DentaltownUK Winter 2017 - 28

They highlighted that it wasn't the
accidents and setbacks that were surprising,
it was the characters they met along the way.
You'd think with Shorrock's life as a dentist
that he'd be used to meeting interesting
characters; however, he brought up one specific
"nomad" who made quite the impression.
"He turned up in the middle of nowhere
in the pitch dark and started shouting until
we came out of the tent. He was on horseback
and was carrying a really long stick; he looked
quite threatening silhouetted against the
moon. I thought he was going to rob us but,
speaking mostly through hand gestures, it
became apparent he was thirsty and wanted
somewhere to sleep. We had only a two-man
tent, but he was all for jumping in and sharing
the very tight space with us. In the end, he
slept on the porch and trotted off into the
wilderness the following morning, well fed."
Pena recalled another interesting character,
whom they had met in Istanbul: "He had
recently broken up with his girlfriend and used
couch surfing as a coping mechanism. While
we expect casual conversations when couch
surfing, we were thrown by his frankness
and desire to discuss his decision to break
up with his girlfriend.
"As well, we encountered extremely
irritable and, quite frankly, miserable border
guards. They ranged from asking an annoying

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amount of questions to fabricating scenarios
in which we broke the law. Either way, border
crossings were a point of uncertainty and
annoyance when they came."
Despite the difficulties Shorrock and
Pena had encountered entering different
countries, exploring them was one of the
most enticing elements of the rally. Shorrock
had planned and replanned his ideal route
many times over the years, with a desire to
travel the Silk Road, an ancient network of
paths and routes through Eurasia used by past
travelers to exchange goods, skills and ideas.
Shorrock says one of his destination
highlights was Mongolia: "It was so vast
and remote, and the culture there was really
interesting to be a part of. The scenery was
also spectacular and very varied. The roads
were a real challenge, too-often just tracks
through the steppe. But the people were
really what made it a special experience. It
was where our nomad showed up one night!
"The following night we were invited to
stay with a nomadic family in their [yurt],
where they fed us sheep-lung soup and
showed off their wrestling and dancing
medals. We were even given gifts of dried
curds and some Mongolian money before
we departed the following morning.
True hospitality."
Pena also mentioned the sheep-lung
soup (and how much he loved it!), but he
preferred Tajikistan, saying: "The stars were
bright and vivid, and the drive was extremely
memorable. One night we camped next to the
road in a spot that we deemed, at the time,
merely adequate. But upon further reflection,
it had views of the river, mountains and an
extremely active sky. The meteor shower
that night is one thing I will never forget."
After a mammoth 72 days of driving
and exploring, Shorrock and Pena arrived
home in the UK with plenty of stories to
tell, no regrets and the money raised for
their chosen charities-Cool Earth, which
protects threatened rainforests and helps
build sustainable livelihoods for the people
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DentaltownUK Winter 2017
