The Mongol Rally, an unassisted land journey of nearly 10,000 miles from England to Mongolia, is not for the faint of heart. Its website reads: "WARNING: This is not safe...You might not finish but it is the greatest adventure on the planet."
Last February, four seniors, Keshav Poddar '14, Cooper Thomas '14, Nick Allen '14 and Benjie Jenkins '14, read those words and saw opportunity. This summer, they are entering the rally as a team, cramming into a tiny car for what they hope will be the voyage of a lifetime. The group has already begun to plan for the adventure, having launched its official website earlier this week.
The Mongol Rally is not a race, as the top finisher gets no recognition. Entrants are given a starting point, usually the Goodwood Motor Circuit, a racetrack in southern England, and are told to make their way to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia. Everything else, including procuring their mode of transportation, is left to the drivers.
One of the few rules is that teams must raise at least 1000, or around $1600, and 500 of the total fundraised must go to the rally's official charity, Cool Earth, which prevents rainforest destruction. The Dartmouth team, named Crossing the Rubikhan, said they will donate the rest of their money to SOS Children's Villages, which sponsors orphanages around the world. The team will visit some of these villages on its route and will donate its car to a Mongolian charity after arriving in Ulaanbaatar.
"It's one thing to do a trip like this solely for self-gratification," Allen said. "But the fact that we're doing this for what we believe to be two really important causes makes it all the more rewarding."
The few rules that do exist purposely make the rally more difficult to help add to the sense of adventure. The car's engine must be only 1,200cc, about the size of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle's motor. No American cars have engines this small, so the team must use a compact car of European make. This type of vehicle, by design, is totally unequipped to deal with the off-road situations that drivers face in Central Asia and Mongolia. It is also too small to comfortably fit the Dartmouth team.
"We are four fully-grown males," Allen said. "The biggest challenge will be trying to get such a dinky car across 10,000 miles and through mountain passes and Mongolian steppes."
The team joked it might solve the space problem by strapping Poddar to the hood of the car.
Drivers have to tackle mechanical problems with their cars as they arise, usually without the help of an insurance company or technician. The team hopes to get some formal training in auto repair before they leave.
"There's no AAA in Turkmenistan," Jenkins said.
There is also significant risk of robbery on the journey, and the team is designing their route to avoid notoriously dangerous areas, like Chechnya and Iran.
As part of the race, the group will pass through 21 countries and must procure visas to do so. While the Mongol Rally helps participants acquire visas for each of the countries in advance, there can still be long delays at many border offices.
"There are some [borders] where you have to go through 20 to 30 different steps and it takes a day and a half to get through all the checkpoints," Poddar said. "We're kind of looking forward to that just for the sheer absurdity of it all."
Poddar's teammates agreed, saying that they see the obstacles in their path as adding to their experience and making it memorable.
"I don't feel that I've had a very difficult, challenging travel experience," said Jenkins. "It's important to me to do something that's completely different, something that will really force me to deal with some harsh realities."
Thomas, an amateur photographer, and Jenkins, an amateur videographer, will aid in the trip's documentation. Both said they are excited to use their skills the summer. The group also plans to keep a journal.
"We're looking forward to memorializing the experience in these different media, not only for ourselves but also for the people that have generously agreed to support us," Thomas said. "They deserve to see what we're doing and what we're getting out of their experience and where their money is going."
While the fall brings the stress of job searches and tough major classes, the team is looking forward to the rally as a capstone to their college experience.
"The four of us met freshman year and we've been really close friends since then, but none of us know where we're going to be next year," said Allen. "We saw this as a way for the four of us to spend a bunch of time together before we move to different cities."
Poddar is a former member of The Dartmouth senior staff.
