<p><strong><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="2">Well it seems a long time ago since both John and I retired from IBM. I sort of remember the retirement party, but not the part where John says " Steve fancy doing the Mongol Rally sometime". I hiccuped and said "sure matey, who's round is it". The rest of the afternoon/evening was even more blurry but apparently we all had a great time.</font><br /></font></strong> </p><p><strong><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="2">18 months later I get a call from John saying. "Good news we have a place on the Mongol Rally!" My initial thoughts were "What the hell is he talking about". Anyway, as John explained it to me, the mists began to clear as I he<font size="2">ard John say in a </font>pleading voice, </font><font size="2">"you are still interested aren't you?" He had already secured the place and payed the entry fee. I could hear the gasp and feel the sense of relief when I said yes.</font></font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2"><font face="comic sans ms,sans-serif"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">So we are now busy watching videos reading books downloading maps and generally preparing for what looks to be the adventure of a lifetime with the added bonus of raising money for some great worthwhile charities. </font></font></font></strong></p><p><strong><font size="2"><font face="comic sans ms,sans-serif"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">On</font></font></font></font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"> </font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2">July 24th we will start to drive our 1600cc Suzuki Vitara to Mongolia, leaving Goodwood in Sussex travelling through France, Belgium, Germany, Czech</font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif" size="2"> R</font><font size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">epublic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, and Kazakhstan, & </font><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif">Kyrgyzstan before finally reaching Mongolia, where our little car will be given to charity</font>.</font></strong></p><p><strong><font face="comic sans ms,sans-serif" size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><font size="2"></font></font></font><font face="comic sans ms,sans-serif" size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"><br /></font></font></strong></p><p><strong><font face="comic sans ms,sans-serif" size="2"><font face="arial,helvetica,sans-serif"> If you wish to donate please use the links on the left.</font></font></strong></p><p> </p>