Fra England, d. 24. juli vil jeg, min ven Ulrik køre afsted mod Mongoliet i en Suzuki Alto 1,0. Sammen med os følger min bror og hans ven, i en Skoda Felicia og min far og hans bror i en Hyundai Accent. Denne vovede konvoj vil rejse 13.000 km rundt om jorden, for at når vores mål: Ulan Bator i Mongoliet.

Nu hvor introduktionen er overstået vil jeg sende jer videre til dér hvor det virkelig sker: Twats in Tweeds rejseblog!

God sommer!

Løbet er simpelt, meget simpelt.

Ved ankomst får vi tildelt en tuk tuk – en knallert med 3 hjul, 3 sæder, sider og tag. I dén skal vi køre fra Pokhara i Nepal til Kochin i det sydlige Indien på to uger. Udover den smalle sag at tilbagelægge 3000 km i et køretøj der har en topfart på ~50 km/t skal der doneres ca. 10.000 kr. til velgørenhed. DHL Global Forwarding har dog været så FANTASTISKE at de sponsorerer vores hold ‘Tux Tuk‘.

Hvis du vil være en af de cool børn i skolegården så smut over på tuxtuk.aoos.dk og læs om det fedeste eventyr du aldrig har hørt om. Bloggen vil blive opdateret når vi får mulighed for det, med billeder, historier og alt i verden som er awesome.

Jeg er hjemme igen ~20. januar, men til juli går turen igen – Mongol Rally venter.

Jeg fortalte forleden om The Mongol Rally og den fantastiske rejse man kun kan få hvis man deltager.

Snakken har gået herhjemme.  Min pappa, min onkel, venner og bekendte, alle vil være med (og nogle få synes det er galimatias).

I øjeblikket er der snak om op til 6 biler (2 personer i hver), men alt og alle kan jo falde fra inden starten går i ’10.

Men jeg har tænkt meget over hvilken rute jeg ville foretrække hvis jeg kunne bestemme.

Med min rute så er holdenes overordnede checkpoints: London -> Prag -> Istanbul -> Samarkand -> Ulan Bator.

Og som I kan se på kortet så bliver det med færge over det Kaspiske Hav fra Baku i Adserbadjan til Turkmenistan. På den facon undgår man Iran, selvom jeg stadigvæk ikke er helt besluttet på at det ville være en dårlig ting. Men anyhow. Sådan her bliver det optimalt, imo.

Han synes vi skal deltage. Jeg er enig.

The Mongol Rally

Kør fra Hyde Park i London til Ulan Bator i Mongoliet – simpelt.

Der er 4 regler:

1. Du er på egen hånd under hele løbet.
2. Du skal donere £1000 (ca. 9.450 kr.) til en af rallyets udvalgte velgørenhedsorganisationer.
3. Din bil må ikke have en motor større end 1 liter. Kører du på motorcykel (eller scooter) må motoren ikke overstige 125 kubikcentimeter.
4. Din bil må være max 10 år gammel (ny regel introduceret til 2009 – gælder dog kun hvis man har intentioner om at donere eller sælge den i Mongoliet).

Hvor meget kommer det til at koste i alt?

• Tilmelding: £650 (6.250 kr.)
• Visa: £180 – £500. Alt afhængigt af ruten.
• Benzin: Priserne udenfor den vestlige verden er ikke så høje som vi er vant til. Turen på tværs af Europa koster ca. det samme som resten af turen. Men hvor meget kan det koste når man kører i så lille en bil ?
• Mad: Når man kommer udenfor Europa kan man nemt spise et måltid for 10 kr. eller mindre. Så ca. 1000 kr. er overslaget.

Andre udgifter:

• Vehicle
  • You’ll be needing one of these. This really depends on how much you want to spend. Many team’s in the past have had vehicles donated however 10 year old 1 litre vehicles can be picked up on ebay for between £300 and £1000.
• Repairs
  • This will depend on your mechanical know-how and how many spares you carry. There could come a point beyond all repair where you need to buy a camel to carry on. At current market prices the going rate for camels is 1/8 of a wife.
• Bribes
  • It is very unlikely that you will get to Mongolia without being asked to oil the palms of lots of Policemen. It’s often possible to get away without paying by being sneaky.
• Return Journey
  • Once again it depends on the choices you make. Flying back could cost as little as £350 from Ulan Baatar. You could take the Trans Siberian Railway chicken class for a lot less, or drive back, or walk, or stay in Mongolia forever, which would be free.
• Accommodation
  • Firstly, what are you doing sleeping in hotels when the humble motor car is like a mobile Hilton? However should you go soft in the head and feel the need to lie straight it depends on how much you want to spend. There are hotels between £5 and £10 in most places.

Ruten er op til en selv. Der er ingen planlagte ruter, for hvor ville eventyret så være? GPS er forresten anset som utroligt usportsligt. Her findes et skørt kort over de vilde ruter der før er blevet kørt. Hele turen tager 3 til 5 uger… ca.

Historien bag:

In 2001 Mr Tom and Mr Joolz found themselves staring in awe at their slightly dishevelled Fiat 126 wondering what to do with it. After not very long they came up with the only sensible plan – to drive to the most ridiculous place they could think of. Mongolia was chosen, being 10 000 miles away as the drunk crow flies and sporting a fine selection of the world’s worst roads it seemed perfect. So with no changes of clothes, a packet of cheap cigars and a hunting knife, they set forth. Although they didn’t quite reach Mongolia because of visa and border trouble they enjoyed themselves so much that they swore to return and try again. From this premise the great Mongol Rally was born.

Facts and figures from the 2005 rally:

• • 43 cars left London.
• • 27 cars reached Mongolia.
• • 14 cars reached the finish in Ulaanbaatar.
• • 2 teams were robbed at knife point.
• • 1 car snapped in half.
• • 3 engines fell completely out of the cars.
• • 1 team was held for 5 days in no-mans land.
• • 1 team cycled 200km to get to the finish when their car gave in.
• • 100′s of tyres were blown.
• • 1 team got engaged.
• • 1 team found a 10ft deep pot hole.
• • 1 team found a 25 tonne crane rolled by a pot hole.
• • 3 teams attended weddings.
• • 1 team had to reverse up a mountain after losing all bar one forward gear.
• • 1 person spent 24 hours in a Kazakh jail charged with 5 crimes against the state.
• • 1 person was stoned by a Mongolian nomad (who he then shot at with a gun).
• • 1 team was rammed off the road after an argument over water melons.
• • 1 person spent a day in a Turkish hospital.
• • 3 people were banned from Turkmenistan for a year.
• • As a result of an incident with a cow 1 person was detained by police in Azerbaijan and threatened with a beating from a dwarf.
• • 2 cars flipped over in Mongolia.
• • 3 teams were chased by armed bandits.
• • 0 team members died.

Facts and figures from the 2006 rally:

• • 167 cars crossing the English Channel
• • 27 cars reached Mongolia

Facts and figures from the 2007 rally:

• • 200 (approx) cars started
• • 70% finished

Vi sigter efter at deltage i 2010/2011.

Jeg vil super gerne deltage i en Bedford Rascal hvis jeg kan komme til det. Dén bil er bare for sej.

Her er rallyets officielle side.
Og her kan I se videomateriale fra et holds tur.