THREE intrepid friends have embarked on an epic 10,000 mile road trip with a difference.

University of Sussex pals Chris Hutchinson, Iain Broadley and Zac Hay are driving from Brighton to Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, to raise money for charity.

And what's more, the trio are attempting the famed Mongol Rally in a vehicle voted the worst ever made by Top Gear.

They have made good progress in their 1993 Austin Maestro having travelled through 19 countries and across mountains and deserts.

Now in Oglii, western Mongolia, they hope to reach their endpoint of Ulaanbaatar within the coming days.

They are raising money for Cool Earth, a charity which helps indigenous communities protect their rainforest and The Hummingbird Project, a Brighton based group supporting child refugees in camps in Calais.

Iain said: “We have all seen the news stories of the horrendous conditions in the camps, for this reason we have decided that there could be no better cause to support.”

Chris added: “We’ve crossed the vast expanse of Kazakhstan, beaten deserts, plagues of locusts and giant pot holes. We are within one days distance of the finish line - do we dare to dream?”

To sponsor the trio visit: generosity.com/fundraising/wheels-of-misfortune-mongol-rally-2016.

PLUCKY THREE MAKE THEIR WAY ACROSS GLOBE

Brighton to Asia After leaving the UK, the boys trundled over to Calais to visit migrant camp The Jungle. There they met The Hummingbird Project volunteers and saw their work first-hand. The friends then headed east, driving through Germany, Austria and Hungary before arriving in Bulgaria where they crossed the border into Asia.

Into Asia

The team began the Asian leg by crossing the Bosphorus into Turkey. Wary of the political turbulence, they decided to wild camp on the outskirts of Ankara.

But while camping the equipment in their beloved Maestro was stolen. They were at a loss as to what to do but remarkably the thief returned later that day to hand back the stolen loot.

Relieved, they headed east, not knowing they were bound for war-torn Syria. Locals warned them away by acting out gunfire and the boys soon changed direction.

Danger in Georgia

As they made it through Turkey they had a number of mechanical issues to deal with. But with the help of a part-time drug dealer turned mechanic, a few pieces of scrap metal and plenty of elbow grease, their trusty Maestro made it across the border to Georgia.

But not before a border guard made them empty the vehicle, including their 24 Pot Noodles, 12 tins of baked beans and eight jars of frankfurters. But that was the least of their problems as shortly after contending with a herd of cows in the road a boulder tumbled down a hill and smashed into the road just metres in front on them.

Delays in Azerbaijan

As the boys tried to cross the Caspian Sea, they soon found Azerbaijani ferries are about as regular as Southern Railway trains. At the port in capital Baku the three friends had to wait an agonising four days for a working boat to turn up to take them to Turkmenistan. When they finally made it into Turkmenistan the Maestro broke down.

A local mechanic gave the 23-year-old car a new thermostat and helped bypass the fan control which got it going again. In return the boys gave him their bottle of Jack Daniel’s.

But the bodge fix didn’t last long, with the head gasket going just a few miles down the road. More blagging followed and the next day they were back on the road.

Near the finish line

Having crossed Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan the boys have made it to Mongolia – where the roads have become dirt tracks.

It is here they face their greatest challenge as historically this is where most cars finally conk out. Crossing into Mongolia has also seen a change in temperature with it getting down to 3C at night.

They may be in their final country but there is still a long way to go.

l Read their blog at wheelsofmisfortune.over-blog.com.