Off-road adventure

THREE friends have embarked on a journey of a lifetime, driving from Bahrain to the Chinese capital of Beijing … in a 22-year-old Land Rover Defender.

Bill Daly, 50, Tim Holder, 53, and Dirk Fuelner, 45, kicked off their remarkable 6,200 kilometre cross-continental overland expedition by driving almost 1,000 kilometres from Bahrain to Dubai before the rugged off-road machine was shipped to Mumbai, India.

Mr Daly, from Adliya, said: “People were curious why we wanted to do this and my answer was simply, why not?

“My friends and I just met up and got talking about taking a road trip, then one thing led to another and we decided to take this adventure together, we’re doing it because we wanted to.”

The intrepid trio will drive to Kathmandu in Nepal, skirting Mount Everest before their first border crossing into China around Markam. Due to restrictions on entering Myanmar on road, the team will circumvent the country and proceed south west for a border crossing into Laos.

Next, they must navigate through Chiang Mai and Bangkok in Thailand before transiting through Phnom Penh, Cambodia and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam. After a scenic route along the coast of Vietnam, a second border crossing will be made into China where they will make their way north via Hong Kong and Shanghai before arriving in Beijing.

The 90-day adventure may seem like a long trip, but Mr Daly says excursions of this nature are nothing new.

“I know lots of people who have driven from Bahrain to London in the past and even some who have driven from London to Cape Town South Africa.

“We chose Beijing because it’s easy accessible and, compared to going to Africa or Europe, it’s a fairly safe route. Also, Dirk is a long-term traveller through Asia, knows the area and has been travelling for six years so he’s a good guy to have along.”

Bill and his team will drive up to 150 to 200 kilometres per day and will stop to set up camp only if they achieve their daily mileage target.

“It going to be great because we’re all outdoors type people, we all like camping and, best of all, we get to make the trip in my Land Rover,” Mr Daly added.

The 1991 Land Rover Defender 110, one of the world’s most rugged vehicles, has already clocked 500,000 kilometres. Mr Daly said that Land Rover is made for this type of trip and is perfect for outdoor endurance.

“I’ve had this car for many years and it’s never done me wrong, I’m full of faith in it. Anyone who owns a Land Rover would understand this.”

To withstand the harshness of the variety of terrains they will encounter, the Land Rover Defender was serviced prior to departure at Euro Motors, the distributor of Land Rover in Bahrain. During their expedition, Bill and his team will handle basic repairs and maintenance but will also rely on local skilled labour. 

Mr Daly told GulfWeekly that while he is cautiously optimistic, there’s a long way left to go on the epic journey.

He said: “I hope it goes OK, I’m in Mumbai now and enjoying it but its still early days. We have to keep our fingers crossed that we can get across all the different boarders.

“I’d like to thank Ahmed Al Kuwaiti of Pirelli Tyres Bahrain, who has supported the trip and also a huge thanks to Land Rover, who have helped prep the vehicle for the trip and provided a lot of basic spares which we are carrying with us.”