Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Spring 2015 | Page 17

driving), one two-man tent, (“Next time

used the dashboard of the Subaru and,

– a three-man, for sure!” they agreed),

for a cutting board, a high-end magazine

was a rushed attempt to cross the

a roof box, and a water filter system

from London.

Tajikistan border before it closed at 11

Six weeks into their journey, there

donated by General Ecology Canada.

They spent a long but enjoyable

pm local time. Not making the cut-off

Navigating through hundreds of

time in the car, averaging some eight

time would’ve meant spending a night

miles of desert or mountainous terrain

hours per day. The highlights, beyond

in an inhospitable environment. Jess

with no chance of Internet connection

the obvious, included Montenegro and

tripped over another vehicle’s tow

made their DeLorme inReach Explorer,

Sibiu, unforgettable Sarajevo, Bosnia,

rope, breaking her arm — an injury

a satellite communicator donated

and sweet, delicious Georgia. By this

she didn’t realize she had suffered

by inReach Canada, invaluable. And

point in the rally, some vehicles had

until the next morning.

when their inReach was linked to

already crashed, others had broken

the “Earthmate” app, their route was

down and some teams decided they

in finding adequate care for Jess, an

tracked and updated every two minutes

simply couldn’t tackle the long journey.

experience the women would later

by satellite. This device gave exact

Their subsequent adventure was

The women quickly realized that the

describe as something you might

coordinates when maps didn’t exist and

have seen in the 1930s. The clinic had

allowed the team to simultaneously

Sibiu

ease of the start of the rally would not
be mirrored by the end.

computers but no printers and what

update multiple social media sites with
news on their progress.
Most teams complete the Mongolia
Charity Rally in anywhere from three to
six weeks, depending on how much time
they can afford and how adventurous the
route they decide to take.
The duo secured around four months
off from their respective jobs, which
would afford them plenty of time to

Nessebar

explore. “If we are going to do this,”

they decided at the time, “let’s actually
see everything we can see.” They had
invested a lot of time in researching
th