Charity sponsors Thank You!

A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU! to our charity sponsors. We made it to Mongolia and you raised an incredible £1558 (£1890 including gift aid) for Cool Earth and The Royal Berkshire Hospital. Feel safe in the knowledge that the money you donated will go to helping vulnerable rainforest communities and improving local healthcare for our local community back home.

Massive thanks to (as named on our fundraising page):

Sian Matthew Amy Graeme vanman Mikey Laver Lauren Hillier Joe Whitaker Ray Abi e Rebecca Leigh Hammonds Lynne Phil Chris Laver Collis Bowlertron Uncle Fin, Aunt Shelagh and Grandma Scotland Polly and Lucas Aunty Jen Amjad Rob Roddy Erin Lyons Ella Crisp Kyle Rai Ila Sarita Pardeen Rita Kevin Fitzsimons Jarno Seegers Martin James Jack McG Chloe Hornsby Sam Beith Claire Anonymous Goosey Gander Alex Lucy White Shelbo Frannie (Polly's mum) Hazel Julia the mover Stormin Corbyn Julie Crabtree Malcolm and Terry Hugh Crabtree Don and Katie Patsy Collis Cara Parry Becky Elsey Auntie Claire and Uncle Bob Andrew, Justyna and family

We couldn't have done it without your support!

The donation page is still open for a while so if anyone out there still wants to donate then here is the link:

http://m.virginmoneygiving.com/mt/uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fundraiser-web/fundraiser/showFundraiserProfilePage.action?userUrl=themadmaximisers&isTeam=true&d-49489-p=1#vm-recent-sponsors

The Mad Maximisers.

Sponsors thank you!

Now that we have completed the Mongol rally travelling through 14 different countries, driving close to 10000 miles and raising an amazing £1558 (£1890 including gift aid) we would like to say a big thank you to our sponsors: John Kleis audio - without your head unit for our music we probably would've ended up going mad listening to the same casette all day; Oliver signs - our mighty panda looked amazing and was a real head turner in every country we went to, so many compliments were given to us; Thatcham army surplus - without your jerry cans we would've been stranded in the middle of Kazakhstan and Mongolia a couple of times; Aegean diving services ltd - we used the money you gave us for our spare tyres.

Thank you all so much.

The Mad Maximisers.

We did it!!!

19th September: We did it!!! The Finish Line.

We headed to the Mongol rally finish line today. We did it!!! We have successfully driven a third of the way around the earth in our mighty panda! We spent the day taking photo's and then later had to hand over the mighty panda for scrapping / selling. A sad moment as we had both become attached to her and she still had only done less than 30,000 miles. Final mile-ometer count: 29876 miles. We then mucked about a bit playing tug of war with our panda and Bataar or busts Nissan micra. The mighty panda won of course. We then had to empty all of our stuff from the car and leave it there. We said our farewells to our trusty steed and then departed hitching a ride back into town before heading to the office hotel to write our names on the official finish line board. We then had a bang up meal and retired to our hostel.

Trip to giant Genghis kahn statue

18th September: Trip to giant Genghis kahn statue.

We left in the morning to take the cars and head 50km out of town to the giant Genghis kahn statue complex with Bataar or bust and ulaan on your feet and lee. We made it there and found it to be just as massive as we had been told. We saw a man outside with vultures and golden eagles that you could pose for pictures with. We wandered inside and took a look around and climbed right up to the top of the statue to get some great photo's. We then went inside and had some lunch, wrote and sent some postcards and took a look at the Bronze Age museum beneath the statue. After this Lyall and I dressed up in old Mongolian warrior clothes and wandered outside to get some pictures with the eagles and the car etc. Had a great time larking about outside and got some good photo's. After all of this we left the statue complex and headed back to UB to the naruntuul black market where we picked up some souvenirs. We then went for an Indian meal for wheels of mongloria's last night with lee, Bataar or bust, daria of radical Nomadicals and Jason of Kafkanesque. We all stuffed ourselves silly and then headed for some drinks at the grand kahn Irish bar before heading back to the hostel after closing time.

Selling some stuff

17th September: selling some stuff.

We decided along with Bataar or bust to try and sell some of the items that we couldn't take with us home or wherever else we will go so started to make our way to the market. We got a little lost but a Mongolian at a mechanics took us all to an automobile plaza. We set up shop here and tried to sell most of our stuff. At first it was slow but we ended up picking up business a little later in the day. The Mongolians were crowding around us which was a little dangerous as we had been warned about pickpockets. Sure enough I got pickpocketed trying to sell a tent but luckily only for a small amount of tugrug in my back pocket and not my whole wallet. The Mongolians drive a hard sale, they offer a very low price and then will hardly budge from it unless you stick firmly to your price. Bataar or bust managed to sell everything they wanted. We managed to sell most items except for our roofrack and spare tyres. In the end we made about £100. After this we went to meet up with the radical Nomadicals for their last night and had meal and drinks with them, wheels of Mongloria, lee, Bataar or bust and a new team ulaan on your feet.

Made it to Ulaanbaatar

16th September: Made it to Ulaanbaatar.

We left Kharkorin and headed to Ulaanbaatar. The road was heavily potholed but ok. Our friends Bataar or bust had a flat tyre on the road and it was panda to the rescue as they used one of our tyres and put it onto their rim before we carried on. Unfortunately they also got another flat tyre a little closer to Ulaanbataar but this time were able to fix it by patching up the inner tube with two different tubes. We then carried on as made it to Ulaanbataar. We passed the finish line as we didn't want to get rid of our cars just yet and headed into town where we secured a hostel and met up with our old convoy friends the radical Nomadicals, wheels of Mongloria and Genghis cone and some new friends Kafkanesque. Drinks and fun were had before we retired for the night.

Kharkorin

15th September: Kharkorin

We left Arvaikheer with Bataar or bust and Lee and headed to Kharkorin (Genghis khans old capital city) via a countryside shortcut which ended up taking longer than the normal road. When we arrived we visited the erdene zuu monastery and wandered around it. After this we had a meal and stayed in a ger for the night.

Bembeger to arvaikheer

14th September: Bemberger to Arvaikheer.

We left Bemberger and headed on to Arvaikheer. We stopped off at bayankhongor and had some local food and checked out the view of the town from the local Buddhist shrine. It was stunning. We then collected some firewood and headed on to Arvaikheer to stay. There was Tarmac from Bayankhongor though it quickly became potholed near Arvaikheer. We lucked out finding a hotel with wi-fi and really good showers for a very cheap price. Also, the Genghis cone team turned up and we had dinner and drinks with them. A good night. Tomorrow we are headed to kharkorin Genghis khans old capital before then heading to UB.

Altai to bembeger

13th September: Altai to Bembeger.

We headed on towards UB with Lee and Bataar or bust. This day involved us driving through some really rough terrain but the panda handled it and we even drove through an old riverbed following the old river for some time. We met a cyclist who was cycling round the world and spoke to him for a while. The micra got a flat and changed to their last tire. We then lost completely our exhaust even the cat giving us a real noisy angry rally panda! Great fun. We then made it to Bembeger where luckily a lady in the town had a small place with two rooms and two beds in each. We crashed the night there after having a fun encounter with the local drunk who pretended that we had run over his foot to get some money. Hilarious!

Altai to bembeger

13th September: Altai to Bembeger.

We headed on towards UB with Lee and Bataar or bust. This day involved us driving through some really rough terrain but the panda handled it and we even drove through an old riverbed following the old river for some time. We met a cyclist who was cycling round the world and spoke to him for a while. The micra got a flat and changed to their last tire. We then lost completely our exhaust even the cat giving us a real noisy angry rally panda! Great fun. We then made it to Bembeger where luckily a lady in the town had a small place with two rooms and two beds in each. We crashed the night there after having a fun encounter with the local drunk who pretended that we had run over his foot to get some money. Hilarious!