Exactly seven months ago, we finished the Mongol Rally. Our small and old Lada survived the knee-deep potholes of Turkmenistan, the ultimate test of the Pamir and the river crossings of Mongolia. It was our biggest and best adventure yet, and in just two months of spending time in that little red car, we’ve learned a lot!
Asia is a big, fascinating continent with a lot of interesting cultures, traditions, and people. Most of you heard some crazy things like the fact that you can buy a can of fresh air in China or that people in Thailand eat fried insects. Well, here are ten interesting and fun facts about Asia that you probably haven’t heard before!
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.
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.