10,000 Miles

(16 photos)
View Slideshow
twitterlinkedinfacebook
Search this gallery:

Four friends drive a tiny car from Germany to England to Mongolia as part of the Mongol Rally, a charity race where inconvenience is encouraged and there's no prize for finishing first. Known as Team Great Job, we covered approximately 10,500 miles in 11 countries.


  • Michael and Ryan laugh with Bones as they tie up the surfboard they brought from San Diego to try and win the highest honor in the Mongol Rally's "Largest non-functional item" contest. Teams completing the rally, which runs between Goodwood, England and Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, have brought such items such as a Viking longboat and a London telephone booth.
  • Ryan, Bones, Michael and the photographer paid equal shares toward a used Nissan Micra in Dusseldorf, Germany, 12 days before the start of the 2009 Mongol Rally. Rally organizers guidelines strongly encourage participants to use cars with 1.0 liter engines or smaller, and to take their time reaching the finish line.
  • Bones and Ryan inspect their recently purchased car in Lodz, Poland, despite knowing little about auto repair. Mechanics installed a piece of scrap metal to protect the vehicle's undercarriage on the unpaved roads of Central Asia.
  • Michael wakes up in his team's car at Zeeburg campsite in Amsterdam, Netherlands a week before the official launch of the 2009 Mongol Rally.
  • Ryan eats dinner with members of other teams at the official Mongol Rally campsite in Goodwood, England the night before the launch of the 2009 Mongol Rally.
  • Bones rests in a 24-hour internet bar in Rezekne, Latvia after an 8-hour wait at the Russian border. Russian officials denied entry because of a problem with the vehicle's temporary registration.
  • Bones brushes her teeth during a third and final attempt to cross the Russian border with Latvia. Two previous attempts had been stymied by a lack of permanent vehicle registration, but two weeks of securing car repairs and paperwork got the team into Russia.
  • Bones, Michael and Ryan rotate drivers in Govi-Altai Province, Mongolia, along the northern edge of the Gobi Desert.
  • Bones sorts through her car's turnk while Michael changes a flat tire in Govi-Altai Province, Mongolia.
  • A Mongolian goat skull adorns Ryan, Michael, Bones and the photographer's car as snow starts to fall in Western Mongolia.
  • Michael warms his hands while the Spanish Mongol Rally team Objetivo Ulansafor tries to mend a large puncture in their gas tank in Bayan-Ölgii Province, Mongolia. The car was revived, but eight Spaniards from two teams spent that night on the floor of a local family's home when another vehicle in their convoy broke down.
  • The Spanish Mongol Rally team Objetivo Ulansafor crosses a frigid stream with their 2000 Kia Pride Wagon in Bayan-Ölgii Province, Mongolia. The team started in Spain and had driven through Turkey, Iran, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and Russia.
  • A man tends to his herd of goats in Bayan-Ölgii Province, while watching a Mongol Rally convoy pass through the western-most province in Mongolia.
  • Various teams completing the 2009 Mongol Rally camp for the night along the southern route through Mongolia to the capital city, Ulaanbaatar.
  • Alec, an architect from England, pauses after realizing that a combination of bubble gum, silicone and liquid metal failed to patch a large oil leak west of Bayan-Khongor, Mongolia. He and his girlfriend received a tow to Ulaanbaatar, but were still able to donate the car.
  • Bones and Ryan set up camp in Övörkhangai Province, two days from Ulaanbaatar. The team had driven over 10,000 miles in less than two months.
Created 20 Nov 2010 | Last updated 16 Dec 2011