While it took us close to four hours to pack her up back in Oxford 58 days prior, it took us about 15 minutes to unload Stevie of all her contents and remove our trusty roof rack so that they could be donated. We had just finished our drive back from Lake Baikal to Ulan-Ude, and we had one final appointment on the rally - sending Stevie back west to what will her be her final resting place in a scrapyard in Estonia. Only the driver was needed to fill out shipping and scrapping paperwork, so Tanner took Stevie for one final spin to the rail yard 30 minutes outside of town while Mike and Joe waited in Ulan-Ude. It was a weird feeling when Tanner returned without our Skoda that had become essentially our home over the past several weeks. Just like that she was gone, and our Rally was finally over. We had reached our final destination, and we had no treacherous drives ahead of us. All that remained was one final Rally get-together at a Ulan-Ude pub before catching our flights.
Saturday marked the second out of three closing ceremony parties the Adventurists (The Mongol Rally organizers) put on for rally teams. Ever since late August, the finish line had been opened for rally teams who were finishing in a staggered fashion. Different teams choose different routes and timelines. Ours was somewhere in the middle of duration - many teams were still crossing into Mongolia; some are still in Tajikistan. If you recall from a previous blog, there are two Norwegians that should be heading north through China still as they just arrived in Bangkok 10 days or so ago. We felt our ending date was appropriately chosen. We got to see several places along the road and, like all teams on the rally, were becoming tiresome of daily 10+ hour days in the car.
Saturday during the day, we lounged about in a western coffee shop that we had frequented each day we had been in Ulan-Ude. The baristas at this point even recalled all of our first names. Simply put, we had done too much sightseeing to be bothered to explore the very-USSR reminiscent town. Joe and Tanner went to the closing party while Mike unfortunately had to hang back as he had to deal with an inconvenient bout of “Turkmen two-step”. The party was at a Karaoke bar outside of the city-center. It was great to meet other ralliers and share stories from the road, but for the most part, all the teams were mentally and physically drained from the journey. On top of that, many of the teams we had become close with over the Pamirs and the Caspian ferry had already finished and headed home. The enthusiasm and eagerness to meet other teams that was hallmark of the start party in Prague and the beach party in Romania had clearly faded. Teams were ready to go home.
Sunday marked the 59th day since we left Oxford. In that time, we crossed into 21 countries, logged over 11,000 miles on the road, spent way too much time together crammed into a Skoda hatchback, consumed our yearly dietary sodium intake in instant ramen dinners, finished four audiobooks, cycled through all of our Spotify playlists countless times, and eventually made it to Mongolia. It was a trip of highs and lows for sure. Anchoring on the Caspian ferry, breaking down in the Pamirs, getting stuck alone in the middle of nowhere Mongolia, driving through Kazakhstan, petty arguments...these were less than fun times. But on the other hand, conquering the Pamir Highway, riding the Transfargasan, exploring Istanbul and Tbilisi, relaxing at Son-Kol, meeting people from all over the world, and driving across the indescribable landscape that is Mongolia made the trip unforgettable. Even though we spent only but a few days in many of these countries, I’ll always have memories of the places by the sights we saw and the people we encountered. The excitement, interest, and hospitality from locals we received along the way will be something I’ll always remember of Central Asia. It’s quite unique to this part of the world, and I don’t think I’ll see it anywhere else. I know many westerners tense up at any country that ends in -Stan, and, political relations aside, the people we encountered in those places were incredible. It’s a shame that many of these countries we visited are such a hassle to get to and likely I’ll never visit again. If I had to choose one to revisit - Kyrgyzstan is on the top of the list (skip Azerbaijan).
As for our car, Stevie was an absolute beast. She suffered no engine problems which saved us four auto-mechanic noobs from ever having to get our hands too dirty. Lastly, we’d like to thank everyone who donated to Ramp Less Traveled. Through your generosity, we have been able to help several prospective college students who have suffered traumatic spinal cord injuries. While the charity can get lost behind the day-to-day of the rally, it’s important to remember that you all really made an impact on people’s lives. Our journey might be over, but not for survivors of these injuries. We ask that you continue to share Ramp Less Traveled’s story. We know we will.
Looking back at the Mongol rally, I know I’ll soon come to miss our days on the road - even the bad ones. For an adventure that we had been planning for over a year and contemplating on for what feels like triple that, it flew by. I’ve come to realize that most of the countries on the rally we visited and people we met along the way I probably will never see again. It’s a sobering thought. Still, the handful of glimpses, stories, and shared experience will always make the trip worth it. Over the next few weeks, we’ll all return home to America to resume the Monday - Friday grind. It will undoubtedly be a bit difficult time adjusting when our daily challenge will no longer be 120 miles of unpaved road.
This will be the last blog from Fleetwood Yak. For those who have followed along - we hoped you enjoyed our tales from the road. Thank you all for all the support along the way. Signing off one last time - Joe, Dan, Mike, and Tanner of Fleetwood Yak.
Team Fleetwood Yak at the start party
Rest easy, Stevie.