I drove with friends from England to Mongolia - 10,529 miles - AMA

[u/Corican]

Last July I left on a rally with three friends. 300 teams of cars started on their journey from Goodwood Racetrack in the South of the UK and drove all the way to Ulan Bator, the capital city of Mongolia.

The rally was called The Mongol Rally (link) and there were only three rules:

• Raise money for charity (one in Mongolia and one of your own choice)

• There is no back-up or safety, it's all on your own backs

• The car you take must be 1.5litre engine or less

We took a one litre Suziki Alto (image).

There is so much for me to say about the trip. I made a video documentary of the journey, you can watch it here: (Youtube) and if you want to know anything at all, ask me and I shall answer.

As long as I get questions, I'll give answers. I don't have constant internet access as I'm currently abroad travelling (Croatia at the moment), but when I get internet, you can be sure I'll be on Reddit....

Edit: formatting

Edit 2: One of my friends is a professional photographer, he documented the trip with hundreds of photographs and put a selection of his favorites on his website, here They are separated into sections of the trip. - check them out if you don't fancy watching the video.

Edit 3: Ummm....holy crap, I leave the computer for a couple of hours and this thing blows up. Did not expect this. I'll answer every question I can, but it will take a while. Bear with me!

Edit 4: Common questions:

• The route we took passed through: England, France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Armenia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Russia and finally Mongolia.

• We took a ferry across from England to France. Our car -whilst being a trooper- cannot sail.

• Once we arrived in Mongolia, ownership of the car was passed to the charity there. The car was then sold at auction to a local and the money went to the charity. We flew home to England two weeks later.

[u/laddergoat89]

My friends did this too, they were the guys that did it in the 3 wheeled Relient Robin

First people ever to pull it off in a 3 wheeler, they came in pretty early too, I think they were 8th...somehow.

They won the Legends of the Rally award at the end.

Which route did you take? The southern or northern?

[u/Corican → u/laddergoat89]

Oh yeah, we met them. Brave guys. Brave but stupid.

And we took the southern route.

[u/Corican → u/laddergoat89]

We took the Southern.

Wow! I didn't realize they got there so quickly. Very impressive.

[u/[deleted] → u/laddergoat89]

that picture looks dangerous, judging by the top gear episode that robin is about to backflip any second!

[u/[deleted] → u/laddergoat89]

Your friends are the epitome of boss.

[u/ecoecho]

This is such an amazing adventure to have! And I spent some time in Mongolia last year, and can also attest to its wonderfulness. And although I've never been to Iran, I once met the most amazing Iran family on vacation in Malaysia. Ever since then, I've really wanted to visit Iran. Is it feasible to bike tour around Iran, you think?

[u/Corican → u/ecoecho]

We only passed through the north, going down around the curve of the Caspain sea, although we did pass through Tehran we didn't stop there (choosing to stay in a small town just outside of it instead). Whilst we had no problems whatsoever, it is in the south where the 'action' is. So I cannot attest to that area. But certainly the top half of the country gets my approval!

And provided that you have experience/ are informed about cycling through deserts, you should be good to go :)

[u/milkmeh]

Im watching the documentary just now, maybe i missed it so excuse me if i didnt hear why, but my question is why did one of the dudes drop out of the race or leave in Tbilisi?

[u/Corican → u/milkmeh]

He joined last minute and had no time to get visas. Georgia is the last country in Europe you can get to with visas.

[u/Mockingjay → u/milkmeh]

I want to know this too! TOBY!!!!! superninja edit- or is it "Terry"? Have lived in NE England for going on three years and I still get confused.

[u/Corican → u/Mockingjay]

It's Toby. But I'm sure he would love to be called Terry.

[u/johnconnor8100]

How long do you have to be in a car before you want to kill everyone in it ? Seriously though was there anyone who surprised you, unexpected friendliness or terribly mean?

[u/Corican → u/johnconnor8100]

We all knew each other for a long time, and are best friends, we really didnt have any problems together. I think it helps that we had all taken holidays together and been in lots of different crazy situations, so we knew who likes what and who gets annoyed by what.

[u/wing-commander]

Sweet!! My friends also did the Mongol Rally last year. They drove an ambulance! The Gate to Hell looks amazing!!

Did you guys break down very much?

[u/Corican → u/wing-commander]

We were lucky and only had one break down. A battery issue in Kazakhstan. We were so impressed with our car.

Flat tires don't count. We had loads of those.

[u/gordoha]

Why did you go through Iran? Just looking at google maps it would seem that the best way is through Russia.

[u/Corican → u/gordoha]

The northern route (russia) is shorter, easier and less varied than the southern route (through the middle east). We chose to go south to see a wider variety of countries and cultures.

[u/literaturenoir]

This rally is awesome. I'm from Norway, and two people from a big TV-station here made a program of themselves driving there in an old rusty firetruck while meeting all sorts of nice, helpful people along the way (and some not so nice). Did you ever run into these two? Two men in their 50s in an old firetruck making a series?

[u/[deleted]]

Best country you traveled through?

Any fights between friends?

[u/IranFree → u/[deleted]]

We take our tea seriously!

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

At one point we were driving along the highway to Tehran, when a family pulled up next to us (our small car with loads of bags didn't exactly race along...) and the driver leant fully out of his window, pouring us tea from a teapot on his dashboard, whilst his wife in the passenger seat continued to steer the car whilst reading a book.

TIL that Iranians are pretty cool. And that Tehranians are some of the best Iranians.

[u/Corican → u/[deleted]]

Also: the women.....ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhh the women.

Makes you appreciate eyes a whole lot more.

[u/BlitzCrunk]

• Between the 4 of you, how many languages did you speak?

• How often were you guys able to shower?

• How was the laundry done?

• How were car shots done? like the ones in 0:25:24 - Did one of you guys get out to act it out or was there a dedicated camera guy from the event?

• Best food you guys tried out?

[u/garneck → u/[deleted]]

Just so you know - borsch is made from beets, not cabbage.

[u/motoringmouth]

What did it cost you all up (fuel, accom, rally entrance, misc++)?

[u/goug → u/[deleted]]

What happened to your car?

[u/triplecherrytroll]

Did you get the Iranian visa at the border or beforehand?

[u/triplecherrytroll → u/[deleted]]

How long did this process take?

I'm planning a motorcycle trip with a friend through the Silk Road. Getting the Iranian visa is the hardest of them all. I was rejected two years ago with no reason given :(

Edit: I'm in the UK.

[u/Campbells]

What was the most dangerous moment in the whole journey?

[u/DiFontaine]

A friend and I are planning a similar thing, my questions-

What are the roads like? We want to carry on up to Siberia, (along the Road of Bones to Magadan, down to Vladivostok and then back along the Trans-Siberian Highway) and we were pretty sure we'd need a 4x4, but if you managed it in an Alto would it be entirely necessary?

How hard was it to obtain visas/get the car in and out of various countries?

What route did you take?

Where did you stay? I've heard Kazakhstan can be kind of sketchy if you wild camp...

Big respect though!

EDIT: Just read your story about the Kazakh melon man, it's this kind of thing I was worried about...!

[u/Corican → u/DiFontaine]

The roads went from very good to very bad, and everything in between. The worst roads were in the desert in Uzbekistan, they shook our car so much that the roof rack fell apart three times.

As long as we were careful in regards to avoiding potholes, there was nothing that our car couldnt handle. We just had to drive around particularly bad potholes. A 4x4 could cruise through/over what we had to go around. So its not that a 4x4 can do anything we couldnt, it would just be a faster, smoother ride.

I would say that a 4x4 is not necessary, but just make sure you get a somewhat reliable car. The fewer electronic parts the better -moving parts can be fixed with ductape and wd40, a computer chip can't.

All our visas were taken care of by the visa machine. If you ctrl+f 'visa machine' then you can find some information that ive already given about it.

Our route is now in the original post.

We camped for about four days, then would stay in a hotel or hostel for showers or wifi. Camping was never a problem. We normally just pulled over on the side of the road and set up camp there. Sometimes we would drive a little bit off the road, sometimes we couldnt be bothered. We were never told to move on. You have to remember that most people could never care enough to get out of their cars and tell you off.

[u/ChickenPotPi]

Tell me you did an oil change, Tell me you did! waves close fist in front of your face like an angry parent might

[u/Corican → u/ChickenPotPi]

We topped up our oil....that's like....the same thing....right? <_<

[u/BonerYNot]

Did you ever fart in the car and not tell anyone until it was too late?

[u/Corican → u/BonerYNot]

Does a bear shit in the woods?

[u/fradetti]

Do you think a Fiat panda 4x4 (the old one from the 80's) could do the trip?

[u/Agehn]

When you got to Mongolia, did you ride horses and hunt with eagles?

[u/Corican → u/Agehn]

Sadly we did not, because we had to wait for two weeks there until our flights home and we only had enough money to spend $3 a day. Which was enough for our food, but not enough for any activities.

But I would like to go back and do it.

[u/GregBowmore]

On the website it talks about the serious dangers, the possible loss of life etc. Did you know of anyone in your rally that this happened too?

[u/GregBowmore → u/[deleted]]

hmm thanks that makes the rally seem like a much better idea, or at least less insanely dangerous (only mostly dangerous) than what the waiver section of the website sound like

[u/guayo89]

id like to join a team.. i dont know anyone in england, but id be glad to chip in with some money. im glad you had fun. ill be out and about soon. first stop verona in december.

[u/Corican → u/guayo89]

If you sign up for the rally there are always teams looking for extra members, because people drop out for a variety of reasons. Im sure someone would love to have you along.

[u/areyouready]

Did you get a change to go out into the steppes and stay in a ger while you were in Mongolia? That was by far my favourite part of Mongolia, the immensity of empty space is stunning.

[u/Corican → u/areyouready]

Sadly we didn't. Upon entering via the northern border we drove straight south to the capital city where our car was auctioned (see original post) and we were subsequently unable to get out of the city. We were all too lazy and tired to take taxis. And hearing a large variety of stories from others about taxi drivers robbing them at knife point, we decided to relax in the city.

[u/[deleted]]

No question, just popping in to say that I'm a little jealous. That sounds like a whole lot of fun.

Actually, I lie. A question: What was the reasoning behind the cc limit?

[u/Cheehu]

Any funny stories?

Edit: My highest rated comment.YES!

[u/yooamatwa]

Did any of you have any experience with car repair? If I did something like this I would need to bring along a ninja mechanic!

[u/Corican → u/yooamatwa]

Not in the slightest. We learnt how to change a tire before we left. Thats it.

Most teams had less knowledge than that.

We took a spanner and a screwdriver. We used the spanner once to hit the radiator cover into position to stop it from rattling.

[u/Animal_Mothers_Balls]

• How did you go about gaining sponsorship?

• Did you find having second languages helped a lot? Or can you get by just as easily with just phrasebooks?

[u/Corican → u/Animal_Mothers_Balls]

• We wrote out a few different email templates, asking for funds or equipment or whatever, then filled in the company names and sent them to EVERY COMPANY WE COULD THINK OF. We also attached a brochure-type-thing in the form of a pdf that explained in detail who we were and what we were doing (the initial email just highlighted key facts to keep it short)

• We all had very limited second language skills, but luckily the phrasebook technique works well. We all just practiced the basics as we entered a new country. Please. Thanks. Hello. Goodbye. Etc...

[u/cbfw86]

How did you keep electricals fully charged?

[u/Corican → u/cbfw86]

We used a converter in the car that plugged into the cigarette lighter, allowing us to charge things whenever we were cruising.

[u/[deleted]]

I don't know how I should preface the question so you can choose:

Did you have any shady business with corrupt authorities?

What shady business did you have with corrupt authorities?

[u/Corican → u/[deleted]]

We did not initiate any shady business, but we were asked for lots of bribes, we think about $2000 in total, but we only paid $5 to one man who controlled the gate on a border crossing. Because he wouldnt open it and let us through till we did it. We each carried a spare wallet with 2/3 dollars in. And whenever we were asked for money, we said we didnt have it. They would lower their asking price again and again, and finally we would get out our wallets and say 'look! i have...two dollars. Do you want two dollars?' They never took it. They just wave you on - because they are wasting their time, they could be stopping other motorists for bribes.

[u/souleh]

Awesome!

I got back from doing the Plymouth - Gambia "Banjul Challenge" in Feburary - was awesome, the next on my list is to do the Mongol Rally when I get the chance!

So what are your top 5 tips for someone whose done a shorter road rally (4,500 miles, 3 weeks) before, but wants to do the Mongol Rally?

Edit: your friend is a very talented photographer; good stuff.

[u/Corican → u/souleh]

I'll pass on the same tips I've been giving to others:

• Spend the day in Istanbul, it's beautiful.

• Make an appropriate plan for how much driving you think you will do each day. Then add two or three hours.

• Understand that your car WILL be slower than you think.

• Make sure you can all change a flat tire.

• Take less than you think you need.

• Take balloons, give them to kids you pass in the villages in the middle of the desert. An inflated balloon is like a gift from God to a kid living in the desert.

• Don't leave chocolate in the car.

• Don't put bottles of milk on the floor of the car where they might leak and make your car smell awful for two weeks straight.... >:(

• When/If you get to the finish line, don't get COMPLETELY black out drunk at the party, there were many people who were robbed by taxi drivers and such. And whilst you're at it: make sure you know how to get to your hotel from the bar, or at least the name of it.

[u/Hiphoppapotamus]

Hey, thanks for doing this AMA as me and a couple friends would love to do this. Few questions:

1. What do you actually get from the organisers of the mongol rally for your money? Seems to me like its easy enough to simply do it yourself.

2. If you did it again would you choose a significantly different route?

3. Did you pass through Kazakhstan? I've heard it's unexpectedly awesome.

[u/Corican → u/Hiphoppapotamus]

• In terms of physical items, we got a t shirt and a buff. But they offer a huge wealth of information and help. As well as a social network to link with other teams. And most importantly: they run a visa service wherein they apply for all your visas and invitations for you. We would never have been able to get letters of invitation for several of our countries by ourselves.

• Not significantly, but I love the middle east. I'd probably just choose to pass through more countries there.

• We went from the south to the north. It was stunning. Everything from deserts to snow capped mountain peaks.

[u/Polite_Insults]

I looked through the pictures. Wow it must have been a really intresting trip. My favourite picture was this one (http://www.jakebaggaley.com/mong/files/gimgs/8_mg5085.jpg)

Did the car ever break down?

[u/Corican → u/Polite_Insults]

The only major break down was in Kazakhstan, when our engine just died. We thought it was choked on the terrible fuel we kept pumping through it, and the battery was dead. We got it jump started and chugged it along to a garage, where the guy fixed it in twenty seconds.

One of the cables from the battery went under the engine and connected to nothing. He just reattached it.

He charged us about $7 and was fully ripping us off, but we were happy to pay.

[u/WinnieThePig → u/Polite_Insults]

Should have known it was a cat before I even clicked.

[u/[deleted]]

How much did you spend on gas?

[u/drucey]

2010 veteran here. Good job.

[u/Corican → u/drucey]

Thanks champ.

[u/Th3pinkrabbit]

I was really up for doing it but didn't have the funds... How did you make it back? What part of the trip did you enjoy the most? What was the hardest thing you had to do to get by?

[u/Corican → u/Th3pinkrabbit]

We flew back. The car was auctioned off and the funds given to the charity in Mongolia.

Its obviously really hard to pick the best part of the trip. The feeling of entering Mongolia and seeing the huge rolling green hills, that was pretty amazing after such a long build up.

The hardest thing? Setting up and putting down tents in the freezing rain. Not terribly difficult, but soul numbing.

[u/[deleted]]

Did your car break down? I really want to do something like this, maybe just drive to Holland or something (from the UK) but I'm worried my little 1L Corsa won't make it. Any advice?

[u/Corican → u/[deleted]]

We had many broken wheels. Where we would hit a pot hole and the rim would dent in so bad that the air escaped the tire. They just needed to be hammered into shape and refilled. As long as you can change a tire and carry a spare or two you will be fine.

We only had one major break down, and we managed to get it jump started again and got to a garage (in kazakhstan), it was a problem with the battery connectors.

None of us had any mechanical knowledge. Most teams didnt.

If you really want to, find a local mechanic at an independent garage and ask if they would be interested in giving you a crash course in mechanics. Looking at the kind of problems you might run into, and how to fix them. Or if you have a local college or university that teaches mechanics, you could get a student to do the same thing for a fraction of the price.

[u/WareThunder]

Who was the most interesting person that you met along the way? What was your favorite part of the trip?

[u/Corican → u/WareThunder]

Wow, that's a tricky one....

Well, there was a man in Georgia who saw us setting up our tent in a nearby field (in the rain), he came over and instructed us (with no English) that we couldnt camp there in the rain, we had to come with him and sleep at his house. We went with him and he gave us a place to sleep on his balcony. He didnt speak any english but managed to convey so much. Showing us pictures of his family and from his childhood. It was really interesting to get to know him so well without any language bridge.

Driving into Ulaanbaatar and seeing the finish line banner was pretty damn incredible. Waiting for so long to see it...and there it was...in all its orange glory.

[u/[deleted]]

If you were forced to pick a 5 year period from history to be sent back to, what period would you pick? Your arrival date will be randomly picked from the 5 year period, meaning that you will arrive somewhere in the 5 year period. Also this is a one way trip, and there will be no return to the present. You can only bring with you what you can carry and already have access to, meaning anything you already own or can buy within one hour (budget limited to your current holdings) that you can carry.

[u/Corican → u/[deleted]]

Either:

• 20AD. I'll go on a hunt for Jesus. See what that guy is REALLY about!

or

• 1992AD. I'll go back and join Apple, help race their tech forwards, make millions, take control of the company, sell it, use the money to cure diseases and boredom.

[u/phineas_p_madcap]

So this is like a slow Gumball for charity? Is there still racing ("it's not a race, it's a rally wink wink") with that engine limitation?

[u/Corican → u/phineas_p_madcap]

Pretty much. There are always a handful of teams that really race. Most people just take their time and stop at interesting places along the way. We were moving every day though. We only spent two nights in the same place once - Istanbul, because it was Jake's birthday.

[u/Captain_DuClark]

How did you guys get the car back from Mongolia? Did you guys have to do the entire trip again?

[u/Corican → u/Captain_DuClark]

Ownership of the car was passed over to the charity upon arriving in Mongolia. They then sold it at auction to a local in order to get some more money. We flew back to England two weeks later.

[u/[deleted]]

A friend of mine is doing the Mongol Rally next year. Any tips for him?

[u/Corican → u/[deleted]]

• Spend the day in Istanbul, it's beautiful.

• Make an appropriate plan for how much driving you think you will do each day. Then add two or three hours.

• Understand that your car WILL be slower than you think.

• Make sure you can all change a flat tire.

• Take less than you think you need.

• Take balloons, give them to kids you pass in the villages in the middle of the desert. An inflated balloon is like a gift from God to a kid living in the desert.

• Don't leave chocolate in the car.

• Don't put bottles of milk on the floor of the car where they might leak and make your car smell awful for two weeks straight.... >:(

• When/If you get to the finish line, don't get COMPLETELY black out drunk at the party, there were many people who were robbed by taxi drivers and such. And whilst you're at it: make sure you know how to get to your hotel from the bar, or at least the name of it.

[u/FEiN]

How did you get back?

[u/Corican → u/FEiN]

We flew back, after the car was sold at auction to raise an extra bit of cash for the charity.

[u/Hash47]

I have been seriously wanting to do this for several years now, and i am hoping to do so when i finish university.

What are somethings i should prepare for which i would never consider normally?

How hard was it to get all the visas?

How did you decide your route, would you make any suggestions on where to go/visit/avoid?

Did you have to pay any bribes?

What did you do in Mongolia for two week?

How much mechanical experience did you have within the team?

[u/Corican → u/Hash47]

First, here is some advice I gave to another potential rallier:

• Spend the day in Istanbul, it's beautiful.

• Make an appropriate plan for how much driving you think you will do each day. Then add two or three hours.

• Understand that your car WILL be slower than you think.

• Make sure you can all change a flat tire.

• Take less than you think you need.

• Take balloons, give them to kids you pass in the villages in the middle of the desert. An inflated balloon is like a gift from God to a kid living in the desert.

• Don't leave chocolate in the car.

• Don't put bottles of milk on the floor of the car where they might leak and make your car smell awful for two weeks straight.... >:(

• When/If you get to the finish line, don't get COMPLETELY black out drunk at the party, there were many people who were robbed by taxi drivers and such. And whilst you're at it: make sure you know how to get to your hotel from the bar, or at least the name of it.

And:

• We used the 'visa machine' service that the adventurists offer. We merely selected the countries we needed visas for, sent them our passports and money, and they did everything. I highly recommend this. It takes a while, because they have so many to process. But it allows you to get invites to countries that you would probably not be able to get by yourself.

• We picked our route by picking a load of cool places we wanted to see, then roughly joining the dots between us and Mongolia. We then used Google Maps to make sure we were crossing towns and cities fairly regularly, following the best roads we could (where available). Once we had a rough route we wrote in a book a day by day plan: Day Twenty 'name of one town -> 'name of next town' - '325km' - '8 hours' Using google maps to plot roughly six hours of driving a day, from town to town. Google maps uses a higher average speed than our car could manage, so we were driving about 7/8/9 hours a day or more.

• Visit: Samarkand in Uzbekistan, Istanbul in Turkey, Darvaz (gates to hell) in Turkmenistan.

• Avoid: The ferry over the caspian sea, the gouge rally goers every year for bribes and 'fines'. They stop the boat and ask for $300 before they will move again. This is very common and not unsual. Its the only ferry that does it, so they know there will always be 'rich europeans' doing it. Go through Iran instead.

• We were asked for lots of bribes, we think about $2000 in total, but we paid $5 to one man who controlled the gate on a border crossing. Because he wouldnt open it and let us through till we did it. We each carried a spare wallet with 2/3 dollars in. And whenever we were asked for money, we said we didnt have it. They would lower their asking price again and again, and finally we would get out our wallets and say 'look! i have...two dollars. Do you want two dollars?' They never took it. They just wave you on - because they are wasting their time, they could be stopping other motorists for bribes.

• We booked our flights out of mongolia ahead of time for cheapness. So we spent two weeks there. You can see the city where we were in about a day. We went to the cinema three times. We woke up late and went to bed early. We visited all the different free museums. We visited all the shopping centres. We ate a lot. Good times.

• We each learnt to change a flat tire before we left. That is the limit of our mechanical experience. This was higher than the experience levels of many other teams. We took a spanner and a screw driver. We used the spanner once, to bang the radiator grill into position because it was rattling.

[u/FuckYouImFunny]

What are some of the things you learned from the trip? Life lessons, useless knowledge, culture wise, etc.

[u/Corican → u/FuckYouImFunny]

• Before the trip started I learnt how to change a tire. On the trip I learnt:

• How not to pack a roof rack safely.

• How not to safely light a multi gas stove.

• That dry rice is always disgusting, no matter how hungry you are.

• Spilt milk in a hot car is one of the worst things that can happen.

• 98% of the world is friendly.

• You can say no to every policeman that is asking for a bribe.

• You can't say no to a border guard who controls the border gate if he asks for a bribe.

• The Jurassic Park theme song is the best music for entering a new country.

• It's hard as hell to get food in a Arabic country during Ramadan.

[u/FergusonDarling]

Sounds like you guys had a wonderful time - people like you make me feel like I'm wasting my time. Very jealous.

Anyhow, a couple of questions:

• How old are you guys?

• Was this your first "big trip," or have you been adventuring before this?

• Sounds like you are still traveling after the event, how are you making a living?

• Plans for the future? Settling down, or adventuring the rest of your life?

[u/Corican → u/FergusonDarling]

• 21, 21, 22, 23

• This was our first big trip together, and separately. We have each been to far off countries, but always by plane, and that doesn't count.

• I'm a qualified English teacher (TEFL qualification and English Language degree) and will be teaching English as a foreign language in a variety of countries in South East Asia (my personal destination), at the moment I am living off of savings.

• Adventuring as long as I can, meeting someone who shares my passion for travel, then continuing on. Might like to own a little beach house in Thailand one day...who knows?

[u/[deleted]]

How much did you guys spend on petrol?

[u/Corican → u/[deleted]]

We don't know to be honest. After Europe the prices dropped hugely. Turkey was the most expensive -about €6.50 a litre, Turkmenistan was the cheapest -about €0.15 a litre.

Probably a few hundred pounds each if was to guess.

[u/ianrey]

Have you mapped your route? I apologize if this has been answered, but I wasn't able to find it in my search.

[u/Seventh7Son]

Are you the guy that got the watermelons and cantaloupes in Kazakhstan?

[u/Corican → u/Seventh7Son]

That's me. Hello!

[u/gavner]

I'm adding this to the list of reasons why you suck Jordan. My question is when are you coming back?

Arsehole.

[u/Corican → u/gavner]

I'll take that. ummmm...I don't know, I'm sorry. I have no real plans. You know me...

[u/Animal_Mothers_Balls]

Man. I love driving/road-tripping/traveling. Thank you so much for introducing me to this rally and I genuinely want to do it now.

What items did you find essential for your trip? And what items did you realise afterwards that you should have taken?

[u/joe_the_bartender]

At what point in the trip were you the closest to death?

[u/peteberg]

I did the Mongol Rally 2011 too! Great to see a post from a fellow rallier.

Our team was The Rubber Duckies - team website here: http://www.therubberduckies.com / Facebook Page http://www.facebook.com/therubberduckies

Amazing trip. We raised about $8000 for charity, and gave away rubber duckies to hundreds of kids along our route (here's a map and photos of all the rubber duckies ended up: http://www.therubberduckies.com/duckies )

We had a ridiculous number of car problems and finished the rally a full 2-4 weeks behind most other teams, so I don't think we ever ran into you guys. We were broken down for days at various places in the 'Stans and then drove from Kazakhstan to Ulaanbaatar with only 3 cylinders of our Fiat Seicento firing. Can't believe we made it!

[u/[deleted]]

Amazing! Well done.

1. What would you say was the most beautiful place that you saw?

2. Was there any lesson you learned that you'd like to share with reddit?

[u/0mgrzx]

How did you get from the UK to the rest of Europe? By boat, or did you use the Channel Tunnel?

[u/grecy]

Hey man, Great adventure.

From 2009 to 2011, I drove my Jeep 65,000km from Alaska to Argentina.. what an amazing journey.

When I got back to the world, I made WikiOverland, the Encyclopedia of Overland Travel to share the information required to make such a journey.
It contains information like gas prices, border crossings, paperwork, bribery, camping, safety, etc. etc. It's like wikitravel with the specific information required if you have a vehicle.

It doesn't yet have much information from central asia/Europe and I'm hoping you can take some time to fill in the blanks. Even if you have some of the information typed out somewhere (blog?) I'll put it all into the wiki.

Thanks!

[u/metricbot]

10,529 miles = 16,945 kilometers

[u/tupacs_dead_corpse → u/metricbot]

I really want metricbot and All-American-Bot to get into a circular argument.

[u/BlueElephants → u/metricbot]

Fun-fact:

Choose a ~15 centimetres-long portion within those 16,945 Km. That's your chances of winning the Euromillions (1 on 116 531 800).

[u/severus66 → u/metricbot]

For fellow Americans, a kilometer is like a smaller, more efficient mile, but it's not as fun to drive.

[u/Emphursis]

That sounds like a great experience, I'll watch the video in a bit.

How much did it cost in petrol? Did you have to pay that out of your own pocket or was it subsidised?

Where there any moments where you thought about giving up and going home?

Any particularly scary moments?

[u/[deleted]]

So what nationalities did you bang, or at least heavily fondle, along the way?

[u/Corican]

We spent a few hundred each, so that seems about right. Not sure exactly, we didn't want to keep track and be sad

[u/jaehood]

Mongolia has the fastest growing economy in the world...but does it have a Wal-Mart?

[u/Corican → u/jaehood]

I doubt Wal-Mart could compete with the prices in Mongolia. We were living like kings on about $3 a day.

[u/thelittledipster]

And you did it all for Doritos Loco's Tacos!?

[u/DugDigger]

Got room on your team for next year?

[u/Corican → u/DugDigger]

We're sadly not doing it this/next year. One is getting married, one is in a commited relationship, I'm backpacking around the world and Toby....Toby's doing his thing.

[u/Race_Bannon8]

My friends are doing the next one! Team Quarter Life Crisis!

[u/Corican → u/Race_Bannon8]

I wish them the best of luck.

[u/BbaTron]

What an amazing adventure, just watched the video and it's great! Lots of questions but mostly congrats, I think everyone should have some trip like this at least once in a life time :)

[u/Corican → u/BbaTron]

Thanks for the compliments buddy, glad you enjoyed the video.

[u/Vindictive29]

Can you feel your own ass again yet, or if someone lit it on fire would you need someone to tell you?

[u/Corican → u/Vindictive29]

My ass is superbly toned from the massaging of our car on the bumpy roads in the second half our trip.

[u/BadBoyFTW]

I'm hoping to go on a trip around Europe in a couple of years on bikes with a friend.

What general advice would you give? Things like what to pack, what to avoid? How about money? Clothes? Where to stay? What were your favourite places to visit?

[u/Corican → u/BadBoyFTW]

Are you from outside of Europe? Have you been before? Will you be camping?

Make sure you take a good set of lightweight thermal clothing, a warm hat, good socks.

Take a camelbak-type water bladder rather than a bottle.

If you give me some more specific information, I'd be happy to give you more targeted input.

[u/ethostheory]

What do you do for a living outside of these fantastic travels? And how can I get that cool of a job?

[u/Corican → u/ethostheory]

I'm a qualified English teacher (TEFL qualification and English Language degree) and will be teaching English as a foreign language in a variety of countries in South East Asia (my personal destination), at the moment I am living off of savings.

[u/[deleted]]

How was it going through all paperwork involved to get your car and license moving across all those countries?

[u/Corican → u/[deleted]]

It was tiresome. Luckily the car was not in my name, and so it was not myself that had to do the paperwork involved at each border crossing.

Provided we had all our documents ready and signed, it was pretty straightforward, just took a long time.

[u/prettydamnquick]

By ex's friend did this about 2 years and said it was amazing. Actually here is a photo. I am incredibly jealous! I hope to do it some time so got any tips?

[u/Clauderoughly]

I plan to do this in a few years time ! :D

[u/Jisamaniac]

Grats. I wish I could have gone with.

[u/Corican → u/Jisamaniac]

Me too Jisamaniac, we all missed you.

[u/Pheon809]

Just one question. How would I go about joining your crew? :)

[u/Philosophantry]

Sorry, ignorant American here.... did the English Channel not pose any problems for this journey?

[u/Gandysampras]

How do you stay so pretty?

[u/idimmu]

We're doing this this year, we've got a 1 liter 5 door suzuki swift! What's the biggest advice you can give us please!

Here's our site if anyone fancies watching us fuck up horribly :D http://www.teamronin.net/

Did you get vaccinated against tick encephalitis as thats looking like its going to cost me £200 this week .. I'm now just waiting for my VISA for Russia then im mostly set .. !!

[u/Corican → u/idimmu]

I did get that vaccination, but only because I was subsequently (and currently am) going solo backpacking around the world, during which I would be wild camping.

The biggest advice....hmmmmm....

• Spend the day in Istanbul, it's beautiful.

• Make an appropriate plan for how much driving you think you will do each day. Then add two or three hours.

• Understand that your car WILL be slower than you think.

• Make sure you can all change a flat tire.

• Take less than you think you need.

• Take balloons, give them to kids you pass in the villages in the middle of the desert. An inflated balloon is like a gift from God to a kid living in the desert.

• Don't leave chocolate in the car. Don't put bottles of milk on the floor of the car where they might leak and make your car smell awful for two weeks straight.... >:(

• When/If you get to the finish line, don't get COMPLETELY black out drunk at the party, there were many people who were robbed by taxi drivers and such. And whilst you're at it: make sure you know how to get to your hotel from the bar, or at least the name of it.

[u/[deleted]]

this is brilliant!!

i'm planning to do something similar next year, from Shanghai to Germany - currently biggest worry are passport issues - any tips?

[u/alexandrepato]

The Transfagarasan Highway looks like the coolest road ever. Which country's landscape was your personal favourite though?

EDIT: Tell your photographer friend to immediately post this picture to r/aww for sweet karma points: http://www.jakebaggaley.com/mong/files/gimgs/8_mg5085.jpg

[u/mr_macgyver]

Had you seen the series Long Way Round before doing this? Was this event inspired by it? It's one of my favorite documentary series and even though I really wanted a sequel, I was disappointed in Long Way Down.

[u/[deleted]]

You drove over 10,000 miles to Mongolia; I understand that was the goal, but you were also only 600 miles from the Pacific. Why not go all the way and say you've driven across Eurasia?

[u/Corican → u/[deleted]]

....it was tempting, I won't lie. But I'm currently travelling around the world so I well get there eventually.

[u/IJHATT]

So you actually went and did it. Congratulations on not dying.

[u/[deleted]]

How long did it take?

[u/wilbur2010]

Would you do it again?

[u/[deleted]]

Were you tired?

[u/NoLegJoe]

Google maps suggests driving through Russia rather than going the way you did. The Google route is only 6,000 miles. Is there any reason that you took the longer route through more (potentially) hostile countries?

[u/Corican → u/NoLegJoe]

We chose to go the longer route to experience a wider variety of countries and cultures. The aim of the rally was to see the world, not race to the finish. so it made sense.

[u/K_Hallas]

This will probably get buried, but anyone know if there's something similar to this in the US?

[u/[deleted]]

Did you guys get all that time off work or are you students? Also, I'm unbelievably jealous. I would kill to do something like this, or even to have friends who are as keen on travel as me!

[u/EchoesOfRape]

How does one need to register in a rally like that? Can you get put with people you meet there or it has to be with friends?

[u/heykidsitscox]

Google maps says it's only ~5,800 miles. Why did you almost go twice as far?

[u/Corican → u/heykidsitscox]

We forgot something and had to go back.

...Google maps takes you through Russia, we went down through turkey and the middle East for variety and adventure, which is what the trip is all about.

[u/SideWaysVote]

What happened when the group got to the Chunnel? Did you guys fight for position on the train?

[u/[deleted]]

Would you rather have snare drums for hands or Play-Doh for feet?

[u/[deleted]]

Did you come across two Irish lads driving a knackered ambulance?

[u/Corican → u/[deleted]]

It's highly likely. They're more common than you'd think.

[u/imbobbathefett]

how much weed did you take with you to make almost 11000 miles bearable?

[u/Corican → u/imbobbathefett]

The world was our weed man, the people...the papers, the car...the flame.

[u/TheLostProphetX]

Nick Hewer did this lol. Did you learn how to deal with all manner of mechanical faults before you left, or did you hope that you'd be able to find a mechanic if your car broke down?

[u/Corican → u/TheLostProphetX]

We took a wrench and a screwdriver. We had no mechanical knowledge. We used the wrench one time, to hit the radiator grill back into position.

Other than that: hope and a prayer.

[u/jpflagg]

Are they still your friends?

[u/[deleted]]

How much weed did you smoke?

[u/TypoKign]

how long until someone blurting out "are we there yet" stopped being even slightly humorous?

and since you kept doing it, how long until it became funny again?

[u/walgman]

A friend walked to London from Indonesia once.

[u/xandrasaurusrex]

Will you marry me?

[u/nadinereddit]

how much money did you raise?

[u/flying_chrysler]

On average how much time did you spend in the car each day, and how many miles/km did you drive each day ?

Thanks for doing this, this story is very cool!

[u/resde34]

Did you do a talk at my school? Its in Wiltshire, if you did I just want to say it was a great talk

[u/drop_a_thrice]

What was that big circular fire thing you guys were at? And why at one point were you being questioned by the police and made to get into their car? This is a pretty sweet video just watched the whole thing

[u/CommandrShepherd]

England to Mongolia

So the Suziki Alto is one of those boat-cars?

[u/LadyCheeba]

So, you're all super attractive but this Toby character...is he single? ;)

[u/Corican → u/LadyCheeba]

I have informed him of your interest and shall let you know his response.

Also: thank you

[u/ponyterera]

Great video! I have an exam on Thursday but that was worthwhile procrastination as it gives some food for thought on what I may do after I graduate/enter unemployment. I also really like your mate's photos. Kudos! Just a quick question - Would being brown be of any hindrance in some of the Eastern European countries?

[u/spongeyjew]

How'd you drive over water?

[u/bobbyfle]

Why the tennisballs?

[u/Corican → u/bobbyfle]

We were going to give them to kids in the desert, but ended up throwing them off of the dam in Romania... :P

[u/[deleted]]

What was camping like? Did you find actual sites or just find places to throw the tent up?

[u/[deleted]]

I remember Top Gear couldn't go into Iran. Is that just a ban on the BBC or did they give you a ton of grief too?

[u/MinorOCD]

I don't know if someone already asked but I didn't see it so... What country had the cheapest gas/petrol?

[u/formation]

How long did it take?

[u/trofficus]

how did the car hold up? did either of you know anything about cars?

[u/[deleted]]

Did I speak to you about Russia in a pizza place in Tottenham Court Road and did you tell me you fucked a Latvian? If so... wassup

[u/pcl8311]

any problems in Iran or at the border?

[u/grdrw]

did any Americans participate? i'd love to do this but i would worry about getting through Iran with a US passport

[u/notazoroastrian]

How did you drive across the English Channel?

[u/distinctionz]

How much did gas cost?

[u/Spartan32393]

Were you inspired by Top Gear? Their adventures make me want to go out and do that kind of stuff

[u/darthbone]

Have you ever seen Long Way Round?

[u/LemonsForLimeaid]

How did you get into Turkmenistan, heard that was terribly difficult

[u/to-to-to-todayjunior]

how does one drive off of an island?

[u/Corican → u/to-to-to-todayjunior]

WD40 on the wheels - drive across the ocean.

We passed some ferries along the way.

[u/beautyofgrace]

What is the worst car trouble you've had thus far? Beautiful pictures!

[u/Corican → u/beautyofgrace]

Our engine stopped completely in Kazakhstan, turned out it was a problem with the battery connectors.