Roof of the World Rally
Launching 12th July 2008
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What is this madness?!
Summer 2008 sees a bunch of hardy adventuring types undertake a mission to take the great English tea house back to the world… and indeed to the very origins of tea itself. Genius? Madness? Want to join in? Read on to find out more!
When does it take place?
We depart on the 12th July 2008. See the 'Route' page for more precise details. As this is the first time anything like this has been attempted we don't know how long it will take, we guestimate at around a month, but depending on the teams adventures it could be longer.
How much will it cost?
It is impossible to give even a vague figure for total costs, not least because this adventure has never been tried before. The cost of joining the rally is a bargain at £100, we are not making a profit from this, it is purely to cover our costs. To see a very rough breakdown of costs click here.
More tea Vicar?
Yes Tea. A true British institution, the great British tea house has been around for centuries providing Earl Gray, scones and tea to the nation. The rest of the world has quite frankly been missing out. As of 2008 it shall be no longer! We plan to take our mobile tea facilities on our journey across the world – everyone deserves a nice cuppa after a hard days work after all.Our route even takes in the very origins of Tea itself – the Pamir Mountains (according to some some intellectual types). Perfect.
The Route
This year we are launching from London, England. We finish in Quergon-Teppa, Tajikistan. Who knows what will happen in-between. We do plan to take on the ‘Roof of the World' by driving across the Pamir mountain range of Tajikistan on the second highest highway in the world - which just so happens to be one of the worlds best kept secrets. The rest? Italy, Austria, Siberia, Turkmenistan.......
The Charity
This grand adventure is of course being undertaken for an awesome cause. SWORDE-Teppa. Based at our finishing point in Tajikistan. The English and Education Centre performs amazing work and runs brilliant projects, including teaching kids a variety of subjects and giving them a real headstart in life. The Centre would benefit greatly from having a vehicle that could enable the kids to be taken out on educational day trips, and so we plan to drive such a vehicle out to them. In addition we will be raising money and taking essential supplies out – and we encourage others taking part to donate their cars to the cause.
The Vehicles
As importing cars into Tajikistan requires paying 42% import tax, and we want any hard earned cash to go straight to our charity we are undertaking the rally in a selection of highly unsuitable vehicles. After all this is an adventure not a picnic! Whilst we are flexible towards which cars entrants wish to take, we are suggesting aiming to purchase your steed of choice for around £150 – this saves you money if you wish to donate the vehicle in Tajikistan and will ensure you have all manner of splendid adventures trying to haul your beaten up piece of machinery over some of the worlds harshest terrain! In addition, if you wish to donate your car in Tajikistan it MUST be left hand drive.
Backup?!
What? This trip is rough and ready, there is no back up! We don't even know the meaning of the word. Seriously, the organisers of this trip will be on the road with you – and are likely to be in just the same state. We have no people cozy at home that we can contact to help us out when it all goes wrong. We head out on the rally going bravely into the unknown with nothing but a toothbrush and a spare wheel to fight off the marauding bandits. This is an adventure! We also categorically state here that this trip involves essentially driving into the unknown – it is bound to bring risks and be dangerous in parts. There is no doubt that it will be hard. Make no mistake about it – you need to be brave or stupid to take part, and if you do choose to take part – don't sue us if you die. The warning bit is right here.
Who are we?
We are Ryan Walker and Sophie Willingale. After driving an ice cream van and a Nissan Micra to Mongolia in 2007 we are launching this more ambitious mission to a remote part of the World. We are kindly assisted by our good friends at The Adventurists, however this trip is not a part of their repertoire!
Join In
Interested?? We are looking for some hardy adventurers to come with us on our mission to take the English tea house to the world. This is a small pioneering event – not the Mongol Rally, but if the idea of dragging a £150 vehicle over some of the worlds most spectacular and harsh roads giving out tea along the way appeals, click on ‘Join Us’ to grab a spot. We will be charging a small admin fee of £100 per team to cover our costs (we will let you know exactly what it goes on – we are not making a profit!) and request that anyone who comes raises a minimum of £500 for our charity.