Meet the OVERLANDERS

Among these was an epic Singapore to London journey in 2015, when they were joined by the couple’s daughter Lucy. She was just five years old at the time, making her the youngest Singaporean ever to make this particular overland route.

Larry has done the long drive between Singapore and London on two other occasions – both in the trusty Land Rover. The first was a west-to-east journey in 2007 when Simone joined him for the leg from London to Turkey. (He’d managed to get unpaid leave from IBM for the whole trip, but she had to go back to work.) Most recently in 2019, Larry was part of an official team on an expedition called “The Last Overland” (lastoverland.com). Simone and Lucy joined him for the last leg from Paris to London.

Here, we chat with the pair about their journeys, and ask them for a grab-bag of insights into their time on the road.

What got you started with overlanding?

Larry: I bought my first Land Rover Freelander in 1999, and we started with camping trips and off-roading in Malaysia. I added the Defender when I realised that it was the “Real McCoy” – or the “King of the Jungle”, you could say. We moved from driving and camping to overlanding, doing a few drives up to Thailand and Cambodia, before heading to China in 2005.

The inspiration for the first long trip in 2007 came initially from Tim Slessor; he was one of six university students from Oxford and Cambridge who drove two Land Rovers on a famous journey from London to Singapore in 1955 (known as “The First Overland”). We met him at the 50th anniversary of the trip, at the Old Ford Factory in Bukit Timah. And that really got our wheels turning!

This piece is a tribute to a trusted Land Rover Defender 90 that’s having to go out to pasture – it’s reached the end of its COE life. Over that time, the vehicle has taken its Singaporean owners LARRY LEONG and SIMONE CHAN on all kinds of adventures in different parts of the world.

What do you need by way of background for these kinds of trips?

Larry: Basic mechanical knowledge is a must. For all three trips, we had a “bush mechanic” who needed to adapt quick fixes at different times to get the vehicles going. We could hit the potholes at great speed and survive, but the vehicle might break down due to accelerated wear and tear on bad roads. You do need to remember to drive accordingly to the road and vehicle conditions.

What have you enjoyed most about overlanding?

Simone: For me, it’s more about the journey than the destination. It’s about the people we meet and the friendships we make from those encounters – friendships that last long after a trip is over.

What was it like travelling with your fiveyear-old daughter?

Simone: Traveling with Lucy on the 2015 trip gave us a chance to see the world through her eyes. There were plenty of memorable moments, from our first snowball fight high up on the pass between two mountain ranges, to dancing with a donkey in the Himalayans, and getting a piggy back ride into the Potala Palace at Lhasa! We also visited the living quarters of the first space astronaut, Yuri Gagarin, in Kazakhstan, and explored an ancient city carved from a rock mountain. And Lucy loved the cows and cowbells in Switzerland too.

These are just some memories we built together that I hope she will always remember.

What’s been your favourite country to visit?

Larry: One of the most hospitable and wonderful countries on the 2007 trip was definitely Iran. The scenery was exceptional – Tehran and Isfahan were especially wonderful. Everything was so cheap too: it was US$1 for a full tank of diesel, and $1 for a tip. The people were so generous and so accommodating – they didn’t want us to pay for anything. I even had a knock on the door one day asking if I would marry someone’s sister!

What about the most beautiful countryside?

Larry: Tibet! The scenery of the snowy peaks while driving at 5,000m above sea level was literally breathtaking. In the vast emptiness, we could see humans and animals adapting to the harsh environment. There were clear blue skies and no pollution, and seeing Everest from the North Face and up close was priceless. There was also a lake near Mount Kailash, in the far west of Tibet, with gorgeous colours by day and night.

Having said that, the fjords of Norway can compete with Tibet – every picture we took there is “calendar grade”! We were equally amazed by the road infrastructure; we travelled all the way to the North Cape, and visited the Arctic Circle and saw engineering marvels – tunnels cutting through the mountains, with roundabouts for exits to different locations. The North Atlantic Highway was a rollercoaster ride; our Defender got baptised by the sea while travelling along it!

Our shock absorber broke in Pakistan, but we had to drive the whole night without stopping because of nuclear testing in the region…

LOGISTICS

For a long and complex overland trip, it’s not a simple matter of jumping in your vehicle and taking off. There’s loads to plan and consider. Here, Larry and Simone provide a few small insights into the “day to day” of this kind of adventure.

Communications

“We’ve learnt things like not to charge your phone in the hotel, as you might leave your cable there or the electrics might fry your phone if it’s too unstable. In 2007, we used ‘proper’ paper maps and a Garmin GPS. In 2015, we had a Wi-Fi router in the back of the car (and others in our convoy drove very closely together to access it!). For our first two trips, we needed cash, all in the different countries’ currencies. In 2019, we didn’t need cash at all!”

Food

“We take lots of bak kwa, vacuum-packed food, plenty of snacks and orange juice, and we always have a thermos and a slow-cooker. We had to be a little more organised with food and supplies when Lucy was with us. On the road, milk can come from anything, cows, sheep, goats, yaks, reindeers or even donkeys! We once made a rendang from reindeer meat – that was interesting!”

Costs

“You should probably budget US$25,000 per person for the whole Singapore to London route. That includes all hotels, local fees, food, air fares, and extras like support vehicles and staff in certain places. You could probably do it for less for a family of four if you’re on your own rather than with a group of vehicles, but it will take you a lot longer too! Also, factor in shipping the car back; most recently for us, this was about US$5,000, but costs have increased.”

HARDSHIPS

Land Rovers are very safe and sturdy vehicles, but that doesn’t mean you won’t encounter some hairy moments after weeks and even months of longdistance driving, over roads of questionable quality. Larry recounts some specific challenges, from potholes to politics.

Which countries are the worst to drive in?

India is bad in general for animals on the roads, but in Assam in particular there seemed to be a lot of buffalos and cows making love on the road!

China has a lot of tunnels, and roads that are under construction or repair, but also some great highways and even full 4G coverage.

The roads in Nepal were terrible after the earthquake of 2015; it was pretty upsetting to see the impact of that, and difficult to manage the road damage.

When we were in Tibet in 2019, some of the GPS devices would say we were in India; others said we were in China. That was confusing!