4 Kiwis, 1 car and one hell of a journey
Family and friends of Debbie ‘Double dipper’ Knuvers, Taygen ‘pass the sunscreen’ Hughes, Magic Mike Bathgate and Spanners ‘its strawberry blonde’ Bathgate listen up!
The four of us kiwi mates who you know and love dearly have come to a bump in the road...with the girls spending most of their time stuck in tourist lines, Mike having only his cows for company and Spanners working on more bolts than babes, us Levin and Outram locals decided we needed something to spice up our lives…insert the Mongol Rally!
The Mongol Rally tinkers 16,650 kilometres across the mountains, desert and steppe of Europe and Asia each summer. There’s no backup, no support and no set route; just you, your fellow adventurists and a tiny car you bought from a scrapyard for next to nothing - if nothing goes wrong, everything has gone wrong!
And the four of us have decided to throw in the towel to normalcy and join in with the other 300 crazy teams to see what we can do!
20 Countries, 16,650 kilometres, 4 Kiwis, 10 Challenges, 3 Charities and 1 Tiny Car
The rules of the rally are gloriously simple....
RULE 1: Small & Shite
You can take any car, as long as it’s crap and with an engine of 1 litre or less.
You need to drive a small, shite car to make the rally tougher. It's no fun if it's too easy. If you want easy go for a spa weekend.
With a small car, you're more likely to break down so you're more likely to interact with the locals, so you can remind yourself you're alive without jamming a fork into your eyeballs.
RULE 2: On Your Own
They could tell us everything we need to know about all the countries, roads and borders between here and Mongolia to ensure we have a safe, uncomplicated journey. But if it's not dangerous and you aren't lost, you're not on an adventure. That means no on the road backup or support. If we get stuck or in trouble, we need to solve the problem ourself. Any ‘Help! We’re broken down in Tajikistan,’ type phone calls to Rally HQ will be met with a snort of derision and a click of the receiver.
RULE 3: Save the World
It only seems fair that if you’re having the mother of all adventures you should give a little back, so teams on the Rally have been asked to raise a minimum £1000 (NZ$1,770) for charity. £500 of this must go to the official charity Cool Earth and the remainder £500 (or more) will be split between Parkinson's New Zealand and Arohanui Hospice, both charities which are close to heart for these team members.
We're going to Mongolia and you could come too by simply being the legendary guy/gal we know you are and helping us out! Head over to our Givealittle page (any donation goes a LONG way and is very much appreciated!) or get in touch with us if your business/organisation would like to be involved to discuss advertising opportunities!
Check out [The Adventurists](http://www.theadventurists.com/mongol-rally) website for videos and pics to see whats in store for us.
And don't forget to follow us on this blog where we will be updating with all the nitty gritty details, preparations and also with the journey itself when we head off on the rally.
Come along for the ride....
