The Mongolian Job - Mongol Rally

THE MONGOLIAN JOB: THE MOVIE
A highlight reel of all the best moments we caught on camera. Once again a huge thank you to everyone who supported us on this adventure of a lifetime. Enjoy!
Charities: Cancer Research UK, Brain Tumour Research, The Honeypot Children's Charity and Cool Earth.

Stolen beer drama. Sneak preview for the upcoming highlight reel!

The bonnet has been secured and the passenger window shut! Despite the dented bonnet the Panda looks better than ever with some new shiny sporty bonnet pins!
Massive shout out to Tony and the guys at The Rolling Stones Hostel for all their hard work and help!

So the Pandas bonnet decided to break and smash the windscreen, the other 2 cars had to leave to get back to England on their timeframe. So I am currently in Irkutsk for 3 or 4 nights in a cool russian hostel where the owner has kindly offered to help me with some of my car problems. I will wait here for another team to convoy with and to do some much needed repairs. Here are a few of them.
1. Bonnet dented and won't stay down. 2. Passenger window always down. 3. Boot won't c...lose or lock. 4. Windscreen smashed. 5. 1 tyre too big on the back. 6. Distributor contact points need cleaning.
Other than that, need to prepare the car for the drive ahead with an oil change and all new filters.
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Well you donated and we did it! Enjoy the team eating sheeps eyeballs... it wasn't pleasant.
Thanks to everyone who donated, it's all going to some great causes and will really make a difference. We've beaten our target of £4000 but we're not stopping there. If you want to help us then please donate here:
http://virginmoneygiving.com/themongolian job

Made it to the finish line! And, alas, time to split the team.
We wish Matt, George and Benny luck in their endeavours to drive the length of Russia in the next 4 days in an effort to save the cars for future generations.
Ed, Chris, Rich and Charlie are taking on the even harder task of flying home via a tourist stop in Moscow - sacrifices must be made.
... Thanks again for all your support through the rally; expect some 'best bits' videos in the coming days, and of course a video of our sheep eye eating attempt
#MongolRally2016
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49 days, nearly 12,000 miles & 19 countries... we've finally made it to Ulaanbaator! To celebrate this and your kind generosity, helping us reach £4500, we've sat down for a delicious authentic Mongolian dinner - Sheep's head complete with eye balls. Photos to come later!
Mongolia has been a testing country for the cars. The 'roads' have varied from beautiful tarmac to muddy dirt tracks to mile long sand planes. We had a few casualties on the way - the Yaris lost its exhaust,... the Peugeot lost its sump guard and the Fiat had more distributor problems.
We arrived in the capital late last night and headed straight out for a quick dinner and a night out. We ended up in the poshest club in Ulaanbaator and partied the night in style!
Next stop is Ulan Ude where we check in with the Mongol Rally team and officially finish.
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The Mongolian Job has arrived in Mongolia!
Had a 22 hour day driving through Russia to the Mongol border (thanks to a nice few hours in the middle fixing the Panda again) but worth it.
Staying in Ulgii for the night to recover and appreciate some local food - no cow testes yet, we're still £65 off our new target! Massive thanks to all who have donated so far! We hope to finish the rally in a week

So since Pamirs, we've been through Kyryzstan, Kazakstan and are currently in Russia, a day's drive from the Mongolian border. Over that time Dora has continued to be a temperamental burden including being towed over 160km, random electrical failure, a cracked fuel tank, a new distributor and ignition coil. It also set off a car alarm with its newly aquired explosive backfiring. The Yaris has started to deteriorate needing jump starts and Freddie is just being wonderful. In Krygyzstan we racked up $160 of fines in one day, in Kazakstan we satisfied our fast food cravings with KFC and McDonald's on consecutive days for breakfast, lunch and snacks. We will hopefully be at the finish by the 5th September of all goes to plan... Wish us luck!

We've finally done it, thanks to your amazing generosity we've reached our target of £4000! (£4645 with gift aid) All this money is going to some great causes: Cancer Research UK, Brain Tumour Research, The Honeypot Children's Charity and Cool Earth.
But lets not leave it there, lets smash it! Anything you can spare, however small, will be much appreciated. If we can reach over £4500 in donations then we vow to feast on the local Mongolian delicacies and record the experience for you all to see - we hear sheep testicles and eyeballs are a favourite!
https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/themongo lianjob

Here is a cheeky Drone clip from the epic Pamir Highway. (Apologies about the music)

We are now in Osh after finishing the famed Pamir highway, topping out at 4660m!
Went for a Kryzgystan night out last night to celebrate Matt's 22nd, now up and bracing ourselves for the drive up to Kazakhstan (where we will not be wearing the mankini we brought along..)
Thanks again to our Sponsors Pot Noodles - they kept us going through the mountains, and now the boxes are keeping the car together having broken a window

It's been far too long since our last post, but we're now out of Facebook blocked countries and have some wifi. Since our last update we've left Iran, travelled through Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, and now we're driving the Pamir Highway.
As we left Iran and entered Turkmenistan we headed straight to a nearby restaurant to enjoy a lovely cold beer and some food. We camped there over night and then headed to Ashgabat. It was a very strange city that didn't seem to fit with th...e country. It was modern with lots of extravagant buildings but weirdly devoid of actual people on the streets. The next day we headed north and stopped off at the 'Door to Hell'. It's a natural gas reserve that has been set on fire and now looks like a burning crater. It was incredible!
After, we headed straight for the border in Uzbekistan. The quality of the roads have deteriorated lots. Pot holes are causing havoc! While in Uzbekistan we visited Khiva and Bukhara, both old ancient walled cities with lots to see.
Finally, very early Monday morning we crossed the border in to Turkmenistan and headed straight for Dushanbe. We stayed in a hostel there so could look around and enjoy the sights. In the evening we enjoyed 20p beers and a Ukranian meal - all very good.
Now we've made it to the Pamirs, we are travelling across dirt track roads at best. A couple of days ago we crossed a 3250m mountain pass driving along a single track 'road' with a sheer drop on one side. For the last day we've been following the pamir highway along the Afghan border, being treated to glorious views. We've had a couple of car issues, but nothing a quick visit to a mechanic couldn't fix.
We have now just arrived in Khorog to grab lunch and get last minute supplies before heading inland to drive over the big mountain passes - some of which get above 4500m!
We hope to post an update in the next couple of days to let you know how our battle with the Pamirs is going.
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We are absolutely loving Iran - genuinely the nicest people we've ever met, always waving at us from their cars, even getting pulled over to gift us some fresh plums!
Our first night in Tabriz we asked two random guys for hotel directions, they ended up getting in the cars to direct us, then taking us on a tour around the city for traditional local food and drink.
Massive thanks to Benny's extended family who have been amazing and taken us in, housed and fed us and especiall...y Sina who has become our guide around Tehran.
Also feeling pretty rich with a fan of million rial notes!
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Currently staying in Agarak, a town in Armenia bordering Iran. Previous few days have included a mountain crossing into Georgia in the early hours of the morning, a taster of wild camping, a day of getting much needed repairs in Yerevan, dancing with the Armenian locals in a lush lake side restaurant and tackling almost undrivable roads through southern Armenia at altitudes hitting over 2500m.
First thing tomorrow morning we are entering Iran, wish us luck!

Pictures from the first week. Yet to be a single dull day with plenty of wrong turns, dodgy stomachs and laughs. Onward to Georgia tomorrow!