodwood on the first day!

The team after three incredible laps at the Nuburgring in Germany.

Looking sharp before the Czechout party in Klenova Castle.

Some in car photos

Us on the best driving road in world - the 'Transfaragasan'

The Hungarian baths in Budapest

Us with Olga and Igor (who absolutely saved our asses from a near riot in Ukraine) queuing for the ferry

Some camping photos from the trip

Some of the landscape we travelled through was incredible

Met some incredible local people andother teams on the way - they really made the trip!

Some photos of our beloved Pippa - she never missed a beat, she was awesome!

Some photos of the team including us at the finish line!

Finally, some photos of the childred who we raised money for - we visited them at the summer camp that the charity runs for them. All the children were incredibly happy and it was easy to forget that they are all orphans and many have suffered terribly in their life so far. We think they are doing a great job and commend them on the work the charity is doing. Many thanks to everyone who has supported us!

New update from Facebook

Posted by Ian Roberts at 23rd August 2012 at 15:38

Drove 8998 miles from Aberdeen to Mongolia in 36 days. Should make it home again in under 24 hours on a plane... the driving was significantly more fun if somewhat inefficient!

Day 22 - Almaty

Posted by Ross at 4th August 2012 at 07:57

Made it to Almaty yesterday - Kazakh roads have been a mixture between god awful and absolutely pristine. Convoying with Genghis Khan'ny Skate and Mongol Madness - great guys. Several bribes to the police have been paid and a couple of fines - no paperwork though, cash was definitely pocketed! Pippa hasn't missed a beat yet although she is taking a battering on these roads. Only one puncture/damaged rim so far - handled the terrible roads (we use this term loosely, they are actually dirt tracks with mountainous bumps and abyss like potholes) no problem and we manage to hit the only rock on a perfect stretch of tarmac...oops!

Everyone in Kazakhstan is incredibly friendly and we are getting a great reception driving around. Had a great night out last night here in Almaty - suffering for it today though. Heading up to Semey over the next few days, can't wait to get to Mongolia!

Update Day 17 - Kazakhstan

Posted by Ross at 28th July 2012 at 10:07

Made it to Kazakhstan. Roads are terrible, temperature is hot (40 degrees) but spirits are high.

Jut stocked up on food before we head out into the desert. Camped out on a dried up salt lake last night, the camels left us alone.

Leaving Astrakhanthis...

Posted by Ross at 27th July 2012 at 05:00

Leaving Astrakhanthis morning - off to the Khazakstan border!

New update from Facebook

Posted by Ian Roberts at 26th July 2012 at 05:39

Day 14 - From Russia with love. 11 hours to enter, almost caused a riot, aquired some soviet army rations and made some Russian friends, but made it deep into the heart of the motherland. So many police but avoided all bribes so far. Intrigued to see how the Kazakhstan border goes on Friday!

New update from Facebook

Posted by Ross at 21st July 2012 at 17:58

made it across the border to Chisinau in Moldova.

This is how it all started...how will it end?

Posted by Ross at 20th July 2012 at 20:36

Day 9 - made it to a small town called Bran deep in the Romanian mountains. We drove the Transfaragasan and over some incredibly beautiful mountainous roads. Tomorrow we are aiming for Moldova. Pippa's turning out to be more than just a looker.

Other news, we made the Goodwood launch party video. Check us out at 2:56...famous yet?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGSLXvw0f9I

The video also shows many teams that we have spoken to and bumped into en route so far.

Progress - Deva, Romania

Posted by Ross at 20th July 2012 at 07:06

Day 9 - Last night we made it to a bizarre little town in Romania called Deva. We met quite a few teams leaving Hungary into Romania, all of us heading towards the Transfaragasan in Romania. Romanian roads are crazy and the drivers are even crazier! Overtaking on a blind bend seems common practice here!

We have gone from persistent rain for the first week of our trip to blistering sunshine. It is a consistent 36 degrees so being in the car with no A/C is interesting.

Here are a couple of shots of the town of the town we are in:

Pint of Carlsberg is 83p here and a burger is 1 pound 20, the views are priceless!

Progress so far - Budapest

Posted by Ian Roberts at 18th July 2012 at 23:06

Day 7 - We have made it to Budapest, Hungary. Everything is going well so far and the roads through Europe have been brilliant, however I expect them to get worse very soon!

We have passed through France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary (although we did think we were in Slovakia for a while but we were not...) Highlights so far have been the Nurburg Ring in Germany where we managed to complete a Lap each of the racing circuit and the Czechout party meeting up with other teams in an abandoned castle near Klatavoy for a party.

We have camped everynight so far meeting various other teams along the way however we have booked a night of luxury tonight in Budapest City Center. Onwards to Romania tomorrow!

The team enjoying a beer in a local bar (all beards coming along nicely).

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