From Down to Mongolia and back – what a trip

From Down to Mongolia and back – what a trip

9 September 2015

MINOR breakdowns and tricky border crossings aside, the Mongol Rally team from Ballynahinch and Ballygowan have made it home in one piece.

In July, Matthew Gourley, Jordan Barr and Andrew Bennett set off on the adventure of a lifetime in a charity fundraising event that saw them cross some of the more inhospitable parts of Europe.

The Mongol Rally is a 10,000 mile jaunt to the Mongolia finish line in a highly unsuitable car — for this team a 2001 Nissan Micra. But the boys — all 21 year-old students and friends from their time at Down High School — took it a step further by driving home as well, clocking up over 16,000 miles in total.

On Friday evening, the ‘Car of the County Down’ team, having raised over £2,000 for its nominated charity TinyLife, completed its last leg and were welcomed home to cheers from family and friends.

Matthew explained why they hadn’t left their car behind for scrap, which is the preferred option for most of rally teams.

“It was partly because of the price of the several flights required,” he said. “When we worked it out it was cheaper to drive and split the fuel costs.

“It was also a chance for us to see a lot of countries that we didn’t get to see on the way to Mongolia. We were able to spend a lot more time in Russia and stopped off in Moscow. We also spent time in Berlin and Amsterdam which was a great experience.

“It allows you to see places you may never see again,” Andrew said. “With having a car, you are much less limited in Europe compared to inter-railing so it was a perfect opportunity for us to explore.”

Jordan added: “It was for the added achievement of not only getting the car to Mongolia but also to bring it back again to home soil in one piece.

“I would definitely do something similar again; we were actually talking about that. I’ll definitely travel more. It opened my eyes to all of these different countries and places that you would never even think of going.”

The rally, which took them through Croatia, Bosnia, Turkey, Turkmenistan and on a ferry across the Caspian Sea, went far beyond their expectations, and they admit parts were tougher than they had imagined. But they also count these as among their most memorable moments.

The car remained fairly reliable for the whole journey and only suffered some minor breakdowns, and in some cases local people rallied around to get the car fixed. However, in Uzbekistan, the boys encountered something that isn’t normally a problem back home — a severe lack of petrol, which is largely only available on the black market. Here a French translator rescued them from a tricky situation at a ‘fuel house’. 

The team also revealed that some of the dodgier border crossings took several hours. In fact, some took up to 12 hours to get through and bribery was rife with so-called ‘fines’ being issued. However, once they threatened to call the British Embassy, the fines were soon revoked.

Much of the time, however, the generous help of local people saw them through any difficult situations.

“Most of the places we visited after Turkey had not really seen tourists before,” said Matthew. “We were treated exceptionally well and the welcoming side of these people was fantastic. A lot of them signed the car after chatting with us.”

Matthew added: “Thank you to everyone who donated to what is a great cause. We would also like to thank all of our sponsors as well as a few individuals that helped with the car, not to mention our friends and family for putting up with us. Each and every one of them helped us out in some way which we really appreciate.”

For donations to premature baby charity TinyLife, the team’s Just Giving page can be visited at https://www.justgiving.com/carofthecountydown/