August 2010 Discovery expedition...

And so we continue...

Our South East Asian adventure ends with an overnight flight to Darwin, reuniting with the Big Orange Truck again for the last 2 weeks of our holiday.

A day was spent in Darwin sorting things out before heading to Kakadu National Park to see the Aboriginal Rock Art, and hopefully a crocodile or 2 - from a safe distance of course!

From Kakadu, we headed back to the Stuart Highway to see the sights along there, stopping at Mataranka Thermal Pools for a swim, Daly Waters Pub for a pint, and the Devils Marbles. The next stop is Alice Springs, where we say goodbye to Dennis who is off to explore other parts of Australia with his family.

We leave Alice Springs with anticipation for the next stop - Uluru/Ayers Rock - a chance to see the biggest monolith on earth at sunset and sunrise, as well as the Olgas - a brilliant way to spend a day!

Coober Pedy was next on the list with the underground churches and mines. Tomorrow we get of the Stuart Highway after travelling 3000km down it and head east to our final destination.

The drive across was broken up by visits to Broken Hill, Willcannia, Dubbo and Bathurst. Taking the truck for a drive around famous Mt Panorama - the home of the Bathurst 1000 car racing! Then back to camp for the final truck clean, BBQ and drinks before finally packing our bags and heading into Sydney - the end of the line and the start of many more adventures for everyone - taking with them great memories of their London to Sydney expedition!

So far...

Time for tubing! It was what we had all been waiting for.

After a leisurely couple of days in Luang Prabang where the group took in a day of elephant riding and canoeing followed by night volley ball we were off to Viang Vieng the home of Tubing.

A rubber ring, riverside bars and the Mekong what could go wrong? Well not a lot and a great day out was had by all even if the last hour proved to be a bit cold.

From here a couple split off to go to Cambodia and the rest of the group headed down to Bangkok to see the city sites before our retreat on Koh Samui.

We hit some floods on the island but in between the storms managed to get some well deserved sun and rest.

Penang, Malaysia next stop!

So far...

Tibet.....wow! The faces of these people are just incredible and it was definitely getting colder. After a couple of days in a hotel we set off for our first bush camp on the way to the Everest base camp!

The road was clear, tarmac and scenery simply bliss. Time to don the gloves and thermals. During the day you can feel the warmth of the mountain sun with it being t-shirt weather but when the sun goes in the temperature plummets to -20.

Sleeping was a challenge due to the altitude yet the scenery is out of this world and when we first clamped eyes on Everest, well you simply have to pinch yourself. Everyone went dead silent then the cheers and high fives started. We hit 5200meters and it really did feel like we were on top of the world!

Onwards through winding mountain roads of Tibet nervously passing lorries on single path roads, narrowly missing landslides we headed calmly into mainland China ready for the warmth from our next stop Laos.

Until next time...

So far...

Leaving the humidity of India a new sign of adrenaline hit the group as we entered into Nepal. Within kilometres we were on our way driving up through the spectacular scenery of the Himalayas. The weather was fresher but still hot and the first night saw us bush camping overlooking a valley with stupendous views. Just down the road we found a waterfall for us all to have a shower under - very refreshing!

As we entered Pokhara, a mountain town overlooking lake, everyone was excited at the prospect to take in some exercise. Some decided on a microflight, some went paragliding and others trekked the surrounding paths.

Kathmandu was our next destination with yet again more trekking to be had for those adventurous and fit ones, those who undertook an overnight trek way up into the mountains had their first sighting of Mt Everest from the Nepalese side......well it was there but behind cloud cover...honest!

We headed out of Nepal to Tibet on the most challenging of terrains this trip has had us drive so far. Parts of the road had fallen due to the sheer amount of rain they had received in past months and at one point it proved too much for the truck to pass alas all hands on deck to dig us out and rebuild the road!

Until next time...

So far...

As our group rejoined the truck in Amritsar it was good to hear the stories of the week they had travelling independently around India. After flying into Mumbai where they enjoyed a night on the town with their first beer in 2 weeks; few headed down to Goa to take solace on the white beaches of south west India while the rest of the group travelled around cities steeped in culture.

We then travelled down to Agra to take sight of the Taj Mahal and the great Red Fort where some saw at sunrise and others at sunset both as spectacular as each other. The end of our journey in India took us to the spiritual capital of the world Varanassi where bodies of the departed are cremated and scattered in the Ganji in order to end the cycle of reincarnation.

Time for the refreshing change in temperature as we hit Nepal.

Until next time...

So far...

Due to floods we were a little unsure on how our Pakistan transit would go, and although it was long and laborious with police check after police check... nevertheless we had a great adventure and all went well!

We were unable to do our usual transit route due to flood waters so across the middle of the country was our best option. This took us through roads that were dust tracks and through spectacular canyons. We saw a definite difference between the West and East side whereby heading into Punjab was alot more culturally relaxed and we started to see women out on the street.

Invited into an extended family complex to spend the night away from troubled areas, we ate, the men talked to the men and the women invited to the women’s quarters.

Unfortunately we arrived at the Pakistan/India border crossing a little too late so we had to camped up for the night on the Pakistan side and had to attend the 'closing of the border' ceremony from the less theatrical side. Learning that the group were on the Indian side watching at the same time and taking photo’s of us filled us with sheer emotion and ultimate urge to get across to India and have a much anticipated and well deserved cold beer!

Here’s to the group reunion in India...

So far...

Chador’s were donned for the girls and into Iran we crossed where we were welcomed with opened arms, houses and showered with gifts. This nation of hospitality overwhelmed us all.

We headed down from Tabriz taking in a boat ride in caves and bush camped until we reached Esfahan.

Esfahan gave us the first opportunity to visit the Iranian Bazars and take in a couple more mosques. Onward to Shiraz stopping off at the ancient sight of Persopolies.

Time to split for a week, the group are flying from Shiraz to India and the crew will transit through Pakistan with the truck.

Bye for now Pakistan here we come!

A ‘Turkish Delight’ in every sense.

Starting in Istanbul everyone’s in agreement that this is one of the best cities ever visited. After a full day of sightseeing we decided to hit the local bars with beers and shishas.

Driving down through the battlefields of Gallipoli we found a camp spot by the beach before our crossing out of Europe heading into Asian Turkey. Our journey took us to more historic sights of Troy and Ephesus, stopping off at the hot springs and natural pools of Pammekule. Next stop Goroeme in Cappadocia where we attended a Turkish night and did a balloon flight over the canyons.

Our bushcamp on the way to the border saw us being invited by a mountain village to camp in their local green, where they helped put up our tents and peeled potatoes for our cottage pie! It was the end of Ramadan so the 3 day fiesta was in full swing.

Off to Iran a first for everyone!

After months of excitement and eagerness the big day finally arrived! Reality hit as we climbed up into our overland truck and struck out on a 16 week trip across the world - we were finally off!

6am, bleary eyed and keen as mustard to hit the road, we were all hoping a grey Hammersmith was going to be swapped for a sunny Europe.

Scooting through, France, Belgium, to Germany we bush-camped our way to Dachau, our first 'must see' destination.

Down to Austria, the mountains welcomed us with tremendous views and the architectural delights of Salzburg. A beautiful sunny day inspired a full days sightseeing of this famous cultural city in its incredible setting.