As we are writing this, we’re already stuck for more than 12 hours on the Caspian Sea ferry to Turkmenbashi and it hasn’t even left the port yet. Getting from Azerbaijan to Turkmenistan or Kazakhstan isn’t as easy as taking a ferry from Dover to Calais. It takes a lot of patience and time (which you probably don’t have).
One of the rules to participate in the rally is to raise money for charity. Because it’s only fair if you’re going out of your way to see what the world has to offer that you make an effort to give a little something back. Each team should raise £1000, with at least £500 raised for the Rallies official charity Cool Earth. The other charity is one of our own choice. Therefor, we’ve chosen the awesome charity ‘Plan’ and especially ‘Plan Belgium’.
So what do these charities do?
It is not so easy to visit a country like Turkmenistan. You better not apply for a tourist visa unless you want to book an expensive guide for your whole visit. It’s much better (and easier) to get a transit visa. However, the problem is that this visa is issued for only 5 days. So you don’t have much time to explore the country, especially when you’re backpacking or cycling across Turkmenistan. The country is very different from anything else. The government is in control of everything and they make sure that you don’t do things they don’t want you to do. Random police checks can happen everywhere, and in Ashgabat, the military is on every street corner to watch every step you take. That’s why Turkmenistan is the seventh least visited country in the world, receiving only 7,000 visitors per year. And we were one of them!
Entering Kyrgyzstan went pretty easy. Most European nationalities don’t need a visa if they intend to stay less than two months. The border guards of Kyrgyzstan were super friendly. They stamped our passport, we paid for the car insurance and gave them a sticker to put on their locker. They checked the car very briefly and wished us good luck for the rest of the Mongol Rally.
A few weeks ago, there were some problems at the Mongolian border. Because a lot of teams from the previous years have left their broken cars somewhere in Mongolia, all the Mongol Rally teams now had to pay a $6000 deposit upon entering Mongolia. This deposit was for the Mongol Rally teams only. The authorities managed to suspend this rule just a week before we entered, but the organization warned us that we needed to be very friendly and patient because they would otherwise reintroduce the rule.
From the bustling city to the calmness of the countryside in just two hours of traveling. The diversity in its geographical landscapes, the great (and sometimes bizarre) food and the culture of China appealed us already for a long time. Traveling through this country first looked difficult because of the language barrier, the extreme difference in culture and the overpopulation. But it was a great experience! It became our starting point for our travels around Asia because it was the perfect way to indulge ourselves in the Asian cultures and their way of life. When we arrived in Hong Kong and started planning our itinerary, we didn’t found any useful information online on what to choose as our next destination with Hong Kong as our starting point. That’s why we want to share our one month itinerary with you, so you can get to see some of the coolest things that China has to offer!
When we were in Sapa, with an almost expired visa, we had to go into Laos so we wouldn’t overstay our visa. We hesitated a lot what the best option could be, but knowing that we’re on a budget, we opted to take the bus journey to Muang Khua in Laos. There are a lot of horror stories about the bus ride on the internet that scared us. But it seems that a lot of them are outdated. Here you’ll find our thoughts and up-to-date facts about this 24-hour journey.