ROMANIANS AT MONGOL RALLY En route to Ulan Bator: 36 hours of driving, Georgian music and lunch in a yurt

The two teams that left Romania in the Mongol Rally - Mamaliga (Polenta) Warriors and Dracula Khan - this weekend reached Turkmenistan and Kyrgyzstan, respectively, and their journey included a visit to a body shop in Georgia, meeting other teams in the rally, continual driving to the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan for 36 hours and a lunch served in a yurt.

Photo credit (c): Foto: Dracula Khan / Facebook

After in late July they reached the Asian part of Turkey, Team Mamaliga Warriors started August with a journey of about 400 km to the seaside. Crossing Georgia meant meeting two more teams competing in the Mongol Rally — one from South Africa and one from Denmark — setting up camp on the seaside and attending a session of Georgian music. Also in Georgia, Mamaliga Warriors' car had to take a trip to a repair shop for small adjustments.

Post by Mamaliga Warriors.

From Georgia, the Moldovan team drove to Azerbaijan, than to Turkmenistan, after a five-hour wait to get through customs. At the border, they met 15 other teams of the rally. The Mamaliga Warriors's route continues through Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Russia (a great deal of Siberia) and ends in Mongolia's capital city Ulan Bator. After reaching the finish line, the team will return to Romania on August 29 by plane, while their car will be shipped back to Romania this autumn.

Mamaliga Warriors is made up of four Moldovans — Mihai Focsa, Oleg Gnilenco, Radu Pozneac and Igor Cepoi — that drive to Ulan Bator for charity purposes.

In great outlines, the journey of Mamaliga Warriors entails some 16,000 kilometres, three mountains, two continents, a huge desert, in six weeks, as well as 20 songs that will...