“Imagine you’re lost in a massive desert, hundreds of miles from civilisation, driving a car even your granny would be embarrassed by…This is what the Mongol Rally is about.”
— The Adventurists
Today is a big day.
Not for me, really–I’ve been tucked away in quiet southwest London, thankful to be out of the way of what Obama has called an “historic” hurricane, curled up in a lawn chair reading over my dissertation one last time during the warm afternoon sunshine.
But for Team Social Media Syndicate–made up of veteran travel bloggers Dave and Deb of the Planet D, Sherry Ott of OttsWorld, and Rick Griffin of Midlife Roadtrip–it is a huge day. One month and three days after setting off from England’s famed Goodwood Motor Circuit, they crossed the Mongol Rally’s finish line in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
As excited as I know Citlalli and I will be to reach Jaisalmer at the end of our Rickshaw Run next month, I can only imagine how it must feel to come to the end of a 10,000 mile journey filled with more dust than any one person should ever have to deal with…big congratulations, Team #MongolSMS!
Blogging two days ago that he and teammate Alex were three or four days away from Ulaanbaatar, my friend Edward of Team BanterBus is close to the finish line as well…can’t wait to hear when the rest of the Mongol Rally teams make it. In honor of the rally coming to a close, I thought I’d share a few more of the shots I got at the launch–the Festival of Slow–back in July. Enjoy!
Want more? Here’s some of the best of the Mongol Rally:
- Sherry – “My Ride in a Kazakhstan Police Car”
- Rick – “Traveling through Ukraine on the Mongol Rally”
- Deb and Dave – “A Kazakhstan Farmer at Sunset”
It feels amazing – and surreal. I don’t believe that we don’t have to get up and drive today. We don’t have any ground to cover. I don’t have to put on those filthy pants and shirt again. I don’t have to hold my breath that that car will not die on us. And I don’t have to wonder if we are going the right direction.
It was a brilliant adventure – full of ups and downs – but seeing that first glimpse of Ulaanbaatar and realizing what we had just accomplished with absolutely no mechanical skills made it all worth it!
Just relaxing in Ulaanbaatar for the next week or so! Thanks for following along. We have so much to share yet about our journey through Mongolia and pics…stay tuned!
Sherry
That’s amazing, Sherry!! Really well done…and your success without the mechanical skills gives me some hope about the Rickshaw Run, too 🙂 Enjoy your week in Ulaanbaatar and I can’t wait to keep reading more stories about the trip…I can only imagine how much material you gathered!