We dedicated the last month to getting ready for the Mongol Rally. There was enough time as we knew for a year we’d be going and had a lot of conversation what and how to do it.

We soon started to enjoy the magic of driving an old car. Our newly acquired Peugeot was rather hungry.  

We decided to feed it on the first petrol station. But nothing could prepare us for the sheer length of time it took us to fill it up. It seems somethings changed with progress, also some tubes, apparently. 

The vehicle which might lead us on an adventure was looking magnificent in the autumn sun. Well, shade as it was parked under a sort of a large shed. Some other car in surprisingly poor condition were parked along side it. Why surprisingly poor, one might ask? Our dream car was in quite a good shape. It did start and even moved under it’s own power. The paint was quite shiny. Apart from the bonnet. It had some weird marks on it…

But there’s no Mongol Rally for us without a car.  

We’ve spent a lot of time checking the car ads. And there wasn’t a suitable car for sale for a really long time. Our criteria evolved during the time. I was starting to think about buying an alternative car and even Mateja started to look at the ads that were previously deemed unfit.

We had a lot of time on our hands while we were waiting for the perfect car.

And while we were waiting we might as well try to create a route of sorts. This might seems slightly strange with all the words of spontaneous ideas from the organizer. And I agree. The route should indeed be spontaneous. The adventure would be even more… Well, adventurous.

We have been looking at the new ads every day and were waiting for the perfect Fiesta.  

There were a lot of cars on sale. After a few weeks we already knew a lot of suitable car ads on the internet. And although we were searching for something not that often seen on the Mongol Rally, one needs to make certain sacrifices from time to time. Mateja found a suitable car. Small, cheap, small engine and with not much creature comforts. Do you see where this is going? 

And as any other team, Team Serious Business also needs a car.  

There are some rules when it comes to cars on the Mongol Rally. The engine size must be under 1.2l. Those of you thinking the engine size wouldn’t offer much power can take a look at the Ford’s EcoBoost 1.0 liter engine. One can get in in the factory specs with 140bhp. And a small car with such power can be quite quick. 

The adventure has begun indeed!

But who’s actually going on this adventure? Who’s determined enough to (maybe) drive around in a car with no air-con? Who are these marvellously unwise people?

I was sleepless during the night. 

When I woke up in the morning I really had no desire to check the emails. I finally moved in front of the computer after thinking about what happened for a couple of minutes.