My Overland Adventure
Around the world in a Land Cruiser
Kyrgyzstan
KYRGYZSTAN Within two minutes of being in the country we are flagged down by a policeman. He asks Martin to follow him to his car where he pulls out a piece of paper with Russian-English translations on it. The most important one according to him is ‘You must pay a...
Kazakhstan
KAZAKHSTAN 27TH October We are forced to transit Kazakhstan to reach Kyrgyzstan, due to the border between Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan being closed due to ethnic tensions. This adds several days to our journey and also hundreds of miles. We know the weather...
Uzbekistan
UZBEKISTAN 18TH October The Border We pass from Turkmenistan very quickly to the Uzbekistan border. As we arrive we notice the border gate is closed. We stop behind another car in anticipation of them opening the gate. 30mins later there is no sign of any...
Turkmenistan
TURKMENISTAN We arrive in Turkmenistan, a country described by many as the “North Korea of Central Asia”. As a traveller it is one of the most difficult countries to travel freely in; you either need a transit visa, or a tourist visa which requires you to have a...
Azerbaijan
AZERBAIJAN Baku 12TH October Checking out of the hotel, we leave Tbilisi anxious about the long drive to Azerbaijan’s capital of Baku. We had read and heard scare stories from other travellers about police bribes and harassment so we were not expecting a smooth...
Georgia
GEORGIA Batumi 2nd October Entering Georgia, we head to Batumi, a Black Sea resort, which the LP suggests is a modern lively place. As we enter the town, we are met with dilapidated buildings, torrential rain, flooded streets, huge flooded potholes everywhere and...
Turkey Part 3
Turkey Part 3 26th September We leave Fethiye and head for Ankara, saying farewell to my Dad and Pam over a nice roast beef dinner. We leave at 6:40pm, anticipating that the drive to Ankara will take about 10 hours. Along the route, again, some of the roads are...
Turkey Part 1
TURKEY 29 August – 5th September 29th August Crossing the border from Greece to Turkey, we arrive to find border guards with large assault rifles. We have our vehicle checked and registered, pay for visas, insurances stamped and we are off into Turkey. Car...
Greece
GREECE 19th August We head for Preveza on the coast. It’s starting to get dark and we still have not found anywhere to pull up yet. After trying a few apartments and dealing with the language barriers, we eventually find a campsite where the owner makes us a...
Montenegro & Albania
MONTENEGRO & ALBANIA 18th August We cross into Montenegro and stop at the border crossing where we buy a green card for €15. We pass Kotor Bay, as we drive slowly down a single carriage road, stuck in a huge traffic jam. When we eventually get going, we notice...
Croatia
CROATIA 11TH August We drive from Italy to the Slovenian border, heading towards Croatia; the road from Slovenia to Northern Croatia is only about 20 to 30min, with uneventful border crossings. As we enter the country we head to the coast near Opatija; although...
Italy
ITALY 8TH August We must now get into Italian mode and learn a few basic phrases! Lake Garda 9th August Beautiful and peaceful Lake Garda. We take a picnic down to the edge and take in its beauty. The largest and most visited of the three Italian lakes, it does...
Southern France
FRANCE - the second leg! Riviere Souterraine de Labouiche 27th July Take a spectacular boat ride along the longest navigable underground river in Europe, even known to pre-historic man. Although it may have been preferable if we chose the English rather than the...
Southern Spain
Seville (southern capital) We visit the magnificent cathedral of Seville , one of the largest in the world. Originally a mosque before Seville fell to the Christians, the fine building seen today was finally finished in 1507. Inside it is huge, filled with lots of...
Morocco
Morocco 16th July We take a day trip to Tangier, Morocco, crossing from Tarifa. North Africa’s coast is almost tangible, its vast mountains visible in the distance, from the town. The ferry taking only 45 minutes to cross from Europe to Africa! Once we boarded the...
Gibraltar
Gibraltar 14TH July Now we finally know why it is unequivocally described as the ‘rock’ of Gibraltar. An impressive sight from the mainland, for the Ancient Greeks and Romans, it was one of the two Pillars of Hercules, marking the edge of the ancient world. We cross...
Portugal
PORTUGAL Viana do Castelo 30th June Our first stop off is the coastal city of Viana do Castelo. The city is spilt by the river; on one side sandy beaches and surf, on the other a sculptured rocky coastline, overlooked by a towering church on the hillside. As we...
Northern Spain
Northern Spain San Sebastian 19th June Basque country-We arrive late in San Sebastian, situated around the bay of La Concha, at the beach as the sun is setting, where we grab a quick drink at the beach bar and watch the local surfers. Refreshed we head into town,...
France
FRANCE Normandy Bonjour mon amis! The overland adventure begins! (8th June 2010) We cross the channel, from Poole, England to Normandy, France. Two hours later, we are in Cherbourg and our first stop is the D-day beaches at Omaha and Utah for a dose of history. ...
About
Nicole and Martin's Overland Adventure In June 2010 we set out to travel around the world overland, in a Toyota Land Cruiser, across 5 continents, 47 countries, and cover a distance of over 100,000kms. Part 1 UK to Sydney Australia Crossing 32 countries, through...
