The Mongol Rally

I have been grounded in the US for over 6 months now. My last major adventure was India (country 21 for Wok the Dog) and I’ve stayed put for an incredibly long amount of time. These last 6 months have not been without adventures but they have been of a different variety than those I have while traveling abroad.

Well….that is about to change. Several months back, I impulsively snagged a spot in the 2012 Mongol Rally. The Mongol Rally is adventure philanthropy at its best. A 10,000 mile overland drive through some of the toughest terrains in the world, going from the UK to Mongolia, across 3 deserts and 5 mountain ranges. It will be one wicked, unpredictable adventure while raising money for charity (The Adventurist have raised over 2 million British Pounds).  Sounds fantastic doesn’t it? YES! YES is what I say to an adventure of this magnitude. So, I impulsively signed up for a major car rally, without teammates, not knowing exactly how I would be able to pull it off, and unable to drive a stick shift (yep…none of those things stopped me from saying yes to adventure.)

Between now and the official rally kick off, I will update you on rally preparation, from visas to travel logistics to the car search to fundraising and maybe an occasional “AM I INSANE?!” freak out or two in addition to the regular SpyTravelogue Posts. Naturally, I will get myself into a ridiculous amount of trouble and promptly report back to you this summer.

Our tentative route (the rally has no specific route — you can get to Mongolia any way you choose and there is no organized support along the way) at the moment look  something like this:

Czech Republic Kick Off — Slovakia — Hungry —- Romania — Serbia — Bulgaria — Turkey —- Georgia — Azerbaijan — {Cross the Caspian Sea and avoid being captured by Pirates} — Turkmenistan — Uzbekistan — Kazakhstan — Russia —- Mongolia !!!