Mongol Saga Episode IX – By the Numbers, and a Little Food Poisoning

Teammate Ryan enjoys some food hot off the grill at the Mongol Rally launch in Goodwood, England. Photo by Will Parson.

The good news is, we made it. I hate to leave it at that for now, but here we are, Team Great Job! is in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia!

The (not-so-bad-considering) news is, all four members of Team Great Job! suffered simultaneous symptoms of food poisoning several days after arriving in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, leaving us writhing in bed with waking dreams of coming home to delicious American barbeques on Labor Day.

Our two-month adventure has been a trial of endurance or a feat of patience and determination.  However, a three-day bout with traveller’s diarrhea I conquered just a day ago has nonetheless destroyed my eagerness to compile my notes, transfer files, edit photos and whip up some spiffy media from the far side of the world.  There is a massive gap in this travel saga, but I will continue to blog about my time in Mongolia when I return to the States!

But still, here I am and here are some notable numbers to give some cold, hard scale to my and Team Great Job’s adventures over the last two months. 

• Distance traveled: 9,238 miles (14,781 kilometers)
• Gasoline consumed: 259 gallons (979 liters)
• Days traveling: 60
• Nights sleeping in a hotel or hostel: 14
• Countries visited: 11
• Photos taken: ~11,000
• Failed attempts to enter Russia: 2
• New car registrations: 3
• Hours spent at a Russian border: 40+
• Days traveling on nothing but dirt roads in Mongolia: 6
• Flat tires: 2
• Rivers forded: 2
• Value of car on outset (Dusseldorf, Germany): $1400
• Value of car on completion (Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia): $3,000
• Mongolian import tax for a 1.0 liter vehicle older than 10 years: $2,000 (LAME, but at least there’s enough value left over for Mercy Corps)
• Price of large bowl of buuz (goat or sheep dumpling) soup in Ulaanbaatar: 2200 tugrik ($1.57)
• Price of two tickets to see G.I. Joe at the Tengis Theater in Ulaanbaatar, the only multi-screen cinema in Mongolia: 5,000 tugrik ($3.57)
• Days spent vomiting or diarrhea-ing or waiting to vomit or diarrhea: 3
• Trips to the bathroom over those three days:  Infinity x4
• Weight I think I lost: 10 pounds

I had some more buuz earlier and am feeling fine.  Some interesting hand gestures were used to describe our symptoms but it got us the right meds at the Mongolian pharmacy.  I’ll see you all in sunny San Diego 48 hours from now!

But still, here I am and here are some notable numbers to give some cold, hard scale to my and Team Great Job's adventures over the last two months.