The Red Bulletin May 2020 (UK)

TAKE 5
Running on fumes
Mongol Rally racer Alicia Schneider on how to survive the world’s craziest road trip
The Mongol Rally is not your
usual race. Billed as “motoring
stupidity on a global scale”,
this intercontinental car rally
starts in Europe – this year
Hampshire in England, but
formerly in the Czech Republic
– and ends in Ulan-Ude in east
Siberia, but has no set route
and no trackside assistance.
What’s more, the teams have
only one goal: to complete it in
less than two months; and they
can only enter with what the
organisers describe as “really
rubbish cars” of up to 1000cc,
all but guaranteeing they’ll
break down at least once.
Last year, Alicia Schneider,
Racheli Aye and Anida Korn
of the Tel Aviv-based Little
Missadventurists team took on
the 10,000-mile (16,000km)
drive, travelling in a battered
Fiat Panda. “We bought the car
in Israel and had to ship it to
Europe,” says Schneider. “We
took it to a mechanic every
weekend leading up to the rally
and tried to learn as much as
we could about fixing cars.”
Teams sign up with one car
and journey independently, but
joining up with other drivers for
sections of the ride is a Mongol
Rally tradition. “The first couple
of nights in the mountains, we
had big convoys of around 10
cars camping together,” says
Schneider. “We had a big fire
going and cooked food; people
brought loads of alcohol.
“People mistakenly think it’s
a race and you have to finish
there quickly, but that’s the
opposite of what [the rally’s
organisers] want. You’re in
these beautiful mountain
ranges in some of the most
remote parts of the world
with these junk cars. You have
to take a moment and go,
‘Wow, this is incredible.’”
The Little
Missadventurists’
five-point guide
to tackling the
Mongol Rally…
1. Learn as
much as you can
about car repair
before leaving
It’s nice to know
why your car
is making that
weird sound or
isn’t starting.
2. Do your
research in
advance, but don’t
plan too much
The moment you
begin, your plans
will go out the
window anyway.
3. The food is
terrible – take
as much as you
can with you
We loaded up
plenty of tins of
tuna and packets
of rice and pasta.
4. Keep an
open mind
You’re already on
a crazy road trip,
so allow yourself to
do things that are
a little unexpected.
5. Take a lot of
baby wipes
You’ll go through
them fast. There will
be days on end when
you can’t shower.
littlemiss
adventurists.com;
theadventurists.com
ALICIA SCHNEIDER LOU BOYD
24 THE RED BULLETIN