ON THE ROAD INFO
We’ve sent you this info by email but thought a bit of old school wordsonpaper was necessary to make sure you know some really rather important stuff:
Shipping Info: Make sure you have the right documents (including the documentation from the Russian border when you enter) or you won’t be able to ship your car.
Important Dates & Locations: A reminder of some dates and some places, including the glory that awaits you at the finish line.
Leaving your vehicle anywhere en route: What you need to do if the sky falls in and you can’t prop it up with your windscreen wiper so you don’t get arrested, stuck at an airport or start an international manhunt.
Tracking your Adventure: How to track your location using SMS messages and send blog updates from the road to the Mongol Rally Live Tracking Map
WARNING REMEMBER THIS IS FUCKING DANGEROUS You’ve been farting about with unnecessary preparations and visa applications. Remind yourself that this is an unsupported adventure and all round really fucking dangerous thing to do.
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SHIPPING INFO
The blunt version: if you don't have these things at the finish you won’t be able to ship your car:
● The original Temporary Import document filled in on entering Russia (this is provided by the border authorities) ● Original registration papers and license plates (teams that need the originals back will be sent them after the vehicle arrives in Estonia) ● A copy of the registered owner’s passport ● A copy of the registered owner’s visa ● The key to the car ● A minimum of 10 litres in the tank for loading and unloading. ● The vehicle must be empty of personal belongings ● Before you ship your car the owner will need to sign a contract with the shipping provider that alsofunctions as a Power of Attorney document in order to allow them to act on behalf of the owner. They'll also need to sign a condition report.
More info: http://www.theadventurists.com/mongolrallyvehicledeposit/
IMPORTANT DATES
Sunday 19th July: Brussels PitStop A place to camp and a nominated bar if you think Brussels to Prague in one day is a push for your stead you might want to skip this one and push on instead. A relaxed affair; hardstanding area to camp and a bar nearby to drink.
Monday 20th July: Czechout Party, Prague A longstanding Mongol Rally tradition; celebrating making it as far as the Czech Republic with a massive knees up. Location: Nákladové Nádraží Žižkov Time: Open from 4pm, kick out time is 11am on Tuesday Camping: Onstreet (cobbled) with toilets
Tuesday 22nd July: Sibiu Pit Stop, Cotton Pub, Romania
Wednesday 23rd July: Vama Veche Party, Pura Vida Beach Bar and Hostel
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THE FINISH LINE
Location: Ulan Ude Central Square (by the statue of Lenin’s Head)
Rally HQ: Churchill Pub AKA GrilPub ‘Cherchill’ Address: Lenina, 55, UlanUde 670000
The finish line is in the middle of the city by the large statue of Lenin’s head. The finish line arrival registration and Mongol Rally HQ is across the road at the Churchill Pub.
DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES TAKE ANY INSULTING OR DEROGATORY PHOTOS NEXT TO OR INCLUDING THIS STATUE .
You risk arrest and also could cause a lot of problems for other teams on the rally.
Monday 3rd of August: First date cars can be accepted for shipping
Monday 10th August: Finish line officially opens
Friday 14th August: The opening finish line party
Friday 21st August: The penultimate finish line party
Friday 28th: The final finish line party
Monday 31st: Finish line officially closes
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Sunday 13th of September: Final day for accepting cars from teams for shipping
More info & locations for parties: http://www.theadventurists.com/mongolrallyschedule IF YOUR CAR BREAKS DOWN BEFORE THE FINISH As our old pal Churchill was wont to say K.B.O. Keep Buggering On. If you just keep moving to the finish line you won’t have to worry about import taxes, permissions, paperwork, public transport or the shame of failure.
If the unthinkable does happen and there really is only one option left to you, you can’t just leave your car at the side of the road and catch the first flight back to the warm embrace of your bed and safety of your sofa. A car is not like an old book you can take into a foreign country and discard, give away or sell, it is an asset which is subject to import taxes and must be dealt with accordingly.
If you’re forced to leave your car anywhere between Europe and the finish line you need to do so within the letter of the law; each country has different requirements of paperwork and taxes necessary to dispose of said vehicle. Because these rules change from country to country and year to year, it’s down to you to find out what you need to do to satisfy the authorities of the country you’re in. If you get it wrong, you could face fines, imprisonment, deportation or worse. If you’re in any doubt ask your consulate for the exact procedure and paperwork required.
BASIC RULES Do not leave your vehicle in Iran, Mongolia, Turkmenistan or Azerbaijan. Under any circumstances. We will say this again; Do not leave your vehicle in Iran, Mongolia, Turkmenistan or Azerbaijan. Even if you have to drag it out of there piece by piece. Failing to follow this advice will unleash a shitstorm of inconvenience upon you and possibly us, which we’ll have no option but to direct back to you. When we say shitstorm of inconvenience we obviously mean financial and legal troubles.
Make sure you obtain the necessary evidence of the legal disposal of your car. Ideally on headed paper with stamps, seals, crests and signatures. The best ones are from the police or customs office. Under no circumstances leave your car without getting receipts, police reports, sales documents, or import tax certificates, otherwise you’ll face serious difficulties leaving the country and getting back your deposit. Take photos to back up your paperwork.
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IF EVERYTHING REALLY GOES TO SHIT If there is a total emergency we still won’t be able to help you. This is what you signed up for; Adversity and Triumph. You might want to give us a shout anyway so we can coordinate the consular office and insurance companies, and if you so choose your next of kin too.
IF YOUR CAR DIES BEFORE THE FINISH Rule number one is, you’re on your own. Your shitbox car may have cost £60 to buy but it could be about to cost you a hell of a lot more unless you get her to the finish line. Having entered a country with a vehicle, you will need a paper trail of what has happened to it in order to leave that country without it. On most borders your passport will be stamped to say that you entered by car and you need supporting documents, in order to get through customs on the way home again. “Giving” it to a local and hitchhiking onwards won’t cut the mustard unfortunately, as you won’t get any such supporting documentation. As far as customs are concerned this would look like a permanent import of your vehicle, which could cost you over $6000 in import taxes depending on the vehicle and the country.
Rule number 2 is, don’t despair; tow it, truck it, bodge fix it.
Use Adventurists Chivalry; if you see another team mandown, don’t just drive past them can you tow them to the next town for repair, or all the way in? These are the episodes that glory beers and (occasionally) babies are made from.
So that’s a carrot. And here is a stick, nay, several sticks that you could come across if you dump your car where you shouldn’t:
Having broken the law you could be arrested for attempting to illegally abandon a vehicle. There will be little your Embassy will be able to do to help.
You might not be allowed to leave the country. The authorities may stop you at the border and demand payment of the import fees.
The border authorities could also ask you to retrieve your vehicle, sort the paperwork and pay the import taxes before letting you leave the country (this probably won’t be quick).
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LIVE TRACKING MAP UPDATES
We’ve bullied a digital monkey into building us a tracking and blogging platform. Your friends and family will almost feel they’re stuck in the car with you minus the smell of BO and diet of instant noodles.
The link you need to be sharing with your friends, families and Kazakh supporters along the way is this one: tracking.theadventurists.com and they can choose Mongol Rally 2015. (Direct link: http://tracking.theadventurists.com/#mongolrally/mongolrally2015 )
The place you need to go to share your adventure with the world is here: http://blogging.theadventurists.com
UPDATING FROM THE ROAD You can either update directly from the blogging page above, or you can do so by mobile phone. This will only work if you’re properly registered to a team.
REGISTERING YOUR MOBILE The first step is to register your mobile, you only need to do this once for each phone number, but you will need to do it for each number if you are going to buy local SIM cards. The easiest way to register your phone is by logging in to the website and adding the number. If you can’t get online you can also register using SMS messages:
The number to register your phone and send SMS updates to is +44 793 794 66 77
Enter the following with a space between each bit of information to register your phone ● Begin your text with TA ● The email address you have registered with the Adventurists ● Your date of birth in the format dd/mm/yy (in this order with forward slashes) ● The Adventure code MR15 So your registration should look like this: TA [email protected] 19/04/86 MR15
UPDATE YOUR BLOG AND MAP Once your phone is registered you can send in blog and location updates. All your messages will appear on your team pages and the Mongol Rally Live Tracking Map.
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Enter the following with a space between each bit of information to make an update ● Begin your SMS with TA ● If you want people to see where you are enter your location followed by a colon “:” ● Type your message
So your update should look like this: TA Novosibirsk, Russia: Another puncture and we’ve run out of tea.
Try to be as specific as possible with the location, if possible town, region, country.
THE WARNING THE MONGOL RALLY IS DANGEROUS
Driving across long distances on difficult and unfamiliar terrain is an extremely dangerous thing to do, which can result in severe injury and even death.
Many of the scenarios you will find yourself in will be totally different to anything you may be used to. The vehicle you will be driving may be highly unsuited to driving long distances on varied terrain meaning they are likely to break down, and compared to other possible forms of transport put you at higher risk of being involved in an accident. Individuals who have partaken in the Mongol Rally in the past have been involved in serious accidents which have left them with permanent disfigurement, permanent disabilities or have even lost their life.
The Mongol Rally will be a gruelling journey across thousands of kilometres. Though this is the ninth event of its kind, you are responsible for your own route which means that you are likely to cover ground that previous participants in the Mongol Rally have not. Added to this, the regions that you may choose to pass through may be volatile. This means that it may be the case that you experience scenarios that cannot be foreseen or suffer short and long term physical effects that cannot be predicted. By way of example, during the Mongol Rally 2008, some ralliers were in Georgia when war broke out.
The nature of the Mongol Rally means that if you are involved in an accident whilst driving your vehicle from the start to the finish line, that the nearest medical assistance may be many hours and miles away from you. If you are injured in a way that requires specialist attention, it may be the case that the region that you are in does not have adequate medical facilities to treat your injuries. On previous Adventurists' adventures, severely injured individuals on Adventurists' teams have had to be medevaced out of their location to medical centres in alternative countries.
People who have partaken in the Mongol Rally in the past have been severely injured, paralysed or have even lost their life. Take this warning seriously.
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