[ArchitectIT]

One word, respect..
Excellent travelogue, inspirational journey and master story telling.
I took the liberty of sharing this thread with few of my friends who are not on Team-Bhp (hope that’s alright). All my friends were speechless.

[rejoycjohn]

Originally Posted by ashkamath

That was some drive that you guys undertook in that some puny car for some distance and made for some reading for me.
You guys had fun/adventure and also lot of blessings and gratitude from the guys at charity home and all I can say is Wow. you guys rock, you are Heroes and God Bless You and your team always.
Ashok, Goa

Thank you Ashok. We are happy that we were able to complete it. And definitely when your acts become of some help to those who are in need makes the whole experience a little more special.

Originally Posted by deetjohn

EPIC! Not all those who wander are lost!

rejoycjohn, your command over English is great and you do have a way with words. And you guys showed great maturity and judgement through out the trip! Thanks for sharing this great experience with us.

Thank you Deetjohn.I like your comment on my English and narration, thank you so much. The credit of reaching Ulaanbaatar in one piece definitely goes to each one of us. We had maturity and craziness in equal amount that most of the times it balanced out.

Originally Posted by KL01BE

What a trip! I can imagine the pride you guys would feel when you are known as the first Indians to complete the Mongolian rally. Truly a commendable thing!
KL01BE

Thank you KL01BE, well the only one thing that we missed carrying in this trip was our National Flag. Should have waved it at the finish line.

Originally Posted by srishiva

Wow !
Read the whole thing just now in one go. Epic. May I say that you guys being from Kerala, you were natural to adapt to the diverse food you consumed

Haha, yes you are correct - mallus are naturally adapted to diverse food. But to be honest, we did have difficulty in having some of the Mongolian cuisines. The tribes of Mongolia base almost all their food in horse fat / goat fat. The aroma of these might not be the most pleasing for most of us. Let me try not to explain more on this. May be the next sentence can throw a bit of light on the effects that Mongolian food had. One of my friends who used to love mutton have issues eating it post rally.

Originally Posted by tracerspiff

Awesome trip man! I am lost for words after reading your travelogue.
Btw, Any chance of knowing how much you actually spent for this trip overall? Would be of great use for someone who wants to do something similar..

Thank you Tracerspiff.
We actually spend around 4Lakh + per person. That's including some money which we gave to visa agent, but we never got that visa. It also includes some B&B charges that we incurred in the early days of the rally. It took us some time before we learned how to set up a tent properly.

Originally Posted by srs_shetty87

Any plans of doing anything similar soon? Was wonderful reading through the episodes and my my the views were awesome.
How did you manage to convince your heart to come out of it!

Thank you Srs_Shetty87, well we want to do something similar. Nothing planned as of now.Need to make some financial backing before we head out for the next one.

Originally Posted by ArchitectIT

One word, respect..
Excellent travelogue, inspirational journey and master story telling.
I took the liberty of sharing this thread with few of my friends who are not on Team-Bhp (hope that’s alright). All my friends were speechless.

Thank you ArchitectIT, its completely alright with us. We will be happy If some get inspired and try this or something similar or even better than this.
Last year 2 teams from India ( UAE / India ) attempted this, this year we are aware of one team who is planning to do this.

[Auswechseln]

Hat's off to you people for undertaken such an humongous task.

I was awaiting each and every installment eagerly last year when you were posting this (I wasn't a member then).

During college days it was easier to gather friends together and plan for any trip. But now, after stepping into the professional life, I understand how difficult it is to even meet up let alone plan for such a trip.

I salute your commitment for planning and undertaking such a trip.

[sudeep.pandya]

The most difficult part is to have friends who have same passion in common and are committed to it.
I have seen people discussing and planning with utmost enthusiasm but when the implementation part comes, I see them backing out due to personal preference and family pressure. They are just not brave enough to follow their passion (If any)

A journey of this kind needs strong cohesiveness among-st participants. Respect for your team who have the desire and commitment to chase their passion.

[noopster]

A bunch of friends are planning a Mongolia roadtrip and I stumbled upon this TL doing research. Amazing!

You guys truly lived the dream. Am so tempted to change the title of this thread because for sure you Joes aren't "average" by any stretch of the imagination. And yes- I passed on the link to my friends and now they are hooked as well and can't wait for their own adventure!

[rav11stars]

Thanks to noopster I stumbled upon this thread. I've watched "Lord of the Rings" and now I read and felt how Frodo and Sam must've travelled across all those terrains to reach Mordor.
You guys sounded and felt so much like "us", the average Joes on the first page. But then your spirit, attitude and courage lifted you to another level. There was this old-world thing that says our knowledge increases by reading books. Thanks to you I got to learn and know a lot of things about the world outside.
Take a bow : _/\_

[T Y A G I]

Hi Team,

I got the opportunity to visit Mongolia on 23 June. I spent one night in Ulaanbattar.I bring a trainer have to fly across the APAC region.The moment I got the information that I will be visiting Mongolia, I recalled this thread and somehow this thread and experience prepared me mentally for Mongolia. I came to conduct Training in South Mongolia for Oyo Tolgoi Mining project.This location is just 90 Km from China border and around an hour air distance from Ulaanbattar.It is just open baren land with so much open space that once I will be back to India, I may faint looking at the population and land occupancy.

Just kidding I am. To me, Mongolia feels another Planet on Earth because of the diverse weather conditions and almost low population of 3 million. I feel so much soothing and at the same time it feels that Mongolia will soon be making a mark at the world's stage.I wish all the very best to Mongolia and it's kind population filled with sweet and generous human brings.

Thanks a lot to God for sending me to Mongolia before my life comes to Fullstop.Attached are some pics of the location where I am staying in mining site.

Regards,
Lalit

[T Y A G I]

Hi Team,

I got the opportunity to visit Mongolia on 23 June. I spent one night in Ulaanbattar.I bring a trainer have to fly across the APAC region.The moment I got the information that I will be visiting Mongolia, I recalled this thread and somehow this thread and experience prepared me mentally for Mongolia. I came to conduct Training in South Mongolia for Oyo Tolgoi Mining project.This location is just 90 Km from China border and around an hour air distance from Ulaanbattar.It is just open baren land with so much open space that once I will be back to India, I may faint looking at the population and land occupancy.

Just kidding I am. To me, Mongolia feels another Planet on Earth because of the diverse weather conditions and almost low population of 3 million. I feel so much soothing and at the same time it feels that Mongolia will soon be making a mark at the world's stage.I wish all the very best to Mongolia and it's kind population filled with sweet and generous human brings.

Thanks a lot to God for sending me to Mongolia before my life comes to Fullstop.


Regards,
Lalit

[rejoycjohn]

Originally Posted by T Y A G I

Hi Team,

I got the opportunity to visit Mongolia on 23 June. I spent one night in Ulaanbattar.I bring a trainer have to fly across the APAC region.The moment I got the information that I will be visiting Mongolia, I recalled this thread and somehow this thread and experience prepared me mentally for Mongolia. I came to conduct Training in South Mongolia for Oyo Tolgoi Mining project.This location is just 90 Km from China border and around an hour air distance from Ulaanbattar.It is just open baren land with so much open space that once I will be back to India, I may faint looking at the population and land occupancy.

Just kidding I am. To me, Mongolia feels another Planet on Earth because of the diverse weather conditions and almost low population of 3 million. I feel so much soothing and at the same time it feels that Mongolia will soon be making a mark at the world's stage.I wish all the very best to Mongolia and it's kind population filled with sweet and generous human brings.

Thanks a lot to God for sending me to Mongolia before my life comes to Fullstop.Attached are some pics of the location where I am staying in mining site.

Regards,
Lalit

Excellent, Mongolia is a land worth visiting, its so different to what we have
seen home and abroad. And the more you travel away from city you get to see the real country up close. Glad that you got the opportunity to wander around and explore the towns or villages outside. I don't think we traveled to the town Oyo Tolgoi in our trip. Mining is one of the main industries of Mongolia and the way its funded and who is ultimately benefiting is a topic that can attract controversies. Nevertheless it has helped the nation with the infrastructure that it badly needs. Recent visitors to the country have informed me that the road conditions have improved vastly in the region and its more easy to travel between towns and villages. I hope the country can strike the right balance between modern development and the way in which the native Kazak and Mongol tribes live.

I am glad that our trip and our humble travelogue managed to give you some heads up on what to expect and you enjoyed your visit

Originally Posted by rav11stars

Thanks to noopster I stumbled upon this thread. I've watched "Lord of the Rings" and now I read and felt how Frodo and Sam must've travelled across all those terrains to reach Mordor.
You guys sounded and felt so much like "us", the average Joes on the first page. But then your spirit, attitude and courage lifted you to another level. There was this old-world thing that says our knowledge increases by reading books. Thanks to you I got to learn and know a lot of things about the world outside.
Take a bow : _/\_

Wow thank you so much rav11stars you are really kind with your words. I agree, along with reading I guess traveling is equally important to improve your knowledge about world and people. Your perception about people cultures and countries will change as you travel, like we did about Russia. We badly wanted to travel through Iran, Azerbaijan and more central Asian countries. Backpacking/ hitchhiking may be the best way to travel around the world to learn about countries and cultures , but a road trip in a car is probably as good.

Originally Posted by noopster

A bunch of friends are planning a Mongolia roadtrip and I stumbled upon this TL doing research. Amazing!

You guys truly lived the dream. Am so tempted to change the title of this thread because for sure you Joes aren't "average" by any stretch of the imagination. And yes- I passed on the link to my friends and now they are hooked as well and can't wait for their own adventure!

Excellent, thank you noopster. As I mentioned before a Mongolian road trip is definitely worth it. When are they doing it ? Or did they already complete it?

Originally Posted by Auswechseln

Hat's off to you people for undertaken such an humongous task.

I was awaiting each and every installment eagerly last year when you were posting this (I wasn't a member then).

During college days it was easier to gather friends together and plan for any trip. But now, after stepping into the professional life, I understand how difficult it is to even meet up let alone plan for such a trip.

I salute your commitment for planning and undertaking such a trip.

Thanks Auswechseln and congrats on getting the membership . I agree it's very easy to gather friends and venture on a road trip during college days. I guess we were lucky to have friends around us for whom the Mongol rally became the most important thing in their life even after becoming professionals. I guess its all about managing priorities, when we were about to do this each of us had to choose between this trip and something else in our life and as you know now what we chose.

Originally Posted by sudeep.pandya

The most difficult part is to have friends who have same passion in common and are committed to it.
I have seen people discussing and planning with utmost enthusiasm but when the implementation part comes, I see them backing out due to personal preference and family pressure. They are just not brave enough to follow their passion (If any)

A journey of this kind needs strong cohesiveness among-st participants. Respect for your team who have the desire and commitment to chase their passion.

Thank you Sudeep. I can't agree more, you definitely need a lot of cohesiveness to sit in the confined space of a 3 door Micra for 40 days. Even
the strongest of the friendships and relationships would be put to test in such a journey. We have had teams who had to part their ways due to disagreements. We too had our own share of disagreements and arguments but we have known each other for so long to take any of it seriously.

All of us gave our families a very glossy picture of the rally when we were preparing by describing it as a posh European - central Asian road trip in the beginning. It was only the day before our departure from Bangalore they came to know all the details of the trip when 'Malayala Manorama' featured an article on our trip in their local edition.

PS:- I am sorry again for not replying on time for many of the comments here. I have now subscribed to the thread so that I can be a bit more diligent in keeping up with the posts.