# Doin the Mongol Rally on the Cheap

> Maz & Dan from team ' Doinit ' are a couple of savvy chaps. After sharing their tips on how to stop your day job getting in the way of the Rally , they're back to advise how to do the Rally without busting the banks. Here are…

HTML: https://theadventurists.com/updates/doin-the-mongol-rally-on-the-cheap

### Maz & Dan from team '[Doinit](http://www.doinitonline.com/)' are a couple of savvy chaps. After sharing their tips on how to [stop your day job getting in the way of the Rally](https://www.theadventurists.com/updates/give-up-your-day-job/), they're back to advise how to do the Rally without busting the banks. Here are their tips.

You’re probably thinking driving a car from London to Mongolia isn’t cheap and your right it’s not cheap – but it can be done RELATIVELY cheaply. Confused?   Well, it’s a matter of perception.

When I first came across the Mongol Rally I figured I’d need about £5k budget to even consider this trip – and many teams can spend as much as that but for someone who’s not loaded and happy roughing it. I estimate to have spent a little under £2,000.

### The Entry Fee

Grab the early bird deal it – if you're set on going there's no point putting it off.

### The Car

We picked up a roadworthy(ish) Vauxhall Corsa for £100 inc MOT  All the graphics for the car where sponsored by a printing company so we didn’t incur any extra costs there. We didn’t spend any money pimping it out either. We also took no roof rack – it creates drag and makes the car heavier – it uses more petrol

We didn’t really bring much with us, didn’t buy any expensive gadgets before hand, in fact we managed  to give a group of 3 people a lift with all their stuff.

### Food

£40 of cheap Asda smart price noodles, tins and rice will do you a month on the road – you’ll lose weight too and quite possible not have a solid bowl movement for a month but its cheap.

### Sleeping

In the car and in tents mostly, which is free.

 [https://pub-b73d7bbed2e6422cb2c490e05ca5db55.r2.dev/media/1/db386a43-7c29-4067-bc3e-0a351ecfbba2.webp](https://pub-b73d7bbed2e6422cb2c490e05ca5db55.r2.dev/media/1/db386a43-7c29-4067-bc3e-0a351ecfbba2.webp)

 [https://pub-b73d7bbed2e6422cb2c490e05ca5db55.r2.dev/media/1/16fd2a39-8ffb-4f38-9be0-ba92406b0be9.webp](https://pub-b73d7bbed2e6422cb2c490e05ca5db55.r2.dev/media/1/16fd2a39-8ffb-4f38-9be0-ba92406b0be9.webp)

 [https://pub-b73d7bbed2e6422cb2c490e05ca5db55.r2.dev/media/1/9c150d65-2efd-4d97-af42-de875145a727.webp](https://pub-b73d7bbed2e6422cb2c490e05ca5db55.r2.dev/media/1/9c150d65-2efd-4d97-af42-de875145a727.webp)

### Visas

The main reasons we didn’t use the visa services is the additional admin/processing costs. We live in London so are lucky to be within a bus ride of most embassies. Essentially we cut out the middle man and saved £100s. We also have dual nationality which means we get to mix and match which passport we use to get the cheapest visas. There seems to be a tendency of countries no one has heard of charging UK (and US) passport holders the most, just for a piece of paper which will get you in.

### Petrol

10,000 miles meant we had 25 fuel stops. Cost of filling up in Turkey was about £50 a tank but in Turkmenistan is was only a FIVER!!!   But the reality was, that in most countries petrol worked our easily under £1. If you’re really skint you can pick up Octain 78 – we did this, not to save an extra 5p, but to see if the car could actually run on it – it can.

### Bribes

We didn’t pay any bribes (knowingly). We got stopped by police a number of times who wanted money – we played dumb to the point they just wanted to get rid of us. In Almaty a nasty copper wanted 150 Euros to give my licence back – I told him I have to call the Embassy first and he backed off.

Rough cost for per person:

Car – £50

Dover Crossing – £16

Entry fee – £141 (there was originally 3 of us)

Visas – £350

Car tax – £15

Caspian Sea crossing – £165 (cabin and car included)

Flight to Beijing – £140

Fuel….. £400

Accommodation – £140

Beer Spa – £20 (Best money spent)

Food and Beer – £200

Border payments – £200 (car insurance, tax, etc)

Generated from the published page. Figures here are that published copy.