BANDITS, Mafia hotels and plummeting temperatures will be just some of the challenges two women will have to face in their bid to drive 10,000 miles to Mongolia.

Sarah Pollard, of Hurst Street, East Oxford, is teaming up with a London woman she met just four weeks ago to take part in the third annual Mongol Rally.

Miss Pollard and her companion Louise Macgregor will set off from London's Hyde Park on July 21.

They expect to spend four weeks driving a 1000cc Subaru Justy through Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Kazakhstan and Siberia before reaching the Mongolian capital of Ulan Bator.

The pair will be competing against 200 other teams in a bid to reach the city first, and are hoping to raise £1,000 for charity.

Miss Pollard, who works for a medical publisher in London, said: "We have a great adventurous spirit. Louise has done lots of adventuring before and took part in a tuk-tuk rally from Southern India to Northern India, and I travelled around Argentina ten years ago.

"We didn't know each other until the beginning of the month because I was down to take part with another friend, who had lots of rally experience, and they had to drop out.

"Something similar happened to Louise. We actually met in a bar."

She added: "It's a great learning experience and a great chance to meet and make new friends.

"We have been told there are some fantastic Mafia hotels in the middle of nowhere that look like amazing buildings but once you go past the foyer, there's nothing there."

Miss Pollard said the trip was also a means to prove they "still had it in them", as Miss Macgregor will celebrate her 40th birthday on the road and Miss Pollard turned 40 in March.

The pair will be raising money for the rally's main charity, Mercy Corps - which supports rural communities in Mongolia - and Hope and Homes for Children, which works to improve conditions for children in institutions in eastern Europe.

They still need items of kit for the trip, including tents, and anyone who can help can contact them by emailing genghisgirls@hotmail.co.uk