Yes, I really did this.
The Mongol Rally is an unsupported road rally (for charity) from London, England to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia put on by the Adventurists. In July, 2011 four well-traveled, and some may say crazy travel bloggers set out on a 10,000 mile journey to Mongolia. This was no fluff press trip…this was us against the open road, in a car that was not meant to be driven to these lengths.
Crossing 10,000 miles over unforgiving deserts, perilous mountain ranges and non-existent roads, we will faced the possibility of bandits, breakdowns and corruption while navigating our way through 13 countries and 2 continents. Oh yes, and not a one of us had any mechanical knowledge.
Driving to Mongolia Photo Essay on Everything Everywhere
Far From Home Podcast Episode 2 – I was interviewed about my experience in the Rally. But I recommend listening to the whole podcast as it’s a great one about Scott Gurian’s experience on the rally
The Mongol Rally Podcast with Sherry Ott
We had heard from other teams on Twitter that the police checkpoints outside of Astana were a bitch. But we couldn’t stay in Astana forever – we had to press on. Up until this point, we had avoided any real major run-ins with police and bribes by simply playing dumb and sometimes ignoring their points […]
Some quick and dirty updates from the road in Mongolia. Since there is virtually no internet that we can use in Mongolia – I will have to fill in all the details of Mongolia once we make it to Ulaanbaatar and I can actually sit and write. So for now…hopefully pics and small updates will […]
The car is taking a beating. I honestly can’t really believe that it still starts for us every morning. We have taken it through rivers We have taken it over bridges that appear to be made with toothpicks We have camouflaged it in dust so it fits in with the Gobi We have determined that […]
They say patience is a virtue. I’ve learned to develop my patience through traveling, but the border crossings on the Mongol Rally kick it up to a whole new level of patience that is required. For our last border crossing, “Wait” is the word of the day…and night. This was it, our last border crossing […]
I had been looking forward to the Mongolia portion of the trip not only because it was the most adventurous and uncertain, but because I expected it to be the most social. Prior to this, rally teams were spread out all over Europe and Central Asia and about 75% of them would funnel through this […]
At 11AM a border guard walks across the parking lot carrying passports and some forms, looking official with a stern look on his face. All of the teams perk up, and eyes follow the official’s every move; each wondering who will get the ticket to freedom. The official doesn’t say a word, scans the license […]
We are traveling in Mongolia with a map that is 5 years old. This normally wouldn’t be that big of a deal, but in a country where roads are only dirt and they change every season as new tracks are made, this IS a big deal. Every day we start off confident of our direction. […]
Since we had made it into Mongolia – it was time to slow down and enjoy our surroundings. One problem was that Rick had to catch a flight. He hitchhiked a ride with another team to Khovd to try to sort out his flight issues while Dave, Deb, and I took a slow day of […]
“I’m starving!” I said as the Russian waitress brings out the menu with the usual cold grimace on her face. I eagerly open up the menu so that I can find something to eat, my eyes focus on the words and then it hits my brain; I have no idea what this menu says. The […]
I took off driving today out of Khovd missing one important thing…Rick. He was unable to change his flights and we had to continue on without him while he flew to Ulaanbaatar. But the show must go on so Dave, Deb, and I plotted our course towards Altai. The driving started out ok for about […]
