Mongol Rally Reads (#MongolRally)

Interested in adventure travel? Read on. . .

When Lockeridge told me he had begun reading a few different books that gave him a pretty good idea of what life on the road to Mongolia would be like, my mind immediately turned to hard hitting literature such as ‘Grug builds a car‘ or ‘The Wiggles – Big Red Car‘.

Little did I know, that he wasn’t kidding. When he was laid up in hospital about 12 months ago (picked up a liver infection somewhere in Brazil, he says he has no idea how it happened. . . . then I saw the photos of him butchering a pig for dinner on the concrete slab of someone’s garage. . . click) – Renee (long suffereing girlfriend) bought him a couple of great books he says are a must read for anyone doing the Mongol Rally.

When I get them (they have been in the post for the past 6 months), here is what I will be reading:

• Mission Mongolia (Book)
  Two men, one van . . . and no turning back!
  This is a great read about two BBC journalists, Geoff and David. Pushing 50, the men volunteer for an early retirement package, buy a van and set off across Europe, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Siberia (sound familiar?). Similar to us, their grasp of all things mechanical is minimal – but they manage to wing their way through a whole range of dodgy situations to make it to Mongolia.

• Going Postal (Book)
  The ups and downs of travelling the world on a postie bike
  I’ve done some serious miles on a postie bike in my time, so I know what this guy achieved would have been one challenging but truly brilliant adventure. While it isn’t so much about the route we will be taking, riders attempting the Mongol Rally could learn a thing or two from this guy. UK lad, Nathan Millward, realises he only had 20 days to go on his Australian Visa. He was faced with a choice. Either fly home OR buy a 110cc postie bike and ride it across Australia, Asia, through Europe and finally home to the UK – all at an average speed of 65km/ph.

• Golf Mongolia (Website)
  One man hitting a golf ball across Mongolia
  This is one truly awesome / bizarre idea. As the name implies, this is the story about a bloke (Andre Tolme) who hits a golf ball 1985km across Mongolia. In total, Andre hits his ball 12,170 times over 3 months! He divided all of Mongolia into 18 holes, picking up his ball when he reached the outskirts of a town  and taking a drop when he reached the other side.

Any suggestions as to some other books that may contain advice that will keep us out of jail or provide some inspiration let me know,

Cheers,

Rhys