In 1953, Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first people to stand atop Mount Everest, do you think they spent the months prior sitting in a library? No of course not, Edmund called up his buddy Tenzing and they spent the day in the pub telling everyone they were going to bag that mountain; that’s pretty much how our route planning went, although I doubt they would have relied on google quite as much as us.We spent most of the day staring at google maps wondering how far it is to Batman - the city in Turkey, not the caped crusader. Planning the first day of the rally was easy and we knocked that out of the park in a few seconds, funnily enough planning a drive to London isn’t as hard as you might think. The route through Europe was mainly formed on the basis of where we could get a free night’s stay from those we know. We reached our first challenge when we arrived at the Georgian border, how would you account for a delay at a border crossing? Google?
Routes,
Sponsors,
and Logos.
Sponsors have been the name of the game for a while now, spending an age researching and tailoring proposals. Many companies just haven’t replied and left me sat sobbing into a tub of ice cream to console my sadness. Not to be broken by rejection we carried on regardless. One morning I was sitting in a lecture with a pocket full of missed calls and an unread e-mail, most of which from a company we had contacted a few weeks before. The e-mail said they would like to supply a car, and to call them back. Since we’re not completely nuts we called them back right away and arranged the arrangement of a meeting. A couple weeks later we got an e-mail confirming the arrangement of a meeting. This morning (28th of Feb) we met with the lovely folk at SMA and had a chat about what we are doing, what they
With a few weeks off university for Christmas I had plenty of time spare for planning the rally, so I decided the best use of my time was to make a team logo. Given I have the artistic talent of a blunt pencil, I’m quite pleased with the result (even if did take me weeks). Since we have a beautiful logo it was only logical to plaster it on any and everything, hence the ‘gingerbread store’ was born with a selection of obscure gifts for your loved ones; who wouldn’t want a gingerbread man necklace? Having been modelling our own t-shirts and hoodies around for a few weeks, I’m proud to say that mouse-mats are currently the best selling item….
Yes - google to the rescue again. The next issue was google-proof, how do you plan the un-plannable “ferry” across the Caspian Sea. A ferry which is part ship and part hell on earth. Faced with the possibility of a 5 day ferry trip on a floating turd, we reversed course and took a look at Iran. 4 days of driving or 5+ days of ferry fun, we’re currently swaying towards Iran as I’ll probably be so emotionally attached to the car that it’d kill me to be out of it for 5 days. Iran is not without its complications. Although an apparently beautiful country, the foreign office recommends all but essential travel to; all will rely on the travel insurance.Back on the initial route - we would head towards Darwaza Crater in Turkmenistan or “The Door to Hell” as it’s known. Given the Turkmenistan Transit Visa is only 5 days we’ll be crossing straight across it to Uzbekistan before tackling the Pamir Highway through Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. Through Kazakhstan and Russia to Mongolia should only take us a few more days. Leaving 10 days for Gobi desert fun in Mongolia on route to the finish line. Driving for an average of 7 hours a day, we’re currently predicting it will take us 6 weeks to complete this rally. Then there’s only the slight problem of getting home again…
are willing to do and what we can do. So yeah cut a long story short – they will be providing a car.Other sponsors have also came to us, such as TD-Medex who have offered up some First Aid equipment and training. Kesley’s Bookshop in Haddington have offered to provide our shelf of books and maps. Our journey to sponsor heaven isn’t over, we’re currently talking to and planning to approach others. So watch this space, well not this space - the sponsor’s page. Click the picture.
