Team MeKhanical Engineers

Ross Orkney
Of MeKhanical Engineers
On the The Mongol Rally 2012
HIGHLIGHT ON MAP
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Day 22 - Almaty

Made it to Almaty yesterday - Kazakh roads have been a mixture between god awful and absolutely pristine. Convoying with Genghis Khan'ny Skate and Mongol Madness - great guys. Several bribes to the police have been paid and a couple of fines - no paperwork though, cash was definitely pocketed! Pippa hasn't missed a beat yet although she is taking a battering on these roads. Only one puncture/damaged rim so far - handled the terrible roads (we use this term loosely, they are actually dirt tracks with mountainous bumps and abyss like potholes) no problem and we manage to hit the only rock on a perfect stretch of tarmac...oops! 

Everyone in Kazakhstan is incredibly friendly and we are getting a great reception driving around. Had a great night out last night here in Almaty - suffering for it today though. Heading up to Semey over the next few days, can't wait to get to Mongolia! 

Ross Orkney
Of MeKhanical Engineers
On the The Mongol Rally 2012
HIGHLIGHT ON MAP
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Progress - Deva, Romania

Day 9 - Last night we made it to a bizarre little town in Romania called Deva. We met quite a few teams leaving Hungary into Romania, all of us heading towards the Transfaragasan in Romania. Romanian roads are crazy and the drivers are even crazier! Overtaking on a blind bend seems common practice here!

We have gone from persistent rain for the first week of our trip to blistering sunshine. It is a consistent 36 degrees so being in the car with no A/C is interesting. 

Here are a couple of shots of the town of the town we are in: 

![](images/gallery09/7931/72117/400x400.jpeg)  ![](images/gallery09/7931/72118/400x400.jpeg)

Pint of Carlsberg is 83p here and a burger is 1 pound 20, the views are priceless! 

Ian Roberts
Of MeKhanical Engineers
On the The Mongol Rally 2012
HIGHLIGHT ON MAP
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Progress so far - Budapest

Day 7 - We have made it to Budapest, Hungary. Everything is going well so far and the roads through Europe have been brilliant, however I expect them to get worse very soon! We have passed through France, Belgium, Germany, Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary (although we did think we were in Slovakia for a while but we were not...) Highlights so far have been the Nurburg Ring in Germany where we managed to complete a Lap each of the racing circuit and the Czechout party meeting up with other teams in an abandoned castle near Klatavoy for a party. 

We have camped everynight so far meeting various other teams along the way however we have booked a night of luxury tonight in Budapest City Center. Onwards to Romania tomorrow! The team enjoying a beer in a local bar (all beards coming along nicely).

 ![](images/gallery09/7931/72106/400x400.jpeg)

Andrew Hutchison

From Aberdeen and this epic adventure is just the begining! COYR

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Ross Orkney

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Ian Roberts

I am currently completing my final year of a Masters degree in Mechanical Engineering, the general misconception of this degree is that I have spent 5 years playing with cars, taking things apart and generally gaining a good mechanical background, which would be ideal "training" for the Mongol Rally. Sadly this is not what I have been doing for the past 5 years and my mechanical knowledge is minimal! Oh and if you ask the Lads my sense of direction is pretty damned atrocious. This will all add to the fun though?

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<p><strong><font face="verdana,geneva" size="5">The Mongol Rally 2012&nbsp;</font></strong></p><p align="justify"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana,geneva" size="2">Three supposed masters of engineering from Scotland putting their balls and brains to the test. Clueless, talentless and over ambitious!<strong> </strong></font></p><p align="justify"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana,geneva" size="2"><strong>The Challenge:</strong> Drive 10,000 miles from the UK to Mongolia in very very small cars to raise money for charity.&nbsp;</font></p><div align="justify"><ol><li><p><font face="verdana,geneva" size="2">It is completely devoted to charity and every team that participates must finance their own travel expenses, meaning that <strong>all money raised goes directly to charity!</strong></font></p></li><li><p><font face="verdana,geneva" size="2">The Mongol Rally isn't about comfort and it doesn't have a great deal to do with style, <strong>what we seek is adventure.</strong> The whole point is that it's difficult. Hence why we are tackling some of the worst roads in the world in a chariot with an engine size of under 1 litre (ish).</font></p></li></ol></div><p align="left" style="text-align: center"><font face="verdana,geneva">$parse[embedvideo_1000]</font></p><div style="text-align: center"><div><font face="verdana,geneva"><br /></font><table border="0" height="167" width="679"><tbody><tr><td valign="middle"><div align="justify"> </div><p style="text-align: left"><font class="Apple-style-span" face="verdana,geneva" size="2"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal"><font><font color="#e32026"><font color="#000000"><strong>Why are we doing this?</strong></font></font></font></span> The main objective of this ra<font color="#e32026"><font color="#000000">lly is fundraising</font></font>&nbsp;to help selected charities.&nbsp;<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 15px; font-style: normal">Lotus is the Mongol Rally&rsquo;s official charity which is a&nbsp;non-profit, non-government organisation working with vulnerable children and families to provide the basic human rights of shelter, food and education. They care for up to 150 abused, orphaned and abandoned children at any one time. Initially set up to provide basic needs for survival for just a handful of children in one apartment, Lotus has developed a kindergarten and a primary school to provide educational foundation, and is developing vocational pathways for employment opportunities.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal">&nbsp;Please donate to our cause:</span></font></p></td><td align="center" valign="top">&nbsp;<div style="text-align: center"><a href="http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/mekhanicalengineers" target="_blank"><img align="right" height="113" src="images/gallery09/7931/69010/400x400.jpeg" width="93" /></a></div> </td></tr></tbody></table></div></div>