| For the months of high summer, Mongolia trekking | | | | Brown. Fully loaded, Molly weighs almost 250 |
| offers adventurers and holidaymakers the chance | | | | kilograms. If he succeeds in crossing the country |
| to take in some of the Far East's most remote | | | | Ripley Davenport will hold the record for the |
| and unexplored landscapes. But on Ripley | | | | longest recorded solo and unassisted walk. |
| Davenport's 2010 Mongolia Trekking Expedition, he | | | | On the 14th April 2010, Ripley began his Mongolia |
| aims to cover 1700 unforgiving miles of Mongolia | | | | trekking mission in the eastern steppes, near |
| by foot - the breadth of the country - a | | | | Choibalsan, the fourth largest city. He "was taken |
| record-breaking distance for unassisted and solo | | | | aback" by what he saw ahead of him: a landscape |
| walking. | | | | of extensive treeless prairie and ground littered |
| How many countries can you think of where you | | | | with immense pot holes, soft sand, trenches and |
| might encounter both a sandstorm and a blizzard? | | | | mud. It meant slow progress. In the first full day |
| Mongolia is a vast country of open grassy plains, | | | | it took him four hours to cover one kilometre |
| deep green valleys, barren desert and snowy | | | | because of the uneven surface, and during the |
| mountain ranges. The best Mongolia trekking | | | | first night his tent and trailer froze solid. |
| itineraries will aim to provide a flavour of one or | | | | It took just two days for the terrain to prevail |
| two of these landscapes, allowing trekkers the | | | | over his ambitions. It was not his body that gave |
| opportunity to appreciate some of the country's | | | | out, or his determination, but the wheel bearings |
| huge 604,000 square miles - that's the equivalent | | | | on the axle of Molly Brown, which wore away |
| area of four and a half Germanys. | | | | completely. Unable to carry on, he had to call for |
| For adventurer Ripley Davenport though, a | | | | evacuation. But Davenport is not willing to |
| sample of what Mongolia has to offer is not | | | | abandon his trekking adventure. Despite this |
| enough. He plans to see all of Mongolia's many | | | | adversity and setback, having made repairs, |
| characters and terrains as he plots a trekking | | | | Ripley will return in May to complete what he |
| route across the entire country. He aims to | | | | began, and resume his record-breaking attempt. |
| complete his epic journey in about three months. | | | | Within the first few weeks of his Mongolia trek he |
| While it is usual for visitors on Mongolia trekking | | | | will be cross the famous Trans-Siberian Railway, |
| holidays to travel between late June and August, | | | | the 5700 mile track that bridges continents; joining |
| when the temperature averages around 15 | | | | China with Europe and Beijing with Moscow. From |
| degrees centigrade, Davenport started his | | | | Mongolia, the tracks of the Trans-Siberian go |
| adventure in April. This means he will have to | | | | south towards the Great Wall of China and north |
| endure a freezing springtime climate, although | | | | to the desolate wastelands of Siberia. |
| nothing as uncomfortable as the 20 degrees | | | | After that Ripley will progress into the open plains |
| below of the Mongolian winter. | | | | of Mongolia, trekking across vast eye-fooling open |
| Ripley intends that his trekking across Mongolia will | | | | spaces of grassland and prairies. Beyond the |
| be unsupported, meaning he will not have a guide | | | | grasslands, Ripley will encounter the Gobi Desert |
| or ponies, or prearranged shelter, and has to | | | | and the Altai Mountains of the west, all the time |
| carry all he needs with him. For this he has a small | | | | walking alone and unassisted in the Land of Blue |
| cart, like a rickshaw, which he has named Molly | | | | Sky. |