The ‘Greatest Race in the World,’ in Photos

This was just a random stop somewhere in Kazakhstan because we saw some camels we wanted to check out. Photo: Matt Cook

This picture was taken somewhere between Biysk, Russia, and Tsagaannuur, Mongolia. We passed a team headed the opposite direction of the Mongolian border so we stopped to check on them. They were severely handicapped due to their car and had changed their minds deciding to leave Mongolia (having already entered and attempted the Northern Route) and drive around Mongolia through Russia. Photo: Matt Cook

Repair work at a shop in Russia. Don’t remember the exact location but somewhere between Orsk and Omsk, I suppose. The dude was very friendly and worked for a good while on the car. Drove us all over town looking for a bolt for one of the shocks and in the end he tried not to charge us for the repairs. We paid him anyway. I remember he had a computer to do diagnostics on the car and it was still rocking Windows 95. Photo: Matt Cook

Taken at a mechanics shop in Bayankhongor, Mongolia. Those tires in the picture are the brand new tires we had put on in Georgia, less than 5,000 or 6,000 miles before. We put some hard miles on those tires. You can also see the fender well damage cause by the collapse of the rear end due to the excessive weight on the horrible roads. It was a constant cycle of the fender well popping out rubbing the tires and us pulling the tire off to bash it back in. Also, notice the custom grooves in the tire from random bits of body rubbing on the tire due to damage from the roads. Photo: Matt Cook

We stopped at a random collection of Yurts as our guide wanted to get a bite to eat. The family invited us in and offered up some of their cheese and milk. I was showing the small children how to use my DSLR and the camera on my cell phone and showing the parents various pictures on my cell phone. Photo: Justin Hamilton

This was one of the rivers we had to ford. We rolled up just in time to catch a few other teams working out a deal with the locals to pull us across with their tractors. They hooked us two at a time and pulled us across the different branches of the river with the one pictured being the worst of the bunch. Unbeknownst to us, there was a route somewhere that didn’t involve this. Photo: Matt Cook

Taken from the walkway on the horse’s mane of the Genghis Khan statue in Mongolia. Photo: Matt Cook