Bucket List / Adventure Travel Goals
Take On The Mongul Rally
Still to do
Around 10,000 miles to Mongolia in a car that should never have left the supermarket car park.
The adventure
The Mongol Rally has one simple idea: take a small, unsuitable car and drive it roughly 10,000 miles from Europe to Mongolia, with no back-up, no support crew and no set route. Teams choose their own way across mountains, deserts and steppe, through countries such as Turkey, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan or Kyrgyzstan, raising money for charity as they go.
It's gloriously chaotic. Days are spent waiting at borders, bouncing down washboard tracks, pushing the car through rivers and making friends with mechanics who fix your suspension with wire and a smile. Nights might be wild camping under huge skies or crammed into a roadside guesthouse. By the time you roll into Mongolia, with herders riding alongside and gers dotting the grasslands, your car is held together by tape and stickers and you have stories for life. Not every car makes it to the finish, which is all part of the legend.
Why it’s epic
- Driving roughly 10,000 miles across Europe and Central Asia in a small, underpowered car.
- Choosing your own route, perhaps via the Caucasus, the Kazakh steppe or the Pamir Highway.
- Raising money for charity, which is part of the deal when you enter.
- Wild camping on the Mongolian steppe at the end of the journey.
What it is
The Mongol Rally is a charity adventure to drive a small, cheap car from Europe to Mongolia.
How to do it
Sign up with The Adventurists, get a suitable car and plan your own route and visas.
Top tip
Learn basic car repairs before you go.
Need to know
- Sign up through The Adventurists, who run the launch and the finish but provide no support on the road.
- Visas are the biggest headache, so start applications months ahead and check which countries need them in advance.
- Learn basic car repairs and carry spares, as help can be days away.
- Insurance must cover every country on your route and independent overland driving, which many standard policies exclude.
Plan this trip
- Rough cost
- £2,000 to £5,000 per person, including flights from the UK
- Time needed
- 6 to 8 weeks
- Best time to go
- July to September
- Fly into
- UBN airport
The entry fee, the car, fuel, visas, shipping and charity fundraising all add up over weeks on the road.
Make it happen
Some of these are affiliate links: if you book through them I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. More about this.
Why it’s on my list
Not done yet. If you’ve done it and have tips, tell me about it.
Comments