The Journey
One quarter of the world in three weeks, who said I was crazy!!
The course of the Mongol Rally pitted poor old Molly against some of the most remote parts of the world. Thousands of miles of desert, forest, mountain, bad roads, no roads and adventure.
As the crow flies, the distance to Mongolia from London is only a tiny 6000 miles. Pathetic really, so we decided to take a detour. Before our car collapsed in Mongolia we had driven some 8,500 miles. Molly enjoyed some unfathomably bad roads, some great scenery and now our seats are keeping some herdsmen comfortable in their Yurts.
The route was broken into 5 legs.
After a frantic effort running around numerous embassies to get all of my Visas I was able to go the slightly more extreme Southern Route. My brother Henry was lucky as he only needed one Visa at the Turkish Border. I had to get 10 all told. I had hoped to be able to make a detour to China on the way home but unfortunately I ran out of money!
We travelled through the following countries: England, France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaidjan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgzystan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Mongolia and finally home by plane through Russia.
The route is broken into 5 legs. The links which are hyperlinked mean we have a reasonable idea as to how we are going to get there and so if you click a map should appear! Joys of web design, huh!
Leg 1 (Checkpoint High Tea)
London to Prague
We polish off our drinks at the launch party, leap into the cars and head for Dover, although I am off to a great friends wedding on the way, hoping to prove that a 2CV really is designed for trays of eggs and top hats. Once we hit the mainland we drive as fast as possible to Brussels where Henry and I are hoping to catch up with all of our Belgian friends for Sunday lunch. I am hopeful that I can then persuade Henry to play designated driver! We then drive on into Germany and then the Czech Republic. Somewhere in Germany we will meet Stephen who will load up the car with lots of his belongings… We will then hopefully arrive in Prague in time for tea at 4pm on the Monday.
Leg 2 (The Trinity)
Prague to Istanbul
Checkpoint Byzantium – (Istanbul), A southerly charge over the miles and miles of mountains to the coffee shops and ancient winding streets of the old Ottoman capital and the bridge to Asia.
Leg 3 (Checkpoint Seljuk)
Istanbul to Samarkand
From istanbul we push further east, into Georgia and Azerbaijan and then across the the Caspian Sea and into the Turkmen desert, into Uzbekistan and on to Samarkand on the ancient silk route, where a much needed beverage or three will hopefully be found.
Leg 4 (Checkpoint Tsagaannuur)
Samarkand to Tsagaannuur
Winding north through the beautiful Mountains of Kyrgyzstan and into Kazakhstan for a dash north to the Russian border. Then on into the Altai region, described as the most beautiful part of Russia before entering Mongolia at it’s western tip.
Leg 5 (Checkpoint Chinghis)
Tsagaannuur to Ulaan Baatar
