It happened as it thad to happen: our families didn’t approve the Afghanistan, we decided to go around the Caspian Sea in the north and to bypass Iran and Afghanistan. This is the final route, approximately:

The good news is that we don’t have to give up on Iran and Afghanistan completely. I have fallen in love with the Delica so much that I decided not to sell it at the end of the trip. Or rather not to end the trip in Ulaanaatar. You can leave your car for up to 12 months in Mongolia and this is exactly what we are planning to do: Interrupt our journey for a short break and continue in 2025. Destination? Don’t know yet. China has opened its borders for foreign cars now, one option is to come back through Tibet, Nepal, India, Pakistan, Iran. But before doing so we could also visit the Pacific Ocean, or even take the ferry to America and drive the Panamericana.

The team for the first leg is complete, too: Janos, my partner on the Budapest-Bamako 2015, his friend Attila, and the two daughters of Janos, Anna and Bogi. I’m glad the Delica has 6 comfortable seats and enough space for our luggage.

The dates have been fixed, too: we are leaving in the evening of June 20, and my flight back from Ulaanbaatar to Vienna is on July 16. Btw the flight was quite cheap, 460EUR with Mongolian Airlines, half the price of the code shared Turkish Airlines ticket.