The Mongol Rally has no set route, teams go as far south as Iran and as far north as Scandinavia. Our route took us through 13 different countries and one rogue communist seperatist state where they stole my radio. Here is a simplified map of our route in case you were wondering.

tommyp

The following tragic tale will relate the memory of a Fiat named Diana, chosen to carry a team of American adventures across the globe. Although she gave up her life for three American strangers the evidence will show she wouldn't have had it any other way. Consider this tale her Memoir, her Obituary, her Memorial.

Diana was acquired the 14th of July, 2007 on a random street outside the Upton Park tube station in London from previous owner Nazeem, who was as excited about the prospect of his car going on the rally as we were about taking her. Nazeem was moving his family back to South Africa, and gave us a great deal on a great little machine.

See, pretty from all angles.

Diana remained at rest until the 21st of July when she joined 160 or so other specially selected vehicles to attempt the most difficult transeurasian trek known to man.

Smooth sailing on the first days of the rally, Diana rests at a truck stop in Germany for a breather.

Diana pulled along leading the convoy until a blown alternator at the Slovakian border cost us a night alone in a truck stop. The other car in our convoy pressed on the Bratislava, and sent a tow truck to retrieve our fallen warrior.

Because the tow truck was only large enough to carry two passengers, I was the most logical choice to leave behind. Without a phone or means to communicate with my teammates, I hitch hiked in the first of many vehicles it would require to get me to Mongolia. Certainly not the prettiest, but definitely the roomiest.

Moritz and Felix two great Danes from Copenhagen kept me company on the two hour drive to Bratislava, before continuing on to Hungary. Only Felix spoke some English so we chatted at great length about comic books and his dog Rexus.(on my return to the USA, I received a postcard from Hungary signed by Felix and Rexus)

After a random mechanic gave us a deal on an alternator repair we pressed on without issue in high spirits. Diana was running great, the weather was beautiful, and we were making good time to Odessa, through Hungary, Romania, Moldova, and the hell state of Transnistria.

This is Diana appalled at petrol prices and fuel quality in Romania

After a few days rest in Odessa, Ukraine we pushed on, taking a rare stop to enjoy the beach on the northern Black Sea, known as the Sea of Azov. Here, Diana takes in the view with the Rabbit Chaser and enjoys the cool sea breeze.

In Volgograd, Russia, Diana enjoys some site seeing including a visit to the Battle of Stalingrad WWII Memorial, which moved her into commenting on the useless loss of 1.5 million lives in the monumental battle.

Being a valuable member of Team Ironsides, and therefore having experience on the open sea, Diana fared the river crossing into Kazakhstan better than some of her companions. Alex sleeps soundly in the back, as usual.

After heading North from Atyrau, KZ, Diana finally met her match on the Road to Aqtobi. Long forgotten Soviet tarmac spread the length of the 500 mile stretch, ripping and pulling at the bottom of our cars. It wasn't a matter of hitting things, it was a matter of how hard you hit them. Shortly into the trek, Diana's rear left shock finally rusted through the trunk, severing her critical wiring.

After the wires had been reconnected with electrical tape and securely relocated, the loose shock was hose clamped to the body of the car, which unfortunately didn't stop the noise or the dust from streaming into the car.

Diana was determined however and pressed on through the blazing sun, leading the convoy she so loved. Against all odds she held her head high and plowed through the Kazakh dust, blinded, but with an inner vision of better days ahead.

Despite her determination, Diana encountered a minor flat tire from the bucking and banging she received in the absence of a shock absorber. Having had her emergency break snapped by a Kiwi back in Slovakia, she refused to cooperate on a car jack, so she had to be constrained between two other rally cars, so she wouldn't roll onto someone's head.

Back on the road heading to Kostonay, KZ, proved to be a formidable challenge for our heroine. Unidentified sounds and smokes confused even the Kiwis. After stopping at a number of garages we were disheartened about the status of our beloved Diana. The road to Kostonay was unpleasant with feelings of imminent doom surrounding the convoy. Diana took it well, whimpering to herself, but puttering on for the team. By Kostonay, or Kocknob, as it had then become, things were not looking good. A mechanic diagnosed the car as having a fried head bearing, news which came as a surprise because there appeared to be no obvious damage. The loss of oil pressure continued to baffle, and many theories were tested and put into motion. It was not until leaving Kocknob after three horrible days that the source of Diana's soon to be fatal blow was realized. On a whim only a Kiwi can possess, Chris directed us to pull her onto a lift so we could remove the oil sump and check the pump intake. The grotesque spectacle that met us bombarded us with guilt and horror at what we had done to our car.

Diana, riding low, but sitting high

The broken oil intake, which greedily prevented oil circulation back into our engine.

The culprit identified!

Tim helps...

while Fudge looks away in horror

Magician/Kiwi Chris fixes the broken oil intake.

With optimism at identifying and fixing the source of our troubles, the convoy pushes on. For thirty glorious km Diana marches on, ridiculed, defeated, she strives to prove all of us wrong. But Alas, to what will Will not stoop. In a final puff of grayish blue smoke Diana would have no more. And there on a sorry plain 60 miles east of Kostonay, Diana met her end.

with heavy hearts, we are prepared for the worst, and reorganize our vehicles so that we as a convoy can continue east.

Here, Joya cleans out the car and says her goodbyes in her own way.

A head stone is laid as a final memorial to Diana, our beloved rally car and companion. Joya pours one out for our fallen homie.

I mourn by hitting the Vod, in traditional Kazakh fashion.

A testament to how many people were touched by the memorable run of Diana, the Fiat.

The Final Resting Place of Diana, A Fiat, A Rally Car, A Trouper, A Friend.

Diana October 1994 - August 2007

An unlikely hero who took on the world in the true "Spirit of the Mongol Rally"

Hey Everyone!
Finally some pictures from the Road, enjoy.

Five Minutes In (London)

(This image depicts the shock of our beloved Diana, which has rusted through the trunk and severed the cars electrical. Although fixed, it will later contribute to Diana's fatal blow)

More to come shortly, please keep checking back.

tommyp

Here are just a few pictures that have already appeared either on Tim and Fudge's website or on Alex's Facebook. There will be more pictures to come, and in a different format, once we get everyone organized - which I am in the process of doing with long, badgering e-mails to my fellow convoy members!

This picture is everyone from our core convoy; from bottom right clockwise we have Tim, Chris, Ross, Muzzy, Deeps, Himi, Ali, Alex, me (Joya), Tommy and then Fudge posing on Diana. This was taken in a small town in Kazakhstan after a very long lunch and right before Diana lost her suspension...

We did it.  Team Ironsides was represented at Dave's Place in Ulaan Bataar at about 7pm last night.  Our last few days spent in Mongolia involved some pretty amazing and intense driving through all kinds of terrain, several problems and break downs and a lot of dust.  About 450 km away from UB we came across Jack Osborne's (a British celebrity for those of you who dont know of him) convoy with a broken down vehicle (something with the tire and the wheel arch) and so of course we stopped so Kiwi Chris could lend his expert hand.  We ended up camping right there that night with that whole crew - making ourselves a camp fire and everything!  The next day Team Dzogchen and the Osborne crew set off early cuz they needed to find replacement tires and deal with other small issues.  The rest of us set off on our final day of driving at around 8:30 a.m.  Tommy was with the Kiwis in their SJ as usual and I jumped in with Team Endo in theirs.  The Kiwis sped on ahead, so our car ended up being well behind both them and Team Dzogchen, and at about 100 km out of Ulaan Bataar we blew the suspension on the right side (having already blown the left suspension a few days before in the middle of the desert...another long story).  We decided to limp on, at about 15km an hour, over very bumpy roads.  It was excruciating.  Fudge did an amazing job driving and I did my best to DJ and stay positive while Tim nursed an upset stomache in the back.  At one point Fudge saw a cow skull on the side of the road so we strapped it to the front bonnet of the car...Finally, finally, after what seemed like an eternity, we saw the city in the distance.  I have never been so happy to see a city in my life.  We rolled in to Dave's Place, a bar in the center of town that has been designated as the finish line for the rally, at about 7pm, pulling in just behind Team Dzogchen's Micra (and actually smashing in to the back of it as had become standard practice), stepped out of the car to a round of applause coming from all ralliers etc who were already there, out on the patio of the bar.  After many hugs and general jubilation, Dave himself came down and handed us our free beers.  I cant convey the feeling of satisfaction, relief and joy felt at that moment.  It is a bit hard to believe it is all over but I can say that I am ready to get home and NOT spend all day, everyday driving/sitting in a car, covered in dust.  More details, a sum-up blog and pictures will come once we all return safely Stateside.  As always, thanks to all of you for your support.  Team Ironsides is proud to announce the completion of Mongol Rally 2007. 

Well, we have made it.  To Mongolia.  More or less.  Diana and Alex-less, but here!  We left Astana on the afternoon of the 12th, sadly leaving Alex behind to decide whether or not he would fly to Ulan Bataar or just fly straight home.  I was moved from the back of the Kiwi's SJ to the Nissan Micra belonging to Team Dzogchen, Tommy has remained baggage in the SJ.  We basically spent 3 and a half days driving and sleeping in our cars on the side of the road.  Exiting Kazakhstan and entering Russia took about 7 hours.  We boiled water and ate noodles on the bonnet of our cars and tossed a rugby ball around as we waited, attracting a fair amount of attention from the others in the line.  We spent about 2 days driving through Russia to reach the Mongolian border; the last night we drove all night, changing drivers so people could sleep.  We drove through some beautiful scenery as we approached the border - and needless to say the temperatures have dramatically dropped!  We arrived at the exit border for Russia at about noon and ended up waiting there for about 5 hours with several other rally cars who joined us there.  Getting through the two borders wasnt too bad and finally we found ourselves driving into the amazing expanse that is Mongolia!  We convoyed with the other cars that had waited at the borders with us and witnessed the last shreds of Mongolian sunlight off of the mountains as our cars kicked up dust on the non-roads that will be our home for the next week!  It was both breathtaking and exhilerating!  The plan was to make it to the nearest small city that same night, which was about 90 km away, however, driving up and over a mountain proved more than some of the cars could handle.  So, at about 10:30 at night in very cold temperatures, we found ourselves pushing vehicles up a mountain in Mongolia.  Yup.  One of the cars, a Nissan Micra, ended up bursting a hole in their gas tank, so once again the Kiwis stopped to help them out while the rest of us got the remaining cars up the mountain and set up camp.  That night was by far the most uncomfortable I have spent as it was FREEZING and I could not warm up.  However, the next morning when we woke up and stepped out of our tents we were greeted by an absolutely breath taking view from the top of this mountain!  We are now in the very small city of Olgii, the one we had hoped to reach last night, and are showering for the first time in 4 days, and generally recharging.  Actually, just about an hour ago Tommy and I were interviewed by a British guy named Liam who is filming a piece for the Discovery Channel on the Rally!  He was looking to interview Americans and there we were!  Apparently the footage he is doing now will be used as a pilot for the piece which will be based on next year's Rally.  He might interview us again tomorrow in the town market, we shall see.So, from here its onwards towards Ulan Bataar!  We are doubtful that we will make it by the 19th, but hopefully it wont be much later than that.  Mongolia thus far seems like a pretty incredible place; I cant really believe that we are here!  I am looking forward to seeing more of it and reaching the finish line - hopefully!  Another site to check out for stories and pictures is Team Endo's site on the Mongol Rally website: http://mongolrally.theadventurists.com/index.php?mode=team&sub=display&name=timandfudge.  They should have a bunch of great pictures - Tim has taken A LOT.  Right, all for now from Mongolia...

So, as mentioned below, Team Wingit Racers has been a huge help to us, spending many hours working on Diana and if it werent for them she probably would have died a long time ago and we would have been stranded somewhere in Kazakhstan, at best. SO, if any of you were planning on contributing to Team Ironsides, I would ask that you direct that donation to them instead. OR, if you just feel like helping them out anyway, that would also be great. Their website is www.thewingitracers.com. They also have been updating their page from their cell phone so you can track our progress vicariously through them, if interested. Their site is pretty entertaining so I would check it out regardless.
Right, all for now, over and out. Stat.

So, its been a week but Team Ironsides is still in Kazakhstan.  I am honestly not sure there are words to describe the events that have unfolded just in the last few days, much less since I last blogged.  Given I dont have four hours to spare I will attempt to keep this brief.  After our convoy turned into five cars in Volgograd, Russia we managed to make it to the Kazakh border, only to find out that the ferry to the actual border was closed (seeing as how it was about 2 a.m).  We camped out right next to the ferry and were awakened by the border guards yelling at us to get up and catch the first ferry at about 5:45.  About three hours later we all made it through the border and headed towards the city of Atirau.  24 hours later we left with a convoy now of four cars, plus a random rallier named Ali who was hitching a ride until Astana.  This four team convoy has basically become our staple group consisting still of the two Kiwis, Chris and Ross (Team Wingit Racers), and then two amazing guys from Wales, Tim and Fudge (Team Endo) and finally three guys from Manchester UK, Muzzy, Himi and Dibs (Team Dzogchen).  The next two days were essentially spent driving and camping on the side of the road.  The second of the two days involved us realizing that the suspension on the left hand side of Diana had rusted through into our trunk.  It was then that we also hit the worst roads that I have ever seen in my life.  Im sorry, did I say roads?  I meant a series of ditches.  Which is exactly what they were.  We spent about 5 - 6 hours driving maybe 20 miles an hour over these "roads."  The first hour was fun, driving on dusty, dirty rough roads with our buffs over our faces, the kiwis and the welsh guys hanging out the sides of their Suzuki Jeeps, filming and generally having a great time while I attemtped to navigate my low-riding Fiat with no suspension over non-existent roads, with Tommy hanging out the side window trying to help direct me.  A few hours later in the dark it was less fun.  We rolled into our destination town at about 4 a.m exhausted and every single one of us convered in a thin layer of dust.  We honestly looked like we had each just crawled out of our own graves.  After a slight incident with some intoxicated and ornery Kazakh men at a gas station we drove about 100 km before sleeping in our cars on the side of the road.  We pushed on the rest of that day so as not to lose too much time and then camped again on the side of the road.  The next day we had driven for only a few hours when it became clear that Diana was not doing well.  Those non-roads (series of ditches, Im telling you) had really done a number on her.  We found a mechanic in the nearest town and all waited around there in the sun for several hours.  My favorite moment was definitely when I was sitting on the ground around our cars with ten other guys and these two women come out of the mechanic shop, take me by the hand, lead me inside and point towards a faucet and hand me a bar of soap.  I guess they felt sorry for me!  Anyway, the mechanic finally arrived and basically said that our car was 'caput' unless we completely replaced the engine.  So, we decided to check in to a hotel and find another mechanic for a second opinion.  The next morning Tommy and I took Diana back to another place and got more or less the same response.  As a group we decided we would drive Diana as far as she would go and then when she died we would pile in with the two Suzuki Jeeps belonging to Teams Endo and Wingit Racers.  About 2 miles out of this town, on our glorious way to Astana, Team Endo's SJ started sparking from her exhaust pipe.  Long story short, we decided to send one car ahead to Astana as Himi and Alex both needed to deal with Russian Visa complications, while the rest of us stayed behind and tried to fix our cars.  After yet another day in this small, kazakh town (which we had now named Cocknob...) and several hours of the Kiwis dealing with both the Welsh SJ and Diana (in fact, they spent about 2 hours under Diana on a ramp on the side of the highway while Tim from Team Endo made us all tea...), only to get about 10 miles out of Cocknob before Diana really died.  The accelerator just ceased functioning.  So, once again, we were pulled over, the two SJ's and Diana, in the parking lot of what appeared to be a restaurant.  Tommy and I decided we would try to sell Diana to anyone who would take her in the nearest vacinity, so, while the two other teams emtpied out the SJs to make room for us and our stuff, I marched into the restaurant armed with about 3 Russian words: Car, sell, buy and a note with 500 Tengue written on it, which is about $4.  After the women behind the counter laughed at me, a crazy Kazakh guy started to seemingly engage me and Tommy about the car.  Finally, we realized he was in fact interested in paying us for her, thrusted me the money, filled out the form, climbed in and drove off.  Well, he drove about 10 feet, Diana died, and then after a few anxious moments for me and Tommy, she started again and the crazy kazakh disappeared with our car.  It all happened so fast, we didnt even really get to say good bye.  We then spent the next hour repacking the remaining two vehicles and giving stuff away to three other kazakh guys, who gave us 2 bottles of Russian Vodka.  After eating what we had for food on the side of the road, we finally set off, five of us packed into the Kiwi's SJ and all of our stuff on the top of the other SJ.  That night we slept in our cars and we arrived in Astana this afternoon.  All of it honestly has been surreal.  As I am writing this there is so much more I could saybut this is already turning into a novel.  OH!  I forgot to mention that I then took the 500 tengue that we made for the car, went into the restaurant and bought 7 candy bars.  I managed to communicate to the girls in there that I was spending the money I had just made for the car.  On chocolate.  They definitely thought I was insane.  Anyway, we are now all in Astana together, and have checked into a hotel for the night.  Things are not looking good for Alex's Russian Visa, so he is deciding now whether to continue waiting for it here and then take a train and meet us at a specific town in Russia, or sadly, to just fly home from here.  Tommy and I plan on pushing on with the other three teams as there has proved to be enough space...so, basically, Team Ironsides has suffered some serious losses the past 24 hours, but we arent giving up yet!  The plan is to get to Ulan Bataar around the 19th, hopefully, as that is when the huge end-of-rally-bash is, but it all depends on how things go from here.  Its been an absolutely insane week and I cant wait to share the myriad o? photos we have taken.  I really need to rap this up but do stay tuned as I assume it will only get better.  I apologize for the length and poor writing quality of this entry but I dont have much time and as usual am running on little sleep, little food and way too much testosterone!  I will write again when I can, who knows when that will be.  Wish us luck and say a little prayer for Diana who is now somewhere in a small town in Kazakhstan with a crazy Kazakh who probably thinks he got the deal of a lifetime...