There is an update from George on the blog this morning at 05.55 they had reached the mongolian border with some other teams and were waiting for permission to cross into Mongolia. They stayed the night with friendly Mongolian family in their "hut".
They have passed successfully through Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and into Kazachstan. They visited Samarkand and Tashkent and have seen some fascinating sights and met some very different people. They have also consumed some bizarre foodstuffs - they all have varying degrees of gippy tummy = but nothing serious.
They are all together in fine form and in excellent morale =. The cars have held up brilliantly.
They arrived in Alma Ata still in Kazachstan on 8th August (about 100 miles north of the Chinese border) - the maps they took (from Stanfords in London) have been brilliant but the road signs not so reliable. They are waiting there as the next froniter is that with Russia and their Russian visas do not start until 11th Aug.
They looked for accomodation in Alma Ata but all hotels were $60 US per night - so no chance. But Archie reports they found some Aussie backpackers (lousy cricketers) who introduced them to a Russian quarter where russian girls hired out rooms at much less. So they are sharing one of those - no more details were provided. One can be sure they will be having fun.
All sounds well - mother Russia will care for them next.
A mix up earlier was that Mongol rally admin let them down as they failed to get George a visa (despite the fact they charged for it) to enter Iran. So he had to fly direct from Turkey to Turkmenistan - Jon very kindly went with George and the other four drove the cars through Iran. In Iran they had some sort of trouble and did not have enough money to pay for something and so Arthur and Ollie were left on the roadside playing cricket and Josh and Archie were taken with police escort to get more money. So at that stage the six were split in three teams of two. Then the Iran 4 joined up again paid the money and got out of Iran to turkmen and eventually joined up with George and Jon.
Being involved in fund raising, particularly “behind the scenes” as I am, is not always the easiest of jobs. Occasionally, very occasionally, you even wonder why you’re doing it, but then…..along comes a family with their friends in tow who inspire and remind us, “this is why we do what we do”.
That family are the Forbes family.
Katie was recently diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, but her family did not sit there waiting for something to happen, they found us, BrAMS, and decided they would make a difference. Her two brothers, Arthur and George, got together with friends, Ollie, Jon, Archie and Barney, and decided they would take on the epic challenge of The Mongol Rally.
The rally started 5 years ago, a bunch of (presumably very drunk), guys decided they would try to get from the UK to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, 10,000 miles away……in a fiat 126. Why?
BECAUSE!
Five years later the rally has grown into what has now become a truly international fund raising event. The aims are simple. You take an old and totally unsuitable car, (or an old fire engine, ambulance, police van, ice cream van, hearse - whatever you can find on ebay), “pimp it up”, as the fire engine did – why stop at furry dice when you can cover the entire fire engine in fur? Get 7 weeks off work, raise as much money for charity as you possibly can. Learn the phrase, “how much will it cost to bribe you?” in 10 different languages, then prepare to set off on a 10,000 mile trip, across deserts and mountains, through 15 countries with some tents, a few spanners, some gaffer tape and the most important item of all, a sense of humour and adventure.
Saturday July 18th, 2009 saw this year’s start, from Milan, Italy, Barcelona, Spain and the largest launch, from the home of British motoring, Goodwood, Sussex. 350 cars and thousands of people gathered together at Goodwood for a day of festivities, European music, Mongolian wrestling and of course the beer tent! Awards were presented for the best and the worst, for the car LEAST likely to make the trip, which could have been the Morris Minor or the Hillman Imp, (not including the cardboard car). But the most important for me personally, the announcement that Arthur, George, Ollie, Jon, Archie and Barney making up the teams “Butch Cassidy” and “The Sundance Kids”, had not only raised the single most amount, but had smashed the previous record of £14,000, by raising over a phenomenal £45,000 with more to come! A record that I think will be held for some time. Shaun received the cheque on behalf of BrAMS and made a very short speech about the work carried out.
With the driving force of Peter and Vicky, otherwise known as “mum and dad”, this one family had generated an astonishing amount for which we at BrAMS are truly grateful. Spending the day with them, their extended family and their friends was a delight and one I will never forget. Shaun and I took a big “good luck” sign, 2 BrAMS Bear mascots and a bag of t-shirts, which I’m sure will come in handy, even if only to hold the exhaust on!
But what Shaun and I brought back were memories of a great day, spent with some very special and generous people, in hearts and thoughts, lots of photos and video, the thought that maybe we could do it in a couple of years, and…….
A big fat cheque for £45,250.
We will get updates on the Teams progress, which can also be found at www.mongolrally.com
To our teams “Butch Cassidy” and “The Sundance Kids”, we wish you ALL the luck and the biggest THANK YOU! Be safe!
Alison
BrAMS, (Bristol and Avon Multiple Sclerosis Centre), provides treatments and clinical trials and is leading the world in stem cell research, which the Forbes family are raising funds for particularly.
