Mongolian 999 adventure

Student plans to travel to Mongolia in an ambulance

By Laura MacKenzie

While their peers spend the summer sun-bathing in Spain or travelling round Thailand, two students have opted for the more unusual idea of driving a 14 year-old ambulance to Mongolia.

   On July 24, John Murphy and James Bavister will join 500 teams from across the UK, Spain and Italy in a 10,000 mile road-trip to Mongolia. With no set route, the two students, who will be accompanied by Leeds graduates Tom Gussman and Conville Stevens-Mccann, will be left to “make it up as they go along.” With an estimated travelling time of six weeks, the team plan to journey through Iran to reach their ultimate destination.
    John told LS: “I’m giving us a 50 per cent chance of making it home alive.”
    All being well, following their arrival in Mongolia the team will hand over the 1991 Ford ambulance to a rural community. They will then return home via the Trans-Siberian Railway.
    John and James have it lucky compared to most of their fellow Rally-ers, however. One of the Rally’s only three rules dictates that participants can only drive vehicles with a one litre engine or smaller, unless they are emergency vehicles or an undersized scooter. All modes of transport must also be no more than ten years old.
    The team, who have named themselves ‘Yes We Khan’ after Mongolia’s most famous citizen, must raise £1,000 in sponsorship money before setting off on their journey. They have so far raised £373.50 but remain optimistic that they will reach their target before the deadline, offering advertisement on their vehicle and clothing in exchange for sponsorship.
    The Rally first began in 2001 after two Brits, then living in the Czech Republic bought a Fiat 126 on a drunken whim and ‘pointed it towards the most stupid place they could think of on a map, Mongolia, and off they set with a pack of cheap cigars a hunting knife and no changes of clothes’. After failing on their first attempt the two men, now known as ‘The Adventurists’, swore they wouldd try again, and the Mongol Rally was born. It has now culminated in a massive event, with the 2007 Rally raising more than £200,000 for the affiliated charities.
    Team ‘Yes We Khan’ are taking part in the Rally in aid of Mercy Corps, a global charity that works in Africa and Asia to ‘alleviate suffering, poverty and oppression by helping people build secure, productive and just communities’.
    John explained that they selected Mercy Corps from a list of affiliated charities given to them by the Rally organisers. He told LS: “We chose Mercy Corps because of the good work it does in providing education to children in Mongolia’s rural areas.”


To donate to this appeal and help them reach their £1,000 target visit:
http://www.justgiving.com/England-to-Ulum-Bataar