June 10 – A trip long 15,000 kilometers, crossing half the world: Eastern Europe, the Aral Sea, Kyrgyzstan’s mountains and the Mongolian desert, yurts, Tibetan monasteries and the Soviet lines of Ulan Bator. In a broken down Renault Clio, “without a single new piece.” This is the adventure of three romans: Lorenzo Dutto, helicopter pilot on oil platforms in Malaysia, and two environmental engineers, Emanuele Gigli and Giuseppe Orsini. The three are the Rougher Dan Khan crew that will participate – from July 13 – in the Mongol Rally: the proceeds of the “race” will be donated to a charity in favor of the Lotus Children’s Centre Charitable and Cool Earth, an organization set to protect the environment. Forty days of travel, and a 15,000 km journey motivated by the desire to do good and to live “a truly out of the ordinary experience, we send adrenaline, relying only on ourselves, even in situations of unexpected events. It ‘s always exciting to face a challenge on its own merits.” For Emanuele and Giuseppe, the adventure of the Mongol Rally “may” not be the most impervious, “We have an engineering company, and all things considered it’s probably easier to do the 15.000 km than to find working projects.” The rules of the Mongol Rally require that the car not be new, without a four-wheel drive and be sold in Mongolia at the end of trip. “This vacation for us is not a moment of rest, but a distortion from everyday reality. Traveling in this car will be a challenge: we were looking for a car that did not have engine problems. We are used to move in non-conventional means of transport. We toured Europe on a bike and Trentino on foot, retracing the front of the First World War.” Emanuele ensures that the journey will be updated on the crew’s blog whenever possible: “We will write and will post pictures when we find stable connections.”
