ABOUT THE MONGOL RALLY

Imagine you’re lost in a massive desert, hundreds of miles from civilization, driving a car your granny would be embarrassed by.

THAT’S the Mongol Rally. It’s part road trip, part charity fundraiser—and ALL craziness.

Road trippers from around the world cross 10,000 miles, over two continents, three deserts and five mountain ranges, from Prague, Czech Republic, to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.

There’s no set route. No support. Just endless roads (and some not-quite-roads) through the roughest terrain on the planet.

These adventurous (and perhaps slightly nutty) souls take off in whatever set of wheels they’ve managed to pull together. From there, they hit the road with just one plan: make it to Mongolia. How they get there is up to them. What happens on the way is their own adventure.

There are no tour guides, no organizers to assist those who break down in the Gobi desert or who get arrested at the Kazakhastan border. It’s dangerous. It’s rugged. It’s the world’s most outrageous road trip!

MEET THE TEAM!

So who are these crazy adventurers taking off to Mongolia?

Let’s meet the Travel+Escape team…

Pamela MacNaughtan

Pamela MacNaughtan is a traveller, writer and photographer from Canada, who has decided to do the Mongol Rally with Charlie (whom she met on Twitter).

For six weeks, Pamela will be navigating poorly maintained roads, trying to avoid paying bribes to the police, and praying she doesn’t have to eat horse penis (a delicacy in Kazakhstan).

Pamela also blogs at SpunkyGirl Monologues.
 
 

Charlie Grosso

Charlie Grosso has many disguises. She is an NYC art gallery director, brand consultant, advertising photographer, adventurer, rule breaker, writer and possible spy. She is currently progressing in an art revolution through her gallery, a gentle world domination plan that she cannot tell you about and, of course, a top-secret spy mission that is on a need-to-know basis only. Her brief detention by the Cuban police is just a minor blip in the mission.

This summer she will take on the Mongol Rally with Pamela and add Mongol Rally Conqueror to her long list of tiles. It is only fitting that she lives under an alias.

Charlie also blogs at SpyTravelogue.
 

IT’S ALL IN THE DETAILS

Okay, so let’s break it down…

Who: Our Travel+Escape team alongside 877 other crazy souls

What: A wild race that takes our intrepid travellers through 13 countries and across more than 12,000 kilometres

When: July 17 to… whenever they arrive (well, August 23 is the official end date—if they make it that long)

Where: From the starting line at a party in a medieval castle in Prague to a finish line in one of the world’s most remote cities

Why? All for charity—the Lotus Children’s Centre Charitable Trust, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, to be exact

How? In a 2005 Dacia Logan, on an illegal ferry crossing and, if their car breaks down, on their feet, on a goat… anyway they can!

Will Pamela and Charlie make it to Mongolia? Will they get arrested in Azerbaijan? Lose their visas in Georgia? Lose the car in Turkmenistan’s Darvaza gas crater?

Follow their MONGOL RALLY adventures LIVE on Travel+Escape!