Mongol Rally: Man shares ‘unforgettable’ road trip from London to Mongolia | Travel News | Travel

The Adventurists are a Bristol-based company that bills itself as “the largest provider of chaos and adventure on the planet”. What was once a one-person team is now an organization of more than 500 people working on a variety of challenges for emerging travelers from around the world. One of them is the Mongolia Rally. “It’s 10,000 miles of chaos, traversing mountains, deserts and grasslands, roads ranging from harsh to off-road, and you buy a small 1000cc car from a scrap yard for £4.60,” the adventurer said of the road trip . It added: “There is no backup. There is no set route. There is no guarantee you will stick to the end. Just you, your rolling shit and the earth-sized bucket of adventure.” Well, what awaits on one of the world’s greatest road trips What kind of adventure are you taking?

Hayden Lockhart, 34, described the Mongolia Rally as “a mixture of pure freedom and adventure”.

He left the trip with “endless stories,” lifelong friends, and perhaps most importantly, a wife.

Born and raised in New Plymouth, New Zealand, Hayden was living on the other side of the world, in Europe, drinking beers with his childhood friends when he first heard about Rally Mongolia.

“A good friend of mine at school named Alistair mentioned the idea to me and I said yes on the spot – before I really knew what it was,” he explained.

“The team started with just the two of us, and then we got others to join us on part of our journey.”

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Since the three adventurers had no set plan, they chose “the most interesting route we could think of”, passing through the following countries: England, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Serbia, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Across the Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan.

The Nisaan Micra malfunctioned in Kazakhstan, which meant the team was unable to reach Mongolia and complete the journey.

“We were pretty rough with the little Nissan Micra,” admitted Hayden.

“We have an unspoken rule on the road, if there is a bad idea, we should do it every time.”

Hayden said the team had “14 flat tires in total, our fuel pump broke from a bracket in the tank, and when I was driving through a hood-deep puddle one day, an electronic sensor went down and put us into limp mode. “.

“Luckily our team leader was an aircraft mechanic, so I just watched him fix everything while chatting with my future wife,” he added.

The Nissan Micra seems to put the team at risk more than anything else. Hayden went on to describe another car fiasco, saying: “When we started the trip, we had all our luggage piled on the roof, but we found the car couldn’t go faster than 50 mph on the highway.

“We thought it was because of the wind, so we tried strapping the boot to the trunk to make the car more aerodynamic. With one simple modification, we were able to hit 62 mph.”

But still, the Pamirs were difficult and the car was “so underpowered that we couldn’t get out of first gear”.

Hayden continued: “As we went up the last hill, we were flat underfoot, trying to keep the car going. If we stopped, we would have to turn around and do another run.

“The car started to overheat, so I climbed out of the window, stood on the hood, poured cold water over the radiator to keep the car cool. It was actually safe because we were walking so slowly – it was a treat , we’ve made up for that time and time again.”

At the convoy’s final destination, Kazakhstan, Alistair “accidentally hit a hidden rock” and ripped off the car’s front wheel.

“We had to tie it back together with ratchet straps to keep going,” explains Hayden.

“We only drove for a few days before the car completely gave way. We have never been to Mongolia and may have to travel again.”

But that didn’t seem to be a problem for Hayden, who described the trip as “a truly unforgettable experience”.

“I’ve traveled a lot and this is by far the most memorable trip I’ve ever done,” he said.

The 34-year-old recalled Kyrgyzstan’s “most memorable day” when the team had just camped on the edge of a mountain, but a group of passing locals told him “we’re not ‘not allowed to sleep there”‘.

Hayden said: “We thought we were in trouble, but once they found an interpreter and it turned out we stopped at their farm, they insisted that we have dinner with them and stay at their guest house.

“We packed up, followed them to their house for a big meal, drank a lot of vodka, basically a family gathering. We stayed in an open guesthouse with a view of the gardens and tried the local fresh goat in the morning Milk and butter breakfast. An unforgettable experience.”

But despite the Nissan Micra’s myriad problems, the Pamir road in Tajikistan was Hayden’s favorite part of the trip.

“The big open mountains, the real remote feel, the super friendly and hospitable locals, it was just a big adventure,” he recalls.