Stuck Between Russia & Iran (Mongol Rally Ep. 7)
13 clips from a 34:27 video · top score 93
Get clips like these, freeWhy it works
Hotel scam 'Expectation vs. Reality' videos are a massive viral subgenre. Showing the luxury Booking.com photos versus a room where someone literally sticks their foot through a rotting floor with taped-up security cameras is gold.
Transcript
We're all taking turns booking accommodation on this trip and this is the one that Charlie picked for us. So, I love for you to give us a little tour around. I think we're in an office building. But, this In my defense, this is what we booked, the Museum Hotel, and this is what it shows on booking.com. That's not this. That's That's the room. I was like, "Oh, yeah, that's cool. There's like a three room there as well." It's like completely different place. I haven't seen any of this yet. We've got a full hookah, two bunk beds, not so bad. All right, three beds. We've got all shared toilets and finally bedroom number three. WOAH! LOOK AT THIS SUPPORT. I CAN stick my foot through the floor. Oh god. Go over there. The floor is falling through. The lady goes, "It's okay. That's fine." Oh wow. Wow! Oh, it's huge. What the heck? We've ended up in a new hotel. We asked the guys to come fix the air conditioner in our other hotel. These are taped up security cameras. This is the unworking AC and then this is the sign behind the sink and that went downhill very quickly.
Why it works
A confrontation with a seemingly drunk hotel manager who blames guests who arrived 5 minutes ago for structural damage, brags 'I'm a millionaire, I don't need your money,' and then refuses to refund them is outrageous and highly shareable.
Transcript
I genuinely I've been played. I'm going to call up. Wow, that was such a positive version of that story. Skip to the part where we were being threatened by the manager to stay and not to leave bad reviews, even though they wouldn't give our money back. But they didn't give us a refund for the reservation. You skipped the part where we pointed out the damage in the hotel, the old one. It's going to fall. YOU'RE GOING TO BREAK IT. LOOK AT THESE BAGS of dirty sheets. And he pointed to it and he goes, "Oh, yeah, it's from like people like you drinking the whiskey, breaking things like this." probably your kids. He said We're like, "Wait, we haven't We've been here for 5 minutes." He's blaming us for all the damage in the place. Yeah, he did actually seem drunk. And I think the whole conversation ended with him saying, "I'm a millionaire. I don't need your money." But then he refused to refund us. And so we basically at this point have paid two times for two hotels and we're hoping to get one back from booking.com. Rally!
Why it works
Bringing an entire 9-person road trip crew into a walk-in Georgian hospital room for a first baby ultrasound—complete with hilarious jokes like 'Can you tell us which one is the father?'—is both deeply emotional and laugh-out-loud funny.
Transcript
By far, the highlight of our time here, at least for Cara and I, was getting to have our first ultrasound. We just googled best hospital in Tbilisi. We've got the entire Mongol Rally crew going to Cara's first appointment. The whole experience, like not only getting to like see our baby for the first time, but the Georgian hospital experience was incredible. We didn't have an appointment. We walked in. 10 minutes later, Goodbye, team. Come. Oh. Hello. We're all very excited for our friend. Look as much as you're comfortable with. I don't care. We won't look. This is hilarious. She's fully nude, everyone. Oh, wow. She's just going for it. Oh, look at him. He's so cute. Stop. Congrats. Can you tell us which one is the father? Oh my gosh, this is crazy. Oh, that is so cute. So cute. The little It's 4D. Look. Oh. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. No way. No way. This is insane. It looks just like my abs.
Why it works
Leaving a vehicle on a gravel roadside, getting into a stranger's car with zero English spoken, discovering a 'graveyard' of stuck rally cars, and hiding an AirTag inside is peak travel suspense.
Transcript
Okay, we just arrived at a pin that this guy sent us, and it's just the side of the road in the gravel. Um we're about to go get in his car. So, I think the bus just sleeps here now. What do you mean? I assumed it was going to like a secure parking lot or something, but I think we're going to leave it on the side of the road and then somebody's going to pick it up from here and take it to Asia Bike Shop. When? Who knows? So, let's just make sure we have everything valuable out of it and uh go get something notarized. Goodbye, bus. I hope we see you soon. This feels so weird. Quick recap of what just happened. So, the bus is on side of the road, on side of the highway. We get in this stranger's Tesla and he drives us to this office, somewhere. We follow him into the office. We're in there forever. They're looking at our paperwork. They're taking copies. Nate signed a bunch of stuff and got something notarized. I think that's what that stuff was. Where are we going? Back in his car, apparently. To go where? No idea. It's a mystery adventure. Nothing is being communicated. Zero English whatsoever. He didn't even like Google Translate. He just would be like, So, we get back in his car. He takes us to this like lot of bunch of other cars and we see all these Mongol Rally cars, like a graveyard. They're all just parked there for who knows how long. And he took our keys and said it would be picked up in a couple of days. What happens next? We don't know. We don't know how long it's going to take to get over there. No one's told us. But, thankfully, we have an AirTag in the bus. So, we can see how long it sits there, see its progress on its way to Asia Bike Shop and then we can kind of know when to fly over there and meet up with it.
Why it works
Geopolitical travel dilemmas perform exceptionally well on short-form platforms; explaining how Americans in a school bus are boxed in between Russia, Iran, and a closed COVID border creates instant intrigue.
Transcript
So, if you look at a map, Russia sits above us and as a bus full of Americans, we can't drive through Russia and Iran sits below us. Also, can't drive through Iran. So, the plan is to get the bus shipped over the land border between Georgia and Azerbaijan because for some reason no one's allowed to cross the land border between these two countries. They shut it during COVID and then they never reopened it. And then from there, once the bus gets to Azerbaijan, it's going to go on a ferry across the Caspian Sea. We knew this was going to be one of the more challenging parts of the trip, but all of the other teams are having way more problems with it than we anticipated. We're we're just about to start this process. So, we're just weighing up our options. I just spoke to someone who dropped off their car on July 20th and it is the 28th with no sign of it going anywhere anytime soon.
Why it works
Healthcare price comparisons abroad always spark massive comment sections from American viewers; revealing that a walk-in 4D ultrasound with printed photos cost only $30.89 is a guaranteed engagement driver.
Transcript
So awesome, Sarah. That was crazy. Now it's real. That's crazy. Yeah. Awesome, we did it. We did it, we're real. We're in Georgia. That was so awesome. I'm going to bed. That's crazy. That's so great. Thank you for coming. That was so much fun. Best day of the Mongol Rally? Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. Oh, that was so crazy. Cute. After the 666 number, it was all good. That scan cost $30.89. Wow. I just walked in and paid $30 and got that experience and the pictures. He's like Best $30 I've ever spent. Let's do it again. I mean, special is an understatement. Like, there's no words.
Why it works
Buying a US school bus from a government auction, shipping it to Europe, and driving it unsupported to Asia is a massive, scroll-stopping premise that immediately hooks travel and adventure viewers.
Transcript
every year around 100 teams set off to drive over 5,000 miles from Europe to Asia in tiny cars that were never designed to make it that far. But we needed something a little bigger for our team of nine. Meet Big Bertha. We bought this retired school bus off a government auction website in Colorado. We're just bus owners now. Road tripped it all the way across the US, shipped it across the Atlantic to Germany, then finally drove it to the start line in Prague. Then the real adventure began. This is actually what the Mongol Rally is about. no official route for the Mongol Rally, and it's not a race, just a massive challenge to make it to the finish line party in six weeks. And have as much fun as possible along the way. But it's completely unsupported, which means once you leave the start line, you're on your own to navigate unpredictable border crossings, I can't believe they let us cross through. So where do How do we get to Kazakhstan? fix anything that breaks, and whatever else that will definitely go wrong along the way. I think you're getting stopped by the cops. Oh, gosh.
Why it works
The reality of international border corruption—finding out your shipper has never shipped a bus before and being demanded to pay a $700 bribe after 10 days of waiting—sparks huge debate and curiosity.
Transcript
But then while we were still at the mall, the roller coaster continued. We got a message from the guy shipping the bus that said that the bus was stuck at the Azerbaijan border. This is an odd time to bring up that he's never shipped a bus before. And basically that we were going to need to pay a $700 bribe to get the bus across the border. And the bus has been on the border for 48 hours. Apparently, we were driving there. It all was very stressful. We debated over this for a while, but ultimately, long story short, decided to pay the $700. But even then, the bus got delayed an extra day, so we had one more day waiting here in Baku and decided to make lemonade out of lemons. So, we booked our first luxury hotel of the trip, which was the Fairmont.
Why it works
Rapid-fire cuts of being locked behind barbed wire for 29 hours with overflowing toilets and screaming 'We're in jail, and no one cares' is raw, chaotic travel reality that hooks viewers immediately.
Transcript
What is this? It's like a complete joke at this stage. There is a barbed wire fence behind me, and once you go through there, they don't let you out. We're entering jail. SOS. Help. One of the most foul-smelling toilets I have ever been in in my life. We have been here for 29 hours. What's happened? The toilet doesn't flush anymore. All of a sudden, it's really full. And I literally feel like we're living in a prison. We're in jail, and no one cares. No one here cares.
Why it works
Tracking funny road trip metrics—especially four border officials hitting their heads on a hanging disco ball and getting pulled over by police—is highly visual and comedic.
Transcript
Before we ship the bus, let me give you a little update on all the These are the 16 different beds that we've slept in on the trip. We need to add 17 here from last night to Blighty, Georgia. Did we get an extra fuel tank yesterday that we didn't Yeah, probably needs one more. Okay, so one more to the fuel. My favorite wall stats. Disco ball head hits is climbing quickly. I think we're going to fill up this entire door. Still only four disco ball head hits from the border officials, which were a hit. A hit. Non-residents, this is someone that got in and was just looking around that hit their head. One hitchhiker, we need to increase this number. That should be our new goal once we get to the stands. And we've been pulled over twice. Once with me. Wait, were they both with me? Uh yeah. Yeah. You are getting stopped by a cop. Oh, no. I should win an award for that.
Why it works
Travel rankings ('most underrated country in the world') combined with terrifying footage of 'metal death trap' Soviet cable cars that were later shut down is a proven formula for travel Reels and Shorts.
Transcript
Because when we came here, we had no idea what to expect. And we decided Georgia is one of the most underrated countries in the world. We fell in love with it. Did you do my job perfect? Hey. Oh, yeah. Go on, now. I got to lick it off. Oh, it was so wide. There's so many things to love. We just had so many incredible experiences. first rubber. The rusty Soviet cable cars. Now we are riding inside of a metal death trap. Let go of me. Oh my god. Still to this day one of the scariest experiences of our lives. Traumatizing. Oh, and we looked it up, they're closed now. The hospitality was incredible. The best Airbnb to this day that we've ever stayed IN WAS HERE. CHAKAPULI. CHAKAPULI. THE FOOD, UNREAL. the value. We do this in a lot of places, but Georgia was probably one of the early ones where we started looking at apartments here because we were like, we could live in this place. If I could choose any country on the Mongol Rally to be stuck in for a week, this would be it. 100%.
Why it works
Wholesome, high-energy interactions with local taxi drivers blasting traditional music always perform well on travel TikTok and Reels.
Transcript
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Heydar Aliyev International Airport. How was your first business class flight? Where are you from? Uh, the USA. USA. You the tunes. I love this. The best Azerbaijani music. Azerbaijani music? Yes, you are right. The best bar in my life. Thank you so much. What a start to Baku. That's the best taxi ride I've ever had. THANK YOU. BEST DAY EVER. TRAVEL. Thank you. Bye-bye. Thank you. So good.
Why it works
Lighthearted banter and a terrible Australian accent attempt checked by an actual Australian friend makes for a quick, relatable comedic moment.
Transcript
Chat says that we can get a tourist visa that gives us the flexibility for an overland trip. We got three Australian passports through the ballot, which is borderline for getting into Russia, and then we could drive through to Turkmenistan. And we just fly to Turkmenistan. Yeah, and then you guys meet us in Turkmenistan. Charlie's going alone. Wait, let me hear your Australian accent, cuz they're not going to buy the Ohio Midwest. Uh good day, mate. How are YOU GOING? OH, NAILED IT. Pretty good. How do you know Australians get to break your accent? They're like, "Nailed it. You just nailed that."
