Tick Encephalitis Distribution
Rabies treatment is completely insane if you’re not vaccinated, usually requiring a blood transfer from someone that has previously been vaccinated, which if not screened properly carries a risk of Hep C and HIV, so it’s worth getting done. Tick Encephalitis is really easy to catch but not very fatal, however mucking around just isn’t worth it especially as not having vaccinations can often invalid medical / travel insurance!
My friend just pointed me towards some other friends of his that are running the rally, Team I C Gradual Progress! 3 canoeists from Imperial College London, Ant, Rory and Rachel!
We wish the best of luck to them and hope to grab a pint with them at the finishing line!
10,000 miles, 20 countries, harsh deserts, treacherous mountains, bandits, bad roads and no roads. The Mongol Rally is about getting yourself in a ton of trouble then trying to get out of it. If nothing goes wrong, we’ve done it wrong!
Team Ronin Mongol Rally Non Route
There’s no set route for the Mongol Rally, it starts in Goodwood in the UK on Saturday 14th July 2012 as part of the Festival of Slow then there’s a party in Prague 2 days later, then we are on our own until we get to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, hopefully 4-5 weeks later!
Our plan is to take a southern route, a ferry to France, with a quick visit to Paris and the Eiffel Tower followed by Luxembourg then Germany where we will abuse their autobahns to the fullest to make as much time as possible before we then enter the Czech Republic and Prague for the Mongol Rally party!
From there we are on our own and intend to visit the beautiful Vienna in Austria, followed by Budapest in Hungary and Zagreb in Croatia, after a tour of the Croatian coast we will cross over Bosnia and Herzegovia, Montenegro and Serbia before we enter Bulgaria and cross over to the Black Sea!
After a quick dip in the Black Sea it’s in to Greece then Turkey and Istanbul! Heading along the south coast of the Black Sea its across to Georgia and the capital Tbilisi, before we enter Russia and visit Volgograd then Astrakhan before we cross the Kazakhstan border!
Heading along the North of the Caspian sea we will then visit Atyrau before seeing the fantastic Baikonur Cosmodrome on the coast of the Aral Sea! We will then make our way across the center of the country towards Astana before crossing the border at Pavlodar back in to Russia!
During our 2nd time in Russia we’ll be hitting up the city of Novosibirsk before crossing back down in to Mongolia and taking in some beautiful lakes and the amazing Khangai Nurru National park!
Then it’s a tiny hop to the capital, Ulaanbaatar and the Gorkhi Terelj National park for a few days of rest and relaxation, before we donate the car to charity, give the country a final wave, and fly back to the UK.
Where no doubt we will need another holiday to recover … 😉
The Route!
21 countries in total as we enter Russia twice!
I’ve just found the scrap piece of paper from 2 months ago with our proposed route on it! I’ll attach a photo of it later, in all it’s glory, for the sake of history, but here it is in all it’s glorious verbatim, typos include!
Our planned route has changed since then, I think we’re skipping Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, but hey, who knows what will happen on the day!!!
What a week! I made a doctors appointment for Wednesday to sort out all the exciting vaccinations required for the trip! In my left arm I had a Tetnus jab (not very painful) and in my right arm I had a MMR jab (very painful). Fortunately I’d already had Twinrix a while ago and my vaccinations against Hep A and Hep B are in date! All done on the NHS so thankfully free!
We’re entering Mongolia during the peak time for Tick Encephalitis which is a swelling of the brain and doesn’t sound good at all. We will be camping during this time as well so basically we’re at maximum risk of it! The NHS don’t do this vaccine (but recommend it) so I’ve got to nip off to a private clinic within the next week or so and pay up about £60!
A Rabies vaccine was considered, but apparently at the end of the day it just means if you get bitten or infected you have to have a few less shots, so not usually worth it!
The southern coast of Turkey is a high risk Malaria area but the north coast, near the Dead Sea, isn’t and is more likely to be the road we take, so no Malaria vaccination has been given either!
Also as part of the EU I’ve applied for a new European Health Insurance Card as mine expired in August when we might still be there. Even though I have private health care from work and the recommended travel insurance the EHIC will let me get state health care in any EU country for either free or a discount, and it’s free to apply for so a no brainer!!
Mongolian VISA
After a wet and wild trip to Boots, where far too many photo options were presented and 6 hours of application form filling in, Rus has finally posted his VISA applications off to The VISA Machine! Hopefully his passport will be back in hand by June 1st when he has a slight detour to the USA ..
Astrakhan To Kazakhstan Border pontoon
Ok, it’s Monday 23rd April and with just under 12 weeks to go before Team Ronin leaves Goodwood, Rus has just passed his driving test! VISA applications are being posted today, we’re so close I can taste it!
With the Kazakhstan VISA we had to mention where we were entering the country. After looking at our route, having a ganders at near by Russian cities and a bit of Google power we discovered this amazing bridge :
There’s a river to cross in the no mans land between the Russian city of Astrakhan and the Kazakhstan town of Zhana’Aul.
Which looks fantastic in it’s own right! I’m pretty sure we’re all going to be playing Rock/Paper/Scissors to cross this bad boy!
Here it is, our beauty of a car!
Isn’t she beautiful 🙂
We lucked out a bit in finding this car, as it’s only got 57,000 miles on the clock! It’s not in bad shape either, so something we can certainly put our faith in to do another 10,000 miles hassle free…. famous last words!
We’ll update this page as the sponsorship logos, graphics and rally mods get added to the car!
Now we just need to have a think on what to name her.