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<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en-GB">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8" />
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" />
<title>Team Pandrover · The Mongol Rally</title>
<meta name="description" content="The life of a £300 Fiat Panda: three Mongol Rallies, 23,000 km, from Oxford to Almaty by way of Britain, Georgia and the Pamir Highway." />
<meta name="theme-color" content="#eb2020" />
<meta property="og:title" content="Team Pandrover · Oxford to Almaty" />
<meta property="og:description" content="23,000 km. Three rallies. One £300 Fiat Panda that very nearly didn't." />
<meta property="og:image" content="https://pandrover.com/website/media/2024/og.jpg" />
<meta property="og:type" content="website" />
<link rel="shortcut icon" href="website/icons/favicon.ico" />
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com" />
<link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin />
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<link rel="stylesheet" href="website/style.css" />
</head>
<body>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- Hero -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<header class="hero">
<div class="hero-copy">
<div class="hero-top">
<img class="hero-logo" src="website/media/pandrover_logo.png" alt="Team Pandrover" width="1000" height="500" />
<span class="label">Mongol Rally 2021 · 2022 · 2024</span>
</div>
<h1 class="hero-title">
<span>Oxford</span>
<span class="paper">to</span>
<span>Almaty</span>
</h1>
<div class="hero-bottom">
<p class="hero-tagline">23,000 km. Three rallies. One £300 Fiat Panda that very nearly didn't.</p>
<span class="hero-plate">2008 · CK58 VLR</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="hero-photo">
<img src="website/media/2024/p6.jpg" srcset="website/media/2024/p6-sm.jpg 900w, website/media/2024/p6.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 100vw, 50vw" alt="The Panda, roof rack loaded, driving up a road towards snow-capped mountains on the Pamir Highway" fetchpriority="high" />
<span class="sticker">Pamir Highway, 26 Aug 24</span>
</div>
</header>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- The story -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<section class="band band-black story">
<div class="wrap grid-2">
<div class="tally">
<span>3 rallies</span>
<span class="red">1 wrong car</span>
<span>Never stopped*</span>
<span class="marker muted">* apart from all the times it stopped</span>
</div>
<div class="prose">
<p>I'm Callum Morrison, a robotics engineer from Oxford. In July 2020 I paid £300 for a 1.2-litre Fiat Panda with the vague idea of driving it to Mongolia. Over the next four years my mates and I entered the Mongol Rally in it three times: a lap of Britain when COVID shut the borders, a 12,000 km run to Georgia when the war did, and finally, in the summer of 2024, the real thing.</p>
<p>Alberto Guerra Martinuzzi and I drove it 10,000 km from England to Almaty. We didn't reach the official finish. The Panda was limping, three spare wheels down, the wiring shredded, and Almaty was as far as it would go. We gave it to a museum. This page is what it did.</p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- Odometer: the whole life of the car -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<section class="odo" id="odometer">
<div class="odo-pin">
<div class="wrap odo-head">
<div class="odo-counter">
<span class="odo-km" id="odo-km">0</span>
<span class="odo-unit">km</span>
</div>
<div class="odo-where">
<span class="odo-rally" id="odo-rally">Before the rallies</span>
<span class="odo-place" id="odo-place">Oxford</span>
<span class="odo-date" id="odo-date">21 July 2020</span>
</div>
</div>
<div class="odo-viewport">
<div class="odo-track" id="odo-track">
<svg class="odo-route" id="odo-route" aria-hidden="true">
<path id="odo-route-bg" fill="none" stroke-width="8" stroke-linecap="round"></path>
<path id="odo-route-fg" fill="none" stroke-width="8" stroke-linecap="round"></path>
<g id="odo-dots"></g>
</svg>
<article class="card card-text card-start" data-km="0" data-place="Oxford" data-date="21 July 2020" data-rally="Before the rallies">
<span class="card-big">£300</span>
<span class="card-small">One Fiat Panda, 1.2 litres, sixty-odd horsepower on a good day.</span>
</article>
<article class="card card-text card-rally" data-km="0" data-place="Oxford" data-date="26 August 2021" data-rally="Rally one · Poles of Inconvenience 2021">
<span class="card-label">Rally one</span>
<span class="card-big card-big-sm">Poles of Inconvenience</span>
<span class="card-small">26 to 31 August 2021. Six days around Britain, because the borders were shut.</span>
</article>
<figure class="card" data-km="600" data-place="Cumbria" data-rally="Rally one · Poles of Inconvenience 2021" data-date="28 August 2021">
<img src="website/media/photos/20210828-1552-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20210828-1552-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20210828-1552.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda stuck in sand dunes, one person digging" />
<figcaption><b>2021 · Sandscale Haws</b><span>First time it got properly stuck. Not the last.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="card" data-km="700" data-place="Lake District" data-rally="Rally one · Poles of Inconvenience 2021" data-date="28 August 2021">
<img src="website/media/photos/20210828-2043-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20210828-2043-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20210828-2043.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="Two cars camped at dusk with mountains behind" />
<figcaption><b>2021 · Lake District</b><span>Camp at dusk on the way to Edinburgh.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<article class="card card-text card-rally" data-km="1500" data-place="Oxford" data-date="11 July 2022" data-rally="Rally two · Poles of Inconvenience 2022">
<span class="card-label">Rally two</span>
<span class="card-big card-big-sm">Georgia and back</span>
<span class="card-small">11 July to 29 August 2022. The road to Mongolia was shut, so the finish moved to Tbilisi. Still Poles of Inconvenience, still 12,000 km.</span>
</article>
<figure class="card" data-km="4000" data-place="Transfăgărășan" data-rally="Rally two · Poles of Inconvenience 2022" data-date="25 July 2022">
<img src="website/media/photos/20220725-1259-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20220725-1259-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20220725-1259.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda parked on a mountain road in Romania" />
<figcaption><b>2022 · Romania</b><span>The Transfăgărășan. Where the head gasket went. We drove another 6,000 km on it.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="card" data-km="5200" data-place="Istanbul" data-rally="Rally two · Poles of Inconvenience 2022" data-date="30 July 2022">
<img src="website/media/photos/20220730-1744-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20220730-1744-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20220730-1744.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda with its bonnet up in a car park" />
<figcaption><b>2022 · Istanbul</b><span>Another car park, another conference about the engine.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="card" data-km="6300" data-place="Trabzon" data-rally="Rally two · Poles of Inconvenience 2022" data-date="1 August 2022">
<img src="website/media/photos/20220801-1857-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20220801-1857-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20220801-1857.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="Two cars on a misty mountain road" />
<figcaption><b>2022 · Black Sea mountains</b><span>Into the cloud above Trabzon, Georgia next.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="card" data-km="10500" data-place="Croatia" data-rally="Rally two · Poles of Inconvenience 2022" data-date="13 August 2022">
<img src="website/media/photos/20220813-2003-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20220813-2003-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20220813-2003.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda on a gravel track at dusk" />
<figcaption><b>2022 · Croatia</b><span>The long way home from Tbilisi.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<article class="card card-text card-rally" data-km="13500" data-place="Oxford" data-date="8 July 2024" data-rally="Rally three · The Mongol Rally 2024">
<span class="card-label">Rally three</span>
<span class="card-big card-big-sm">The Mongol Rally</span>
<span class="card-small">8 July to 4 September 2024. Two years, an engine rebuild and a bigger plan later: the real thing.</span>
</article>
<figure class="card" data-km="17000" data-place="Cappadocia" data-rally="Rally three · The Mongol Rally 2024" data-date="22 July 2024">
<img src="website/media/photos/20240722-0430-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20240722-0430-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20240722-0430.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="Hot air balloons over a camp at dawn" />
<figcaption><b>2024 · Cappadocia</b><span>Up at four to watch the balloons.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="card" data-km="18600" data-place="The Caspian" data-rally="Rally three · The Mongol Rally 2024" data-date="9 August 2024">
<img src="website/media/photos/20240809-1421-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20240809-1421-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20240809-1421.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="A group of rally teams on the deck of a ferry" />
<figcaption><b>2024 · The Caspian ferry</b><span>Four days waiting for the wind to drop.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="card" data-km="19300" data-place="Western Kazakhstan" data-rally="Rally three · The Mongol Rally 2024" data-date="14 August 2024">
<img src="website/media/2024/p1-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/2024/p1-sm.jpg 900w, website/media/2024/p1.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda alone on the open steppe under a sky full of clouds" />
<figcaption><b>2024 · Mangystau</b><span>The desert that looks like another planet.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="card" data-km="19700" data-place="Uzbekistan" data-rally="Rally three · The Mongol Rally 2024" data-date="16 August 2024">
<img src="website/media/2024/p2-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/2024/p2-sm.jpg 900w, website/media/2024/p2.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda parked under the wing of an abandoned airliner in the desert" />
<figcaption><b>2024 · Uzbekistan</b><span>Abandoned aircraft rusting in the desert.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="card" data-km="22000" data-place="Wakhan Valley" data-rally="Rally three · The Mongol Rally 2024" data-date="26 August 2024">
<img src="website/media/photos/20240826-0924-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20240826-0924-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20240826-0924.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="A car crossing a rickety bridge over a rushing glacial river" />
<figcaption><b>2024 · Tajikistan</b><span>The sketchy bridge over the glacial river.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="card" data-km="22300" data-place="Pamir Highway" data-rally="Rally three · The Mongol Rally 2024" data-date="26 August 2024">
<img src="website/media/photos/20240826-1436-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20240826-1436-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20240826-1436.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda on a tow rope behind another rally car at 4,000 metres" />
<figcaption><b>2024 · 4,000 m</b><span>On the rope. Out here everyone tows everyone.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<figure class="card" data-km="22600" data-place="Pamir Highway" data-rally="Rally three · The Mongol Rally 2024" data-date="28 August 2024">
<img src="website/media/photos/20240828-1007-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20240828-1007-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20240828-1007.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 90vw, 360px" loading="lazy" alt="View through the windscreen of a dust road stretching across an empty high plateau" />
<figcaption><b>2024 · Pamir Highway</b><span>Nothing but dust and distance. Days of it.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<article class="card card-text card-end" data-km="23500" data-place="Almaty" data-rally="Rally three · The Mongol Rally 2024" data-date="4 September 2024">
<span class="card-big">Almaty</span>
<span class="card-small">No spares left. Engine off.</span>
</article>
</div>
</div>
<p class="odo-hint wrap">Scroll to drive</p>
</div>
</section>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- Chapter: 2020 -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<section class="chapter" id="c2020">
<div class="wrap">
<header class="chapter-head">
<span class="chapter-year">2020</span>
<div class="chapter-title">
<h2>Bought</h2>
<p class="chapter-meta">21 July 2020 · Abingdon · £300</p>
</div>
</header>
<div class="chapter-body">
<div class="prose">
<p>A 2008 Fiat Panda 1.2 with a small engine, a high roof and no obvious reason to think it could cross a continent. The Mongol Rally rules ask for something unsuitable. This was.</p>
</div>
<div class="gallery gallery-1">
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20200721-1503-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20200721-1503-sm.jpg 800w, website/media/photos/20200721-1503.jpg 1600w" sizes="(max-width: 899px) 100vw, 40vw" loading="lazy" alt="Callum standing on the roof of the newly bought Panda, arms raised" /><figcaption>21 July 2020. Driven home and immediately stood on.</figcaption></figure>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- Chapter: 2021 -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<section class="chapter chapter-alt" id="c2021">
<div class="wrap">
<header class="chapter-head">
<span class="chapter-year">2021</span>
<div class="chapter-title">
<h2>Poles of Inconvenience</h2>
<p class="chapter-meta">26 to 31 August 2021 · 6 days · 1,500 km · England, Wales, Scotland</p>
</div>
</header>
<div class="chapter-body">
<div class="chapter-map chapter-map-tall">
<img src="website/media/maps/route-2021.svg" alt="Route map: a loop from Oxford through Wales, Cumbria and Edinburgh" loading="lazy" />
</div>
<div class="prose">
<p>COVID scuppered the full-fat rally in 2021, so the organisers ran a scaled-down version inside the United Kingdom instead: a list of awkward, out-of-the-way places, and a week to reach as many as you could. We went west into Wales, north through Cumbria, on to Edinburgh, and home in one long day.</p>
<p>Along the way we found out what the Panda was for. Not speed. Not hills. But it would go almost anywhere, and when it wouldn't, it was light enough to dig out.</p>
</div>
<div class="gallery gallery-3">
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20210827-1109-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda with its doors open on a grassy track in the hills" /><figcaption>27 August, Wales. Doors open, nobody about.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wide"><img src="website/media/photos/20210828-1552-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda stuck in sand dunes, one person digging" /><figcaption>28 August, Sandscale Haws, Cumbria. The first proper stuck.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wide"><img src="website/media/photos/20210828-2043-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Two cars camped at dusk with mountains behind" /><figcaption>28 August. Camp in the Lake District.</figcaption></figure>
</div>
<div class="video">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/w1D9OU9xMWM" title="Team Pandrover · Poles of Inconvenience 2021 film" loading="lazy" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
<p class="caption">Will it survive? The 2021 film.</p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- Chapter: 2022 -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<section class="chapter" id="c2022">
<div class="wrap">
<header class="chapter-head">
<span class="chapter-year">2022</span>
<div class="chapter-title">
<h2>Georgia and back</h2>
<p class="chapter-meta">11 July to 29 August 2022 · 7 weeks · 12,000 km · 15 countries</p>
</div>
</header>
<div class="chapter-body">
<div class="chapter-map">
<img src="website/media/maps/route-2022.svg" alt="Route map: Oxford east through central Europe, Romania and Turkey to Tbilisi, and back through Greece, Croatia, Italy and France" loading="lazy" />
</div>
<div class="prose">
<p>The war in Ukraine closed the road to Mongolia, so the finish line moved to Georgia. We left Oxford on 11 July with a fresh set of stickers and a roof rack, and took the slow road east: Belgium, the Eifel, Jena, Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and up into Romania for the Transfăgărășan, where the head gasket blew. We didn't know that yet. We just knew the engine kept overheating, and kept blowing its core plug, and we drove it another 6,000 km like that.</p>
<p>Bulgaria, then Istanbul on 29 July, then the Black Sea coast to Trabzon and over the mountains into Georgia. We reached Tbilisi on 5 August, had three days there, and then did the bit nobody plans for: driving it all the way home. Greece, Croatia, the Dolomites, a week's recovery at Chamonix, Luxembourg, and back on the drive on 29 August. Twelve thousand kilometres, round trip.</p>
</div>
<div class="gallery gallery-3">
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220706-1826-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda on a driveway with its front bumper removed" /><figcaption>6 July. Prep on the drive, bumper off, five days to go.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220714-2105-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda at sunset in a car park" /><figcaption>14 July, the Eifel, Germany.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220718-1151-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda stopped on a motorway hard shoulder with people beside it" /><figcaption>18 July, an Austrian hard shoulder.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220719-1407-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda parked outside a house with the roof loaded" /><figcaption>19 July, Hungary.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220719-1652-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Close-up of the engine with the cambelt cover removed" /><figcaption>19 July, Hungary. Cambelt cover off, roadside.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220725-1259-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda parked on a mountain road in Romania" /><figcaption>25 July, the Transfăgărășan. The head gasket blew somewhere up here. We fixed it 6,000 km later.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220725-1837-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda with its bonnet up at the roadside" /><figcaption>25 July, Romania. Bonnet up again.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220730-1744-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda with its bonnet up in a car park" /><figcaption>30 July, Istanbul. Another car park, another conference about the engine.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220731-1159-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Unpacking the boot beside a forest road" /><figcaption>31 July, Black Sea coast. Repacking everything, again.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220801-1857-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Two cars on a misty mountain road" /><figcaption>1 August, the mountains above Trabzon.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220803-2019-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Cooking from the open boot on a beach at sunset" /><figcaption>3 August, Black Sea beach. Dinner from the boot.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220812-1314-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda on a road cut through red rock" /><figcaption>12 August, northern Greece. The long way home.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20220813-2003-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda on a gravel track at dusk" /><figcaption>13 August, Croatia, dusk.</figcaption></figure>
</div>
<div class="video">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/8AQ5q1symf4" title="Team Pandrover · Mongol Rally 2022 film" loading="lazy" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
<p class="caption">A 21st Century Expedition. The 2022 film.</p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- Chapter: 2024 -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<section class="chapter chapter-alt" id="c2024">
<div class="wrap">
<header class="chapter-head">
<span class="chapter-year">2024</span>
<div class="chapter-title">
<h2>Oxford to Almaty</h2>
<p class="chapter-meta">8 July to 4 September 2024 · 8 weeks · 10,000 km · 14 countries</p>
</div>
</header>
<div class="chapter-body">
<div class="chapter-map chapter-map-wide">
<img src="website/media/maps/route-2024.svg" alt="Route map: Oxford through Europe and Turkey to Georgia and Baku, across the Caspian to Kazakhstan, through Uzbekistan and the Pamir Highway to Kyrgyzstan and Almaty" loading="lazy" />
</div>
<div class="prose">
<p>The spring was spent making the car less likely to die: it came home on a tow rope in April, the head came off in May, and it was rebuilt on a driveway in time to leave on 8 July. Jack couldn't come this time, so it was Alberto and me.</p>
<p>Europe went quickly, Prague, the Alps, Croatia, Greece, then Istanbul on 19 July and the slow, hot crossing of Turkey: Cappadocia at 4am for the balloons, the D915 over the mountains, and Georgia. In Tbilisi we waited a week for paperwork, then flew to Baku while the cars went on without us, and waited again: first for the cars, then for the ferry, then four days on the ferry for the wind to drop. Kazakhstan finally came on 10 August.</p>
<p>Then Central Asia. The Mangystau desert, the Silk Road towns of Uzbekistan, Dushanbe, and the Pamir Highway along the Afghan border at 4,600 m, where the lower control arm gave up and a Tajik family welded it back together and put us up for the night. Into Kyrgyzstan on 28 August, Bishkek by 1 September, and on 4 September, with the last flat spare on the hub and every warning light lit, we rolled into Almaty at walking pace and turned it off.</p>
</div>
<h3 class="gallery-title">Spring. Making it worse before making it better.</h3>
<div class="gallery gallery-4">
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240428-1658-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda on a tow rope behind a van" /><figcaption>28 April. Home on a rope. Ten weeks to go.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240430-1023-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda in a car park with the front end stripped" /><figcaption>30 April. Front end off.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240510-1236-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The engine block with the cylinder head removed" /><figcaption>10 May. Head off, block open, rebuilt on the drive.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240706-1141-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda loaded with roof rack and spare wheels, ready to leave" /><figcaption>6 July. Loaded and, somehow, ready.</figcaption></figure>
</div>
<h3 class="gallery-title">Turkey, Georgia and the long wait for the Caspian.</h3>
<div class="gallery gallery-3">
<figure class="wide"><img src="website/media/photos/20240720-1744-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="A group of rally drivers at a fuel station" /><figcaption>20 July, Turkey. Back at the garage that fixed us for nothing in 2022. We brought Scottish shortbread to say thank you, and left needing new lug nuts.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240721-1800-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda among the rock formations of Cappadocia" /><figcaption>21 July, Cappadocia.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240722-0430-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Hot air balloons over a camp at dawn" /><figcaption>22 July, 4am. Balloons over the camp.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wide"><img src="website/media/photos/20240730-1012-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Aerial view of hairpin bends on a mountain road" /><figcaption>The D915 from the drone. One of the most dangerous roads in the world, and one of the most beautiful.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wide"><img src="website/media/photos/20240805-1620-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="People standing on car roofs at sunset" /><figcaption>5 August, Baku. Cars back at last, after weeks of paperwork.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wide"><img src="website/media/photos/20240809-1421-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="A group of rally teams on the deck of a ferry" /><figcaption>9 August, the Caspian ferry. Four days waiting for the wind.</figcaption></figure>
</div>
<h3 class="gallery-title">Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan.</h3>
<div class="gallery gallery-3">
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240811-1726-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The car and roof tent silhouetted at dusk" /><figcaption>11 August, Aktau. First night in Kazakhstan, next to what we later learned was a nuclear waste dump.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240812-1524-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Two cars in sand dunes" /><figcaption>12 August, Mangystau.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240814-0642-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="A hammock strung between two cars at dawn" /><figcaption>14 August, dawn. A hammock between the cars.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240814-0920-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda alone on the open steppe under a sky full of clouds" /><figcaption>14 August, western Kazakhstan. The bones of the earth.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wide"><img src="website/media/photos/20240814-1159-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Aerial view of a car on a track through desert canyons" /><figcaption>14 August, Mangystau canyons from the drone.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240815-0715-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Callum jumping in the air in the desert" /><figcaption>15 August, near Beyneu. Morale still high.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240816-0959-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda parked under the wing of an abandoned airliner" /><figcaption>16 August, Uzbekistan. Abandoned aircraft near Khiva.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240820-1433-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Two cars beneath an industrial gantry at sunset" /><figcaption>20 August, into Tajikistan.</figcaption></figure>
</div>
<h3 class="gallery-title">The Pamir Highway.</h3>
<div class="gallery gallery-3">
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240822-1441-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda driving fast along a mountain road" /><figcaption>22 August, Pamir Highway.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240823-1417-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Two cars parked by water with mountains behind at dusk" /><figcaption>23 August, the Panj valley. Afghanistan across the river.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240824-0903-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda stopped at the roadside in dry hills, doors open" /><figcaption>24 August. Roadside again. The control arm had gone.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240826-0430-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Camp among poplar trees at dawn" /><figcaption>26 August, dawn. The front garden of the Tajik family who welded the control arm for nothing, then fed us, put us up and fed us again, with no shared language at all.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240826-0924-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="A car crossing a rickety bridge over a glacial river" /><figcaption>26 August. The sketchy bridge.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240826-1248-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda driving towards snow-capped mountains" /><figcaption>26 August. Still going.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240826-1255-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="View through the windscreen of someone lying under the car" /><figcaption>26 August, through the windscreen.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240826-1321-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The side of the Panda covered in stickers against a blue sky" /><figcaption>26 August. Every sticker earned.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240826-1333-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="People sitting on a car roof against the sun" /><figcaption>26 August. On the roof at 4,000 m.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240826-1436-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="The Panda on a tow rope behind another rally car" /><figcaption>26 August. On the rope.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240826-1441-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="View through the windscreen of people pushing" /><figcaption>26 August, from the passenger seat.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240827-1139-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Black and white portrait of a man standing on a high plateau road" /><figcaption>27 August, Murghab, 3,600 m.</figcaption></figure>
</div>
<h3 class="gallery-title">Kyrgyzstan, and the end.</h3>
<div class="gallery gallery-3">
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240828-1007-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="View through the windscreen of a dusty mountain road" /><figcaption>28 August, the road down into Kyrgyzstan.</figcaption></figure>
<figure class="wide"><img src="website/media/photos/20240828-1414-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Five people in golden grass with mountains behind" /><figcaption>28 August, Kyrgyzstan. The convoy.</figcaption></figure>
<figure><img src="website/media/photos/20240829-1120-sm.jpg" loading="lazy" alt="Two people sitting on the roof with water bottles" /><figcaption>29 August, Osh. Restocking.</figcaption></figure>
</div>
<figure class="feature feature-pair">
<div class="feature-images">
<img src="website/media/photos/20240903-1818-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20240903-1818-sm.jpg 600w, website/media/photos/20240903-1818.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 520px) 100vw, (max-width: 899px) 50vw, 490px" loading="lazy" alt="Black and white close-up of the car's bodywork covered in signatures and stickers" />
<img src="website/media/photos/20240903-1818b-sm.jpg" srcset="website/media/photos/20240903-1818b-sm.jpg 600w, website/media/photos/20240903-1818b.jpg 1200w" sizes="(max-width: 520px) 100vw, (max-width: 899px) 50vw, 490px" loading="lazy" alt="The car's bonnet at night covered in signatures, with a pandrover.com sticker and a goodbye message signed Callum, Alberto and Jack" />
</div>
<figcaption>3 September, Almaty. Signed by everyone we met: the Europeans who gave us food and water, the policemen in Georgia, the border guards with AK-47s in Kazakhstan.</figcaption>
</figure>
<div class="video">
<iframe src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XpphyQLKo2g" title="10,000km from England to Kazakhstan | A Mongol Rally 2024 Film" loading="lazy" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
</div>
<p class="caption">10,000km from England to Kazakhstan. The 2024 film, 33 minutes.</p>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- What broke -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<section class="band band-red broke">
<div class="wrap grid-2">
<div>
<h2>What broke</h2>
<p class="lede">A running tally, in order. The car did its best to stop us and very nearly managed it.</p>
</div>
<ol class="broke-list">
<li><span class="what">Traction</span><p>Sandscale Haws, August 2021. Buried to the axles in a sand dune. Dug out by hand.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">Head gasket</span><p>The Transfăgărășan, July 2022. Blew it on the pass and drove another 6,000 km before we found out.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">Core plug</span><p>Romania to Georgia and back, 2022. The overheating engine kept popping it. Replaced three times on the rally, and it held us up every time.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">The engine, again</span><p>Oxford, April 2024. Came home behind a van on a tow rope. Head off, block open, rebuilt on the driveway with ten weeks to go.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">Lug nuts</span><p>Istanbul, July 2024. Two rattling loose, wheel nearly off. Fixed by the same garage as 2022.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">Oil, fuel, sensors</span><p>Everywhere, 2024. The oil leak that never stopped. Running rich. The camshaft sensor cable fraying.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">Exhaust</span><p>Uzbekistan, 6am, August 2024. Smashed on an unfinished highway after an all-night drive.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">Brake pads</span><p>Kazakhstan, August 2024. None anywhere in the country. A local mechanic made some work.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">Lower control arm</span><p>Pamir Highway, 24 August 2024. Failed on the track. Welded by a Tajik father who then put us up for the night.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">Sump</span><p>Kyrgyzstan, August 2024. Smashed, oil pressure dropping, engine on borrowed time.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">Tyres</span><p>200 km from Almaty, September 2024. Third one blows. No spares left. The patched one won't hold air, then the wheel implodes.</p></li>
<li><span class="what">The wheel</span><p>18 km from Almaty. Leaves the hub at a highway junction, three lanes blocked. Final flat spare on, walking pace to 0 km.</p></li>
</ol>
</div>
</section>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- Afterwards -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<section class="chapter" id="after">
<div class="wrap">
<header class="chapter-head">
<span class="chapter-year">NOW</span>
<div class="chapter-title">
<h2>Afterwards</h2>
<p class="chapter-meta">Almaty to Öskemen, on a lorry · September 2024 onwards</p>
</div>
</header>
<div class="chapter-body">
<div class="prose prose-wide">
<p>It wasn't coming home. With no spare wheels, a shredded loom and an engine that had been on borrowed time since Kyrgyzstan, we donated the Panda in Almaty to a museum in Öskemen, the rally's official finish. They put it on the back of a lorry, supposedly, and drove it the last 1,000 km we couldn't. We have no real idea where it ended up. Hopefully on display, for the world (of East Kazakhstan) to witness.</p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
</section>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- Fundraising -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<section class="band band-black raised">
<div class="wrap grid-2">
<div>
<h2>What we raised</h2>
<p class="lede">Both pages are closed now. Thank you to everyone who chipped in.</p>
</div>
<ul class="raised-list">
<li>
<span class="amount">£215.91</span>
<span class="for"><b>Cool Earth</b> · Mongol Rally 2024 · 17 donations</span>
<a href="https://www.justgiving.com/page/pandrover">JustGiving page</a>
</li>
<li>
<span class="amount">£610.45</span>
<span class="for"><b>DEC Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal</b> · Mongol Rally 2022 · 20 donations</span>
<a href="https://www.justgiving.com/fundraising/pandrover">JustGiving page</a>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
</section>
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<!-- Instagram -->
<!-- ============================================================ -->
<section class="band insta">
<div class="wrap">
<div class="section-head">
<h2>The photos we posted</h2>
<a class="tag tag-link" href="https://www.instagram.com/teampandrover/">@teampandrover</a>
</div>
<div class="insta-grid">
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C_SOc18owiD/" data-instgrm-version="14"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C_SOc18owiD/">View this post on Instagram</a></blockquote>
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<!-- Sponsors -->
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<section class="band sponsors">
<div class="wrap">
<div class="section-head">
<h2>Thank you to our sponsors</h2>
<span class="tag">They got us a long way</span>
</div>
<ul class="sponsor-grid">
<li><a href="https://unmnd.com/"><img src="website/media/unmnd_logo.png" alt="unmnd" loading="lazy" /></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.facebook.com/HadleyServicesLtd/"><img src="website/media/hadley_logo.png" alt="Hadley Services" loading="lazy" /></a></li>
<li><a href="https://fourby.co.uk/"><img src="website/media/fourby_logo.png" alt="Fourby" loading="lazy" /></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.knightengineservices.co.uk/"><img src="website/media/knight_logo.png" alt="Knight Engine Services" loading="lazy" /></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.dronevolution.co.uk/"><img src="website/media/drone_evolution_logo.png" alt="Drone Evolution" loading="lazy" /></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.mpdonline.co.uk/"><img src="website/media/mpd_logo.png" alt="MPD" loading="lazy" /></a></li>
<li><a href="https://www.acegearboxes.co.uk/"><img src="website/media/ace_logo.png" alt="Ace Gearboxes" loading="lazy" /></a></li>
</ul>
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<p><b>Team Pandrover</b> by <a href="https://xdgfx.com">Callum Morrison</a>. Photos by the team. Route maps drawn from our own GPS tracks over <a href="https://www.naturalearthdata.com/">Natural Earth</a> outlines. Type from <a href="https://fonts.google.com/">Google Fonts</a>.</p>
<p>Want to know more about the rally? Head over to <a href="https://www.theadventurists.com/mongol-rally/">The Adventurists</a>.</p>
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