Bent cops, dodgy roads and bad borders…

THREE Southside based medical students are preparing for a hair-raising and quirky charity ambulance rally across 18 countries to Mongolia.

On July 6, Robin McManus (26) from Ballsbridge, Tristram Hills (22) from Wales and Grant Dawson (22) from Canada, who are all studying in the Royal College of Surgeons, will depart from Dublin in a patient transport vehicle to the Mongolian capital UlaanBaatar.

The team has purchased a second hand ambulance out of their own pockets at a cost of about

?¬4,000 which will be donated at the end of the epic rally to the charity behind the event, Go Help!

The team will also have to spend about

?¬2,500 on petrol for the trip. Go Help! operates an ambulance service in Mongolia as well as providing aid in the development of schools and libraries in the country.

The rally is like no other in that all the participating teams take part in ambulances or similar emergency vehicles. When they arrive the vehicles will be used by the emergency services in Mongolia to provide a valuable lifeline to the people of the vast Asian country.

Robin estimates that the journey will take the trio through 18 countries along 9,000 miles of road and 2,000 miles of dirt track.

The adventurers will have to drive through some of the most remote parts of the world, through desert and forest alike and negotiate and pay bribes to bandits and possibly some corrupt policemen along the way.

The group of medical students call themselves

‘The Omega 3’ in keeping with the medical theme of the trip.

Robin said they are excited about the expedition as they will be helping Mongolians by delivering a much needed commodity while also getting the chance to travel through countries with diverse cultures and traditions.

In addition, he noted that the adventure will most likely involve a significant degree of negotiating and bargaining with the characters the team will encounter along the way.

“We are heading to Kyrgyzstan because the infrastructure in Kazakhstan is very bad,

? he explained.

“Also, there is a safety question over Kazakhstan as it is really bandit country, so we have to follow the oil route which is the most developed part of the region.

“Then, we are going to go due north and enter Mongolia through Siberia. We reckon it will take us about five weeks. We have given ourselves 35 days of driving but we also have set aside some days to deal with border crossings and dodgy cops.

“There is an area of southern Russia we will be driving through, which apparently has the most corrupt police force in Russia. We know we are going to be stopped.

“It is just a given. But our plan is to bribe them with naggins of Irish whiskey. We haven’t got the whiskey yet so we are looking for a publican who could donate some to us.

?

Throughout the journey the Omega 3 will be keeping an account for their families, friends and supporters on their Facebook, YouTube and blog sites. Anyone interested can follow them on Facebook, (The Omega Three), or on www.theomegathree.tumblr.com

If you would like to help the lads get to Mongolia, you can contact them on [email protected] or alternatively you can make a donation to cover some of the costs of the trip through the www.theomegathree.tumblr.com website.