Mongol Rally 2007

On 21 July 2007 I Sam Brettingham, 21, a Sustainable Design student at Falmouth University College and my team mate James Binning, 20, an architecture student at Cambridge University, will travel from Hyde Park in London, to the Mongolian capital Ulaanbaatar as participants of the 2007 Mongol rally. The Mongol Rally will take us and another 199 teams on a journey of nearly 10,000 miles – a third of the way across the world. Participants will be driving on the worst roads imaginable, pass through five mountain ranges and cross three deserts on the way, all in cars with one litre engines or less. The mighty steed in which we have decided to drive in is a Suzuki SJ410.

We will be leaving London on the 21st July and driving to Prague for the 22nd where there will be a fantastic party and gathering of all those taking part. Our route will take us south through Turkey, hugging the Black sea, into Georgia, Azerbaijan, across the Caspian sea in to Turkmenistan and then north through Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and finely into Mongolia. If there is anyone along the way who would be willing to put two smelly yet charming travelers up for a night we would be greatly appreciated, otherwise it will be sleeping in the jeep! Do get in touch.(jb561@cam.ac.uk)

The Mongol Rally isn’t only about the adventure and having a memorable experience though. Last year’s event raised over £200,000 for its partner charities and in 2007 the Rally is expected to hit the target of a quarter of a million pounds. The principle charity is Mercy Corps, an international development organisation, which supports rural communities and herding families in Mongolia through a range of economic, educational and agricultural programmes.

With help we hope to raise £1000 for Mercy Corps and any contribution to the cause has been greatly appreciated. There is also an opportunity for team sponsorship, if anyone is interested don’t hesitate to get in touch.

For online donations to Mercy Corps go to www.justgiving.com/samboandjimbo and for more information about the Mongol Rally visit www.mongolrally.com (here you can also find a list of all participating teams) and for our team web site take a look at www.rally.microbros.com.

Sam Brettingham