Overlander's Handbook
Trip Reports
UK to India ~ VW T5 campervan
| Who | Helen Simpson and Michael Broadwith ~ email ~ website |
| Profession | Lawyer and Teacher |
| Born 1977 | Nationality British |
| Previous travel experience | Backpacking around Central and South America Australia and New Zealand (Helen); lots of European travel (both); leading walking trips for students to Spain and Central America (Michael); but no previous major overland trips for either of us. |
| This trip | In a VW campervan, travelling overland from the UK to the southern tip of India and back |
| Departure date | March 2007 |
| Number in group | 2 |
| Trip duration | Just under 12 months |
| Distance covered | Approx 27000 miles |
| Cost of trip (not incl. vehicle) | - |
| Best day | Too many to choose from... perhaps camping at Fairy Meadow (off the Karakoram Highway in Pakistan) under the shadow of Nanga Parbat might just win. |
| Worst/ hardest day | Realising that we were stranded on the Tajik-Afghan border with a mechanical failure; no phone reception; a filthy water supply; and no suitable mechanic for several hundred kilometres. |
| Favourite place | The Badakhshan region of Tajikistan |
| Biggest headache | Picking up particularly dodgy diesel in Khorog (Tajikistan), resulting in mechanical failure and being stranded. |
| Wish I hadn't | Paid a $10 "settlement" to a dodgy Russian policeman (one of 15 waiting on the same roundabout to make their bribe money for the day) for a supposedly illegal but entirely fictitious overtaking manoeuvre... it still gauls me as it was the only time ... |
| Most pleasant surprise | That the widespread scaremongering is just that. We were told that we were mad for going to some of the places we visited, but we had nothing stolen (actually not quite true, someone stole a filthy bit of carpet from us in Kyrgyzstan once but gave it back |
| Any illness | We were remarkably healthy except for one-off eye infections |
| Other trips planned | None as yet (focusing on a new baby at the moment)... but there will be in due course! |
| One overlanding tip | When crossing borders in far flung lands or encountering corrupt officials at traffic check points, ignorance can be a wonderful thing. You need to judge each situation and react appropriately, but often you can just politely play dumb and pretend ... |
| Type of Vehicle | VW T5 campervan |
| Age/ mileage on departure | 2006 reg; abut 10,000 miles |
| Modifications | We tinted the windows in a pretty dark shade for privacy and security; added water tanks, fuel tanks, camping shower, mossie nets on the windows; and fitted off-road tyres. |
| Most useful accessory | A very loud horn |
| Mods you wish you'd done | Removing the dreaded diesel particulate filter |
| Tyres used | Michelin Agilis 81 tyres (zero punctures) |
| Number of punctures |
| Vehicle's weak point | Not being 4 x 4 (though it wasn't any where near as much of a weak point as we had feared) |
| Vehicle's strong point | Rugged, reliable and comfortable |
| Vehicle problems | One: we never want to hear the words |
| Same vehicle again? | Every time... we didn't christen it the Van of Dreams for nothing |
| One driving tip | Never believe maps outside the so-called "western" world... what looks like a motorway may well be a near non-existent track and what looks like a city may well be a hamlet... always work on the basis that you may find yourself without the fuel or food. |