Mongol Rally: From Russia with Love.
Our wild Russian debut kicked off right after the border crossing, fueled by the massive watermelon gifted to us by a truck driver.
The watermelon was sweet, juicy, and… ridiculously oversized for two people.
So, naturally, after we devoured half of it, we decided to share the love.
I walked out into the middle of the road like a watermelon-wielding hitchhiker, flagged down the first car I saw, and without saying a word, handed over the remaining half.
They beamed, said “spasiba” about 20 times, and just like that – balance was restored to the universe.
With hearts (and stomachs) full, we cruised through hours of Russian countryside until nightfall, where we found ourselves in a cozy wooden lodge that screamed “hunting cabin chic” – complete with dead animals as décor.
After throwing our stuff down, we stumbled upon this tiny hole-in-the-wall restaurant that had a couple of tables on the sidewalk.
Alex, being the food adventurer he is, ordered a bunch of random dishes and it turned out to be pure magic – simple, honest, delicious food that hit the spot like nothing else.
Of course, we washed it down with a local beer or two (because, Russia).
The next day, we drove through miles of awe-inspiring Russian scenery – forests so thick you could almost hear the bears, endless fields of wheat swaying in the breeze, and mountains standing tall in the background like nature’s own bodyguards.
It was, hands down, one of the most stunning stretches of road we’d seen on the rally.
Naturally, things couldn’t go that smoothly for too long.
Diana had a sudden asthma attack, and while we panicked for a second, Alex went full-on MacGyver, fixing up the air filter with God knows what.
Crisis averted – back to our regularly scheduled rally madness.
The last leg of the drive took us through even more epic mountain ranges, with rivers flowing by and snow-capped peaks growing larger on the horizon.
The landscape opened up into this wild, empty expanse that stretched on forever, making us feel like we were the last people on Earth.
And just like that, we reached the Russian-Mongolian border.
Nearly there.
The final stretch of the rally awaited, and we could almost taste the finish line…
More from the Mongol Rally here: