London to Beijing - Summer 2007

Over the summer of 2007 the family (John, Ingrid, Jake, Hannah, Noah and Eden) drove from London to Beijing (Trafalgar Square to Tiananmen Square). We drove through France, Belgium, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey, Georgia, Azerbaijain, across the Caspian sea to Turkmenistan then Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan and into China where we drove along the Southern Silk road through the Taklamakan desert and then North East up to Beijing.

The trip took 3 months and we had many adventures along the way – from wheels falling off the car and trailer (first in the desert of Turkmenistan in 50 degree heat more than 250km from the nearest town), to soldiers on the Tajik/Afghan border opening fire and threatening to shoot our guide, to the attack of the giant camel spiders in Tajikistan. All of this is described in the blog section of this site.

We then shipped the car to South Africa and are now gradually driving the car through Africa which so far has been wonderfully relaxing by comparison (and much better set up for overland travel). It is currently based in Namibia which is one of our favourite wild places.

Along the way we will pass the Iranian border, the Afghan border and some parts of the world where few people have been - at least not as a family in a 78 series Toyota.

Our car – a 78 series Toyota Land Cruiser named Jinjeh by the children – now feels like part of the family. She has driven across almost impassable deserts, crossed rivers and land-slides and driven through mountain ranges on roads (tracks) going up to 5500 metres high.

The children have certainly had some experiences outside a normal London upbringing. We have seen some of the wildest places in the world and met warm and helpful people right across the world. We’ve also seen the true extent of environmental destruction (see the summary piece at the end of the London to Beijing blogs).

The blogs and photos were frequently updated during the trip and will now be added to from time to time when we get the urge or see something amazing.

So what are we trying to achieve?
- Getting there - Without major issues
- Calmness under stress
- Self-reliance by the children
- they are fully involved from training to helping choose the toilet (Jimmy's Thunderbox from www.2daloo.com!)
- Raising money for charity.