ROMANIANS AT MONGOL RALLY: Team Dracula Khan arrives in Mongolia

Team Dracula Khan, running in the Mongol Rally - the event known as the world's largest charity rally - on Monday evening arrived in Mongolia and sped up for Ulan Bator, the terminus of the adventure, the team reports on their Facebook page.

Team Dracula Khan started their journey to the capital city of Mongolia on July 22 in the Czech Republic, when the second start in the race was given, after the first star on July 20 in London.

The team made up of Radu Manea, Ovidiu Niculica and Razvan Mosneag entered Russia at the weekend. They transited through the Altai Mountains, on an 800-km road to the border with Mongolia, aboard their small Volkswagen Up!

Dracula Khan is Romania's first team that will travel back from Ulan Bator to Bucharest by car, aboard their Volkswagen Up! that takes them to Mongolia. On the road back home, three other members will start in Mongolia on the way to Bucharest.

The journey through Asia was an endurance test for Team Dracula Khan. Up to the border between Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, they drove for 36 hours continuously, following a route that bypassed Uzbek enclaves (because the team's tourist visa for Uzbekistan had expired). After entering Kyrgyzstan, Team Dracula Khan enjoyed a traditional lunch in a yurt.

Roads in Tajikistan entailed the team crossing through a tunnel of fear, elevation 2,600 m, potholes, broken and abandoned trucks. Before reaching Tajikistan, team Dracula Khan met a South-African man in love with Romania, at the border between Iran and Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan meant a lot of red tape, a visit to the car wash — because in this country drivers of dirty cars are fined—one full tank paying some RON 0.72 per one litre of petrol and crossing the Karakum Desert...