i wonder how many people paid in to the parties, i loitered around the carpark wanting to see the cars

Haven't been to London..
 
Prague was nice, but agreed - it wasn't much of a special party, just drinking in a cafe. Didn't really seem that they did anything to organize other then telling us the name of the place.
 
Didn't make UB, but the people who did mostly said it sucked, and apparently there were only few people there who made it in time anyways. Was in Oasis, some sort of chic nightclub.
 
Dave's place was nice, though (even though we weren't at no designated party there)

I spoke to 2 teams who did the rally unofficially. It took them 2 emails to organise donating the car in UB. When they handed over the car the people they were donating it to got them hammered on vodka and gave them a special commemorative plaque to thank them!

Quote from kate_d on Sep 7^th, 2007, 4:23pm:

 
Damn, now we spent 387 pounds, and didn't even get a plaque! What a rip off!

I was in the car with the KILROB team in their micras going accross Turkmeinsitan. They orghanised it all themselves. Dunno If they made it to Mongolia (anyone know), Are they the guys who got teh plaque?
 
It was deffo a better way to do it the way they did!!!

Quote:

 
I agree 100% with Dom on that one..

Oli did it in a 2 Litre turbo Subaru legacy.
Thats cheating in my opinion. But he did it unofficially so he can do what he wants.

Cameroon one???????

where'd ya hear about that one?

Quote from Ciaran on Sep 7^th, 2007, 5:00pm:

 from the chief guy himself - Tom from the Adventurists. I think maso was talking to him about it a bit more so he'll know the craic

haha good idea.
 
reserve them at ukreg.co.uk for buttons.

in the runup the poor organisation was being touted as the spirit of the rally, but the problems werent things that would make the trip easier but things like knowing the dates for the import tax bond, i would do it myself we didnt have the stickers on anyway and it would be much better to choose a charity myself than have it dictated to me, how do they go about colleting the money now its over and how funny does it have to be get out of the fine, the black taxi was cool the yellow one was too new, the galaxy was a disgrace and the ice cream van really missed the point, the unofficial teams were much closer to the rally than these lot

1.3 now that is cheting because the 1.0 micra was probably the most powerful legal entry, no need for a 1.3

Quote from maso on Sep 7^th, 2007, 5:22pm:

 
 
People just kinda wrote it off by saying that but it was never said by the MR guys thats why they were witholding info.

sorry wartburb forgot the wonder of the 2 stroke is it more poweful than the micra,
 
im not angry with them, i just feel like they didnt do themselves a lot of favours, all the info up to signup said £200 to be paid by a certain date and then it was nearly twice that to be paid then and there, their website and press support was nowhere near as good as in previous years and then when people compensate by organising it themselves they get nasty emails
i feel that they are concentrating too much on all their other projects and didnt put the same thought and effort in this year.
i dont mind paying for the place but i they charge and say they are going to provide backup services like dummy press releases, simple web adresses, relevant meeting points, admission to dinners (which should include the food) and text update services then they need to do this and do it in such a way that they look like the professional outfit they are striving to be

Can't agree that the KILROB team got the same experience. They pretended to be in the rally. I think that's the worst possible thing. Either do the rally properly or do your own thing. I thought they deserved to be officially in the rally, but if those were 1.3 litre Micras then no (that's doubly lame).  
 
The Ford Galaxy, 'Panda' Racing's 1.3 litre Astra and that Nissan Sunny should have been chucked out of the rally at the start or pay the fine the disorganisers mentioned for each .1 of a litre.

Quote from Motronluke on Sep 7^th, 2007, 5:40pm:

i wonder how much they made from sponsorship, media rights, admission to parties, etc

What next for the 1.6ltr Vitara drivers or the 1.9ltr Ford Galaxy team? The London Marathon on a moped?

i made it to the end party and thought it was amazing, the food was really nice , the people were very freindly, the music was very good and just one hell of a party and if nothing else then the whole £387 was worth it just for that party, the whole event was very well organised and well informed with everything which went on even down to little details like telling us how much to expect to pay for fuel for the whole trip (£400) or even if you break down anywhere in mongolia it will only cost $100 to get the car back the information i felt was 100% bull poo!! like the partys

me too, off toaday but still in bed because i am so skint

Quote from maso on Sep 7^th, 2007, 5:03pm:

 
We have just bought cameroonrally.net - (they have got .com & .co.uk). So if you want to do it we will provide the website and forum - All you have to do is organize yourselves (he he).
 
Admin.

thats a load of evil genius...And what are ye doing online at this hour, I've just finished a bottle of champagne and Im wasted... woooooooo...I just officially resigned today!!!!

For what it's worth, I think the Rally has turned into such a success story the organisers can't keep pace. Its only in the last couple of years that the media/sponsors etc have mushroomed the event into one of the best rallys of its kind. Its still run by the guys who attempted the drive on their own and they must be blown away by its popularity this year (computers crashing, 1000's trying to sign up etc) Its taken them completely by surprise.  
 
The participants this year, therefore, are still part of the development process and so we have had to take the teething issues like crappy admin, complete lack of communication, the lack of party planning, get togethers etc The Truman Party was a bit crap and totally lacked in atmosphere but the official 'End of the Road' was for me a no-brainer because I would have enjoyed myself anywhere. Just to arrive and complete the rally under our own steam was fantastic. Didn't care where or what the party was going to be like. Just wanted to drink in the achievement!
 
The two things they have got well organised are the start and finsh lines. Hyde Park was exciting and Dave's Place is a good finishing line but there is a lot to get right elsewhere.  
 
I would reccomend the organisers sit down and read this forum because there is some great advice for future rallies on it. They have to learn from their mistakes and give the teams a better break down of the costs and where your entry fee goes. If they want a professional rally they need to stop treating it like a hobby and start getting serious. Because the teams entering will naturally start getting more serious and have better prepared vehicles, people will demand something in return. The rally won't lose its appeal it just needs to be run more efficiently behind the scenes. Which reminds me, they have to enforce the one litre rule, its what the rally is all about for god's sake. It really does p**s me off. Why do it in anything else? Of course, the comedic vehicle rule is fine within reason... taxi etc
 
Finally, I would do the Cameroon Rally and I like the organisers for thinking up new trips. Have to go in convoy as there are some pretty dodgy countries on that route. I think a Dyane would be perfect...

the comedy rule is too vague, the yaksi taxi is a completely different proposition to the black taxi and the ice cream van could easily have been a rascal the transit with beds in the back was not funny, maybe a minimum age of25 foe vehicles over the limit and a bigger fine for going over. People raised the money anyway so they didnt care about the fine if it was £600 for the vitara or £1000 for the galaxt, if it was £10 per cc they would think different. It is in the contract about paying the fine so it is enforceable, if they want to crack down on that they might want to chase these up as an example

and lets not forget the huge Jeep that they tried to say wasnt a support crew for jack....

Sounds about right! I thought there were 40 extra teams this year.. Not much more if you have decent planning... By the way, Neil and Jan, did you get in touch with Ey Up Genghis in the end?

Best of all it's going to be nearer £500 entry next year with talks of 300 places. It'll still sell out in 7 seconds again though...  
By the way, does anyone have any contact or website details for the guys in the orange micra's? I was also an unofficial rallier this year (after being offered a place twice). Kate, did we meet you in Beijing airport?! Our import was sorted with the help of 2 guys in Norfolk and through the Mongolian Children's Development and Protection Foundation and who organised the rally's car import in 2005 but stopped as soon as Tom and Dan started profiting from a charity event.

Ah! Yep, of course. Heathrow it was. Did you manage to blag an upgrade?

Quote from kate_d on Sep 11^th, 2007, 12:42pm:

better than spending it in the toilets

The orange Micra Guys website is http://www.killrob.co.uk/

Quote from Ru on Sep 8^th, 2007, 9:57am:

 
I thought the Black Cab was the best one. If only I can get one for next year...

There is a tremendous amount of lee-way in the Mongol Rally. You can choose any route. You can take as much time as you like. It's not a race. You can take as many people as you want. You can travel in convoy. You can make modifications. You can travel on any budget. You can take any car you like...... SO LONG AS IT'S LESS THAN 1 LITRE. Even here, exceptions are made for comedy value and no one is going to begrudge a few extra cc. But people who turn up in an excessively over-sized vehicle don't deserve any credit for taking a highly-sought-after place from a real Mongol rallier. Let them go and join some Hilux rally where they won't need to make excuses. Hey, perhaps they can offer to be Jack Osbourne's support crew.

I was very dissapointed with the londan bash.  Venue was a warehouse which would have been ok if we were there to club but I don't think that really was the point.  I was really excited to meet other ralliers talk routes, fears and ideas, but it was so loud conversation was limited to peering over my plastic pint shouting 'so Mongol Rally... micra...eh' at random tired people.  Wasn't dissapointed to miss the finish party, bonfire in the mongolian desert and roast goat or sheep was amazing.
 
 Did anyone find the meeting point in keive?  Don't think it existed if it did they did a good job hiding it.

Tis trueI didn't get it at the start I thought 'that sounds like an amazing journey, why the hell would you want to do it in a crappy little car in 4 wks?'  I had no idea how feckn brilliant the rush from racing across 2/3s of the world in a micra would be.  In the comapny of other crazies.  I think to do the rally you have to do it in the spirit of the rally no arsing around in ford galaxies and the likes. How do you like THEM apples dear?

we just met all the teams who happened to be at the strip club in hotel ukrainia

No one organises to goto strip clubs, They just happen to be there for an innocent reason.

Quote from maso on Sep 20^th, 2007, 1:40am:

 
Possibly my favourite hotel lobby, ever.