It's begun. After a year of preparations, sweat and buggeration 43 riders have made it to the Mongol Derby start line. That alone is no mean feat.

Mongolian horses were the intercontinental ballistic missiles of the thirteenth century. They carried the all-conquering Mongol warriors across half the world.  Diminutive, sturdy, fearless, wild and unbelievably tough. They are revered in Mongolian culture, and have changed very little over the centuries, remaining essentially free from human interference.