Tales from Home: Bremont Adventure Club

WEDNESDAY 29TH APRIL - 6.30PM (UK)

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We made it to London, but the story continues!
Read on to find out how to be part of it.

“A marvellous piece of history"
BBC Breakfast News

Welcome to the first dispatch from The Last Overland team in 2020, and what a strange world we find ourselves in. Wherever you are, we hope you're safe and well.

Join TLO's Alex Bescoby for a live online Q&A on Wednesday with Bremont Watches

When we came up with "The Last Overland" as our expedition's title, we didn't know how badly we were tempting fate. Completing such a journey in the near future now seems like a distant hope, and as our team gets used to life on lockdown we all count our blessings for the window we had.

All of us - Tim included - are safe and well at home. Like many we've been trying to put this time of enforced stillness to good use. Work on the TV series is racing ahead (see a sneak peek below), and Alex is almost half way through his book! 

This week, Alex is giving his first live Q&A about every aspect of the Expedition as part of Bremont's Adventure Club! Bremont Watches were one of the brilliant supporters of our Expedition, and we're delighted that Alex is going to be spilling The Last Overland beans with one of Bremont's brilliant founders, Giles English. Alex will also be giving some sneak peeks from the upcoming series - don't miss out!
 

JOIN LIVE VIA FACEBOOK - WEDS 29th APRIL - 6.30 PM (UK)

Hear all about it! Marcus, Leopold & Alex (and their Bremont watches) in Uzbekistan!

IN OTHER NEWS...

Alex has been locked away (even before lockdown) writing the book about The Expedition. Now it's not often when you're battling a bit of writer's block that you get a letter from Sir David Attenbourgh!

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That moment when your Monday starts with a beautiful handwritten letter from Sir David bloomin ATTENBOROUGH, saying well done on getting home from #Singapore and telling you he can’t wait to see @thelastoverland on TV. I think I’m dying with happiness. And yes, this is how I dress while writing. It’s cold here in London, and this Uzbek robe from Samarkand has come in very handy. Luckily I don’t get outside much. Only @natgeorge_ (who shot this moment) has to suffer my killer dress sense. Stay tuned for more news on when the book and series are coming out! #thelastoverland #lastoverland #singaporetolondon #overland #landrover #mondaymotivation #mondayfunday #attenborough #attenborougheffect #writing #authorsofinstagram #adventure #filmmaking #filmmakinglife

A post shared by Alex Bescoby (@abescoby) on Mar 2, 2020 at 7:00am PST

Sir David supported Tim and co's First Overland expedition back in 1955, and he was kindly writing to Alex in response to an article about The Last Overland in The Telegraph in February. Click on the image below if you missed it!

We're also hard at work pulling together the TV series about the Expedition. Thanks for everyone who's written in to us about it, we should have some news on that in the next few weeks! It's a big old job...

But to thank you for your patience, we thought you might like this little clip from Assam where we were lucky enough to stumble on a wonderful piece of First Overland history...

Thanks for reading this special dispatch. We hope to see some of you on Wednesday with Bremont, and we'll be in touch very soon with news on the TV series and the book release dates. Until then, stay safe and well and keep dreaming of adventures new.

We'll meet again (to quote HM The Queen.)

Team TLO x

Tales from the Road: Volume 7

Welcome to the official newsletter of The Last Overland expedition. Here you’ll have access to all the latest news and events before the rest of the world gets to see. 

Are you following us online too? Don't miss out! #TheLastOverland

“A marvellous piece of history"
BBC Breakfast News

DAYS ON ROAD: 111 / 111

KMS COVERED: 19,000 / 19,000

COUNTRY COUNT: 23 / 23

THE END (for now): 

Welcome to the final dispatch from The Last Overland team, for 2019 at least! On December 14th we finally reached the end of our historic cross-continental journey from Singapore to London in a very special 64 year old car. 

Since touching down on British soil 2 weeks ago, Oxford and her human companions have been taking a well-earned break for the Christmas holidays (and eating far too much.)
 
However, we have been back behind the wheel a couple of times – some of you may have seen Oxford, Tim, Alex and Nat making headline news on BBC Breakfast, appearing live from Salford Quays…

While our Singapore to London adventure may be at an end, given the incredible response we had to The Last Overland from all over the world, we’re excited to say 2020 and beyond will hold more exciting and groundbreaking adventures!
 
Read on for the full story of the final leg of Oxford’s journey home, and for what the future holds for this extraordinary car and The Last Overland Team.

THE LAST OVERLAND: JOURNEY’S END
 

On Saturday December 14th, Oxford and her 8 human companions from 6 different countries touched down on British soil to an incredible welcome. We’re still glowing, it’s a day we’ll never forget!

Fans from as far afield as the Netherlands, Spain and Poland had driven their Land Rovers to be part of a 200 car Guard of Honour awaiting the team at The Folkestone Harbour Arm.
 
Others from as far away as Indonesia, Singapore and Australia had flown in just to be there at the finish line in the shadow of the white cliffs of Dover, and be part of the UK Arrival Party kindly hosted by Goodyear. Thank you to everyone who came and waited patiently in the howling winds and drenching waves!

Among the waiting crowd was The Last Overland’s talisman, and the inspiration for this whole project – Tim Slessor. Tim - veteran of The First Overland of 1955/6 – had harboured a dream to relive the greatest journey of his life, a dream sadly denied him as he fell ill on the start line in Singapore. But as you all now know, fate had a final hand to play with the last-minute inclusion of Tim’s 21 year old grandson, Nat George.

Tim and Nat’s emotional reunion on the Harbour Arm was just the first of many that day, as families and loved ones were reunited, and it was the perfect end to what’s been the journey of a lifetime for Nat and the team. Despite his absence from the journey itself, we know that without Tim setting the wheels in motion The Last Overland would never have happened.
 

Even as we stood on British soil at last, it was hard to quite grasp that after almost 18 months of work we’d pulled it off. Addressing the crowd at Folkestone, Tim said:
 
“If someone had told me in 1956 when we pulled up at Champion Motors in Singapore, that a grandson of mine would be driving the same car back to London 63 years later, I’d tell them they were talking nonsense!”

It was the perfect closing scene to what had been a hectic final 10 days of driving since TLO’s last ‘Tales from the Road’ dispatch from Budapest in Hungary on December 4th. Once we’d scooped some of the Hungarian snowdrifts off Oxford’s windscreen, we headed on to country number 18 – Slovakia.

A real treat lay in store for The Last Overland team in the town of Nitra, where we’d been invited to tour one of Jaguar Land Rover’s newest production facilities. We thought we were just getting a sneak peek of the factory; what we hadn’t expected was the entire workforce to be waiting there to wave us in!

What we also hadn’t planned for was the Prime Minister of Slovakia to be waiting in the wings to greet Oxford and the team. Quite the honour! We took the chance to sign Mr. Pellegrini up to Team TLO, of course.

One final treat was in store for team TLO on this whirlwind day – we were to be given the chance to take a ride in the latest addition to the Land Rover family, the New Defender. The car doesn’t hit the streets until early 2020, so it was a good chance to get up close and personal with what’s sure to become an icon in its own right.

Cheered on by thousands of excited and sometimes bemused JLR factory workers  - who were mid-assembly of brand new Land Rovers for delivery across the world - the TLO team chugged and clanked Oxford through this vast, spotless facility. An extraordinary, unique and historic sight – and had it been any other car, it wouldn’t have been quite so warmly welcomed!

Leaving Nitra behind, we headed for country number 19 – Austria. After taking in some of the iconic sights of Vienna and the world-beating Christmas markets, we scooped up our old mate and founder of our supporter NG Architecture, Nick Gowing, who was joining us for the last leg of the journey. (Huge thanks to Nick for helping keep this show in the road!)

We were really picking up the pace now as the December 14th deadline loomed – we couldn’t be late. The team sadly had to sprint across Germany (country number 20) in a single day, really putting Oxford through her paces on the autobahn. Safe to say she rarely strayed beyond the slow lane!

We did have a good reason to rush, however, as country number 21 – France – awaited. TLO’s resident Frenchman, Leopold Belanger, had been complaining about the quality of croissants for 18,000km, so it was finally time for him to show us how they were done properly.
 

Welcomed at the border in Alsace by a squad of Land Rover fans, we began our culinary tour of this wonderful country. Even though the country was undergoing a series of major strikes, Leopold’s friends and family pulled out all the stops to make us feel at home.

After an unforgettable stay in Champagne with the living Land Rover legend, Sebastien "Land Vintage", we headed on to Paris to be wined and dined in finest French style by the Belanger contingent.

Sadly our attempts to recreate a piece of First Overland history by posing with Oxford under the Eiffel Tower were (pretty reasonably) stopped by the Parisian Police, but we did manage to recreate another famous photo just a little outside Paris.

The warmth and hospitality of France made it a wrench to leave, but ahead lay the penultimate country on our journey – Belgium. In the last of a series of emotional homecomings for various members of our team in Europe, this time it was the turn of Therese-Marie to be reunited with her homeland.

Looming thoughts of the final stage in the UK were temporarily parked by the incredible welcome we received at Autoworld Brussels, where Oxfordand the team were invited mark the opening of the So British! Exhibition, celebrating a century of British automotive history.

Dozens of Land Rovers from across the country turned out for a glimpse of these grubby globetrotters. But amongst the crowd was a familiar face – Oxford’s owner and restorer, Adam Bennett.

Adam had driven through the night from his native Yorkshire to surprise the team, just one of the many huge gestures of kindness this man has made to make this adventure a reality.

Dusting ourselves off after a night of reunions and celebrations in Brussels, we now had just 24 hours to go before our Arrival Party in Folkestone. The race was on. Howling gales and major strike action in France put both our options for crossing the Channel – the Eurotunnel and ferry – in jeopardy. Would we get home in time?
 
Thankfully on our way out of Belgium, our pals at Goodyear made sure all three expedition cars had a brand new set of tyres to get them safely across the final leg!

Rising before dark on Saturday 14th, we packed up the cars formed into convoy formation for almost the last time. The tension and excitementwere rising as we headed to the ferry port, only to discover that our ferry was delayed until the winds died down.
 
With no time to spare, we U-Turned and dashed for the Eurotunnel, who in a final twist of happy fate had just enough spaces to squeeze us in. Crossing into the grey dawn light of England (country number 23) we were washed with a tide of relief – we were going to make it to Folkestone on schedule!

Finally, the Brits in the team breathed a sigh of relief, as we were able to return to driving on the left after last doing so back in Thailand. As we stormed towards Folkestone, our weary little convoy was joined by a special edition of Land Rover’s New Defender, bedecked in Oxford and Cambridge colours. We couldn’t have asked for a better or more glamorous escort on our final leg.

Folkestone will always remain a happy blur for the team, as we were battered by sea spray and reunited with old friends and new who had followed the journey since the start.

Tim Slessor and the team were joined on stage by Mike Rytokoski from Goodyear, Mike Bishop from Jaguar Land Rover and Carrie Kwik from TLO’s title supporter, Singapore Tourism Board. It was a treat to be joined by so many of those who’d made this adventure possible.

But our journey wasn’t quite over. The First Overlanders had begun their journey at Hyde Park Corner in 1955, and our job to bring Oxford home overland from Singapore would not be officially complete without taking onthe final leg back to London.

Oxford and the team made their final journey to the finish line in a phalanx of Land Rovers from all across the world. They were old and new, fastand slow, but all enjoying this moment of motoring history – it was a sight we’ll never forget.

After making a very quick pit stop at our old haunt of The Grenadier (the pub from which we’d officially launched our journey back in August), we travelled the final few yards to The London Hilton on Park Lane. Thank you to the Michael Shepherd and his team for giving us the best expedition base camp we could ask for!
 

In a mirror of the start line in a steamy Singapore almost 4 months ago, The High Commissioner from Singapore – Ms. Foo Chi Hsia - was waiting flag-in-hand to call an end to our 19,000km odyssey. The moment was made all the more special by the bagpipe escort we were given by our charity partners at The Gurkha Welfare Trust. It took us back to our arrival into Kalimpong, NE India, months ago!

Celebrations went on long into the night at the Royal Geographical Society, kindly catered by our friends at Opihr Gin and Fortnum & Mason. Thanks to the generosity of our guests we also raised thousands for our three nominated charities – you can still chip in if you'd like to!

The only bum note was waking up to find Oxford with her first and only parking ticket of the entire journey. Luckily though, as all good fairy tales do, this one has a happy ending. After some kind reflection, the parking team from the City of Westminster later cancelled it. Huzzah!

WHAT NEXT?
 
It’s a question we’ve been asked ever since we set foot back in the UK. The honest answer is “sleep, hopefully.” But we can’t rest for long, as 2020 holds some busy times for the TLO team.
 
From the start of January we’ve a TV series to make – which we hope to have on your screens in late 2020 – and Alex has a book to write with all the behind-the-scenes stories we couldn’t share on the way!
 
As those who were at the RGS also heard, it seems as if Oxford has not made her last journey after all. The USA and Africa await, but more on that soon…

So please stay tuned to our social media channels, and we’ll be sharing major updates before the rest of the world finds out on this newsletter as always.
 
To all of you – a huge and hearty thank you for being there with us throughout our journey, and for helping to make it an adventure we’ll never forget.
 
Keep on rolling into 2020,
 
Team TLO x

Tales from the Road: Volume 6

Welcome to the official newsletter of The Last Overland expedition. Here you’ll have access to all the latest news and events before the rest of the world gets to see. 

Are you following us online too? Don't miss out! #TheLastOverland

“Reliving the greatest road trip, ever."
Financial Express (India)

DAYS ON ROAD: 104 

KMS COVERED: 15,800

COUNTRY COUNT: 17
 

A very happy Wedesday from Budapest, Hungary! This will be our last major email update from the road, as in just 10 days time we’ll be parking up for the last time in London. What a ride it’s been…

We’ve successfully completed Stage 2 of our journey (China to Turkey), and are now embarking on the 3rd and final stage bringing Oxford and the team home to the UK. Just over 2,250km to go!

Read on for:

• All the juicy details of The Last Overland’s epic UK Arrival Party in Folkestone on December 14th, hosted by Goodyear (and with a very special guest…)

• A round up of our adventures since our last dispatch from Uzbekistan(including an almost expedition-ending episode in Turkmenistan)

• …and what’s coming next for Oxford and The Last Overland team!

We’ve been overwhelmed with the response to our UK Arrival Party in Folkestone on December 14th at the Folkestone Harbour Arm. It’s going to be the ultimate Christmas Party for any Land Rover fan, with hundreds of Land Rovers both old and new from across the UK and Europe making the journey down to see us arrive on home turf after our long journey from Singapore.

Goodyear's won’t be the only historic reunion - we will also be reunited with our talisman, Tim Slessor, who’ll be joining the expedition for its final leg from Folkestone up to London, accompanied by Oxford’s owner and restorer Adam Bennett.

And it's only right and fitting that our journey will end with one final reunion, with the team from Singapore Tourism Board. Without their vision and support, The Last Overland would never have got off the ground.

It's been a delight to celebrate 200 years of shared history with our friends from the other side of the planet.

Oxford will be flagged over the finish line at The Hilton Park Lane at 16:30 by the High Commissioner from Singapore. Do come and say hi if you're in town!

Now read on for what we've been up to...

THE LAST FOUR WEEKS: DISASTER STRIKES…
 
The last month has seen the team cover another 4,300km, and endure the highest highs and lowest lows. Somehow the wheels keep on turning on old Oxford!

After leaving the mind-blowing architecture of Samarkand behind, we travelled on through Uzbekistan and into our 11th country, Turkmenistan.
 

When asked which country they were most curious about, the team overwhelmingly chose this reclusive former Soviet Republic, which lets in fewer tourists each year than North Korea. 

After crossing the border we were excited to get to the Turkmen capital, Ashgabat (‘The City of Love’). Sadly, Oxford had different ideas. Just a few kilometres into the country, travelling at 70km/h, Alex and Nat heard a loud crunch in Oxford’s rear after heading over a minor bump.
 

30 seconds later, Oxford lurched to the left, and the rear-left wheel and axle went sailing past the passenger door. Alex tried to slam on the brakes, only to discover they’d also left the building.
 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by The Last Overland (@thelastoverland) on Nov 23, 2019 at 10:54pm PST

Thankfully the road was wide, flat and most importantly – empty. (Turkmenistan is 80% desert, and has less then 6 million people in an area roughly the size of France.) Oxford eventually ground to a halt in the layby.
 

We only realised afterwards how lucky we’d been. If the same had happened in the mountains of Nepal or China, Nat and Alex might not have been able to walk away unscathed, or at all.

Another stroke of luck was breaking down not far from Mary, the heart of Turkmenistan’s auto-industry. Although no one had seen a Series One Land Rover before, the local mechanics were quick to get to work under the watchful eye of The Doc and Larry, TLO’s unstoppable mechanical tag-team.

After dismantling Adam Bennett’s pride and joy, the problem was identified as a broken wheel bearing, which thankfully they were able to machine on the spot and patch Oxford up. What could have been an expedition-enderwas overcome by some local Turkmen ingenuity.

Driving a little more carefully from there on out, the team finally made it to the white-marble madness of Ashgabat.

The media, like most aspects of life in Turkmenistan, is tightly controlled, but The Last Overland’s arrival was deemed worthy of headline news.

We were invited on to state television to talk about our adventures, accompanied by newly arrived British Ambassador HE Hugh Philpott OBE(who earlier that day had kindly treated the team to their first full-English breakfast in a long while!)

After the trials and tribulations of the last few days we were glad to be moving on to country number 12, Azerbaijan. To get there meant crossing the Caspian Sea, a 17 hour journey by ferry. This crossing had been forced on us by a late-notice route change cutting out Iran.
 
Due to the escalating tensions there in recent months, it was deemed too dangerous at this moment in time to try and retrace the First Overland route. It was a strange feeling to be moving under someone else’s steam for the first time in almost 3 months!
 
From Azerbaijan we crossed into Georgia, country number 13. It was a particularly emotional moment for our expedition filmmaker David Israeli. David’s parents were born and raised in Georgia when the country was part of the Soviet Union, but just before the latter’s collapse David’s extended family had relocated to New York in 1990.

David had been raised in the US on tales of Tblisi and incredible Georgiancuisine, but he’d never had the chance to see where generations of his family had called home. It was a privilege (and a gastronomical delight!) for all of us to be a little part of this reunion – many of us are already planning our return to this wonderful corner of the world.

Saying goodbye (for now) to Georgia, we crossed into Turkey (Country No. 14) and at long last back on to the same roads the First Overlanders had crossed 64 years earlier.

Oxford’s triumphant return to Turkey hadn’t gone unnoticed by the local Land Rover community – one diehard First Overland fan, Servet, drove over 1,000km from Istanbul to meet us at the border. He’d be our guide for the next 7 wonderful days, as we endured (!) our most pampered stint yet on our long journey home.
 

Fed, homed and entertained by Land Rover enthusiasts from across Turkey, the team quickly fell in love with this land bridge between Asia – our home for the last 80+ days – and Europe. We were even given free fuel for our entire stay by the team at Aytemiz. 

On our way towards the capital, it turned out the Land Rover fans had one more surprise for us – a visit to the Istanbul Formula 1 Circuit!

There we weren’t only treated to a tour of the incredible facilities and fascinating museum; we were also given a once-in-a-lifetime chance to put Oxford through her paces on the circuit.

Want to know how Oxford fared? Well you’ll have to wait until next year! (See below.)
 
When we arrived in Istanbul, things only got better as we continued in the tyre-tracks of Tim and his friends. 64 years earlier, The First Overlandershad arrived in Istanbul almost on the same day as the opening of the first Hilton Hotel outside of America – an iconic building that more than six decades still dominates Istanbul’s skyline. There they were treated to dinner, a rare treat.

Tim noted in his diary at the time:  "Without any doubt, the most impressive hotel I have seen anywhere. American thru and thru."

The Hilton Istanbul Bosphorus team, celebrating Hilton’s 100th birthday this year, were delighted to see history repeating itself! They gave Oxford and the team the most wonderful welcome, and homed these grubby overlanders for a long weekend.

It was a wrench to leave the luxury, incredible hospitality (and in Nat’s case the breakfast buffet), but Europe and the third and final stage of our journey lay ahead.

Crossing into Bulgaria (Country No. 15) the terrain began to change to be ever more familiar to the Western Europeans in the team, and minds began to turn to home at last.
 
From the border we headed into the Bulgarian Alps, where we were joined by some familiar faces from our friends at Opihr Gin – one of TLO's Key Supporters who’ve made this whole journey possible.

Cruising Oxford through the autumnal wonderland surrounding Plovdiv, we shot a little film celebrating the local cuisine and flavours to mark the launch of Opihr’s delicious new European edition.

We can’t wait to share the film - and the blend! - with you early next year. 
 

The next country on our list was Serbia (No.16), a country which for centuries has marked the hinterland of the Ottoman Empire and the Austro-Hungarian empire, and a country whose politicians are still deciding whether to look East or West.

Moving at speed now with our 14th December deadline pressing, we crossed into Hungary - Country No.17 - and back once again into the EU. This time it was the turn of our Expedition Manager, Marcus Allender, to trace some family history.

Marcus’s dad is Hungarian, so this was a true homecoming – and what a homecoming! At the Serbia-Hungary border the expedition was waved through by the guards and then, after having been greeted by Land Roverfans, officials from the Hungarian Motoring Association and Allender family members, the team were led 180km by a fleet of police cars in a convoy of over 60 Land Rovers, the most we’ve had alongside us since Singapore. On-ramps were blocked off and red lights duly ignored!
 
Following this incredible welcome, the weather duly did its part and caked beautiful Budapest in a wonderfully festive layer of snow – and the team stuffed themselves at the city’s wonderful Christmas markets.   

STILL TO COME
 
We can’t quite believe The Last Overland – an epic adventure that has consumed so many in happy toil for so long – is close to an end. Ahead of us lies the final leg, and a welcome at Folkestone that we simply can’t wait to experience.

But before then comes Slovakia, and a treat for team TLO that’s going to turn many Land Rover lovers green with envy… (we’re sorry!) Tune into our social media channels tomorrow to find out what we’re on about!

FACEBOOK  - INSTAGRAM  - LINKEDIN -  TWITTER - YOUTUBE 

Want to come and see us before we cross the Channel back to the UK?Well please do in Brussels, Belgium on December 12th. We’ll now be featuring in the So British! Exhibition at the annual Autoworld Expo with our partners from JLR, come and say hello! We’d love to see you. 

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
 
For Oxford and The Last Overland team, December 14th will mark the end of one chapter and the start of a few weeks well-earned rest. But we won’t be putting our feet up for long!
 
From January 2020 we’re going to be hard at work bringing you a TV seriestelling the full story, a book from Alex Bescoby, and many more chances to hear from behind the wheel of this historic adventure.
 
Although this is our last ‘Tales from Road’ for 2019, we’ll be using this mailing list to keep you posted on all things Last Overland related for a while to come, so we hope you’ll stay with us.
 
And perhaps, just perhaps, this won’t be Oxford’s final adventure after all…
 
Until then, keep on rolling,
 
Team TLO x

Tales from the Road: Volume 5

Welcome to the official newsletter of The Last Overland expedition. Here you’ll have access to all the latest news and events before the rest of the world gets to see. 

Are you following us online too? Don't miss out! #TheLastOverland

"Epic."
The Financial Times (UK), 2019

DAYS ON ROAD: 70 

KMS COVERED: 11,500

COUNTRY COUNT: 10
 

A very happy Tuesday to you all from The Last Overland team here in Samarkand, Uzbekistan – the tenth country on our long journey home! Our latest dispatch has been delayed by a few days as our heads were still a little fuzzy after watching the Rugby World Cup final. 

Sadly we now have to eat our words to our French compatriot, Leopold, (and we’re still explaining the rules to our American comrade, David). 

While it wasn't the result the Englishmen in our team were hoping for, we were lucky enough to be invited to watch it with HE Tim Torlot, HM's Ambassador to Uzbekistan. A very fitting companion!

BUT - even though the rugby’s not coming home this time, something else definitely is…

We are delighted today to announce the full exciting plans for Oxford’s return to British soil. And where better to say hello than at the picturesque Folkestone Harbour Arm, with the white cliffs of Dover in the background?

We’d be very grateful if you’d join us and special guests (in your Landy if you’ve got one!) to give a great British welcome to Oxford, the TLO teamand our talisman Tim Slessor as they touch down on home turf. The running order (subject to a few last minute tweaks!) will be:
 

• 10.00am – Folkestone Harbour Arm opens to all comers

• 10.30am – The Last Overland Team arrives

• 11.00am – speeches and photo shoot

• 12.30am – TLO departs for London (all LRs welcome to join the final convoy!)

 
If you've got time for only one Christmas Party this season, make it this one!

We’ve already had messages from Land Rover fans across the UK and Europe saying they’ll be making the journey to Folkestone with their beloved old cars - we can’t wait to meet you all. (Land Rover not obligatory!)
 
Please don’t forget to register on Eventbrite so we know you’re coming. If you have any questions, please see our FAQs or drop Nat an email.

THE LAST THREE WEEKS: A RECAP
 
The Last Overland has come a long way since our last dispatch from Nepal – and not just in terms of kilometres covered (although at 5,500km, that was pretty hefty too). As we came up to the half way mark on our journey from Singapore to London, we were expecting the coming three weeks to be our toughest yet, and we were not disappointed

Acute mountain sickness, minus-20 C temperatures, and Oxford breaking down 50m from Afghanistan were just some of the highlights (or lowlights) of Oxford’s first venture into China and the Stans.

The rewards however, were some of the most stunning scenery any of us had ever witnessed in our lives. Oxford looked like a matchbox car as she stormed past Mount Everest, climbing to well over 5,000m with no difficulty whatsoever.

While her two younger diesel-powered compatriots could be heard struggling to life in the bitter cold mornings, Oxford started first time, every time.

Sadly, her human team mates weren’t as resilient. The extreme altitude and bitter cold quickly took their toll, with almost every member of the crew having to resort to supplementary oxygen, and get used to a life of continual headaches, shortness of breath and restless sleep. When even The Doc fell ill and was submitted to hospital, we knew things were bad.

But it’s in those moments of hardship that teams are built, and we’re proud to see that all three cars and all 8 members emerged a little battered but unbowed from China into Kyrgyzstan on October 24th.
 

It wasn’t all struggle and strife however – we did still have time to sit down in Shigatse and respond to some of your wonderful questions (in equally wonderful Tibetan headgear!) Click on the image below to view.

After spending two weeks crossing one country, we picked up the geographical pace and covered three countries in eight days. Heading out of Kyrgyzstan, we crossed into Tajikistan and onto the infamous Pamir Highway.

This rugged route tracks the border with Afghanistan for hundreds of miles, and in recent years tourists have been targeted. But we’d done our homework with our security partner AKE and our travel insurance partner battleface, and made the call that it was now safe enough to pass.

The views were stunning, and seeing Afghans going about their daily lives in this unforgiving environment, just across the raging river Panj, was a site we won’t forget.

What we also won’t forget was Oxford deciding to give up the ghost just metres from the Afghan border and miles from the nearest town. Luckily the combined forces of The Doc, Larry and our Russian fixers Alex and Vladimir quickly identified the problem (a knackered dynamo) and switched out the batteries from our support Defender 110, PAC.

Home team extraordinaire Adam Bennett also sprang into action, popping a replacement part in the post. It just proved the incredible lengths people are prepared to go for this little old car (as Alex noted in a recent post).

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alex Bescoby (@abescoby) on Oct 19, 2019 at 4:06pm PDT

Oxford’s going to be moving a little slower until she gets her transplant in our next stop, but for now she’s still tootling safe and well here in Uzbekistan.

We’ve still got the delights of Bukhara ahead before we head on to country 11 (Turkmenistan).

Please note that internet there will be very restricted for us, so please forgive if we go a little quieter than usual...

We hope to see you all at Folkestone, if not before. For our mates in Europe who can’t make it to the UK, we’re putting the final touches to our Europe schedule in the next two weeks, and we’ll be letting you know where you can pop along and see us.

Thanks for your patience!

Tales from the Road: Volume 4

Welcome to the official newsletter of The Last Overland expedition. Here you’ll have access to all the latest news and events before the rest of the world gets to see. 

Make sure you read right to the end of this issue for a very important announcement!

Are you following us online too? Don't miss out! #TheLastOverland

"The mother of all road trips"
Land Rover Monthly, 2019

DAYS ON ROAD: 47 

KMS COVERED: 6,041

COUNTRY COUNT: 6

Today marks a huge milestone for TLO, as we reach the end of Stage Oneof our journey from Singapore to London.

Click on the image to see our journey so far.

Given the scale of the undertaking, to save our brains during the planning we broke down our 12,000 mile journey into three stages. Stage One took us from the F1 Pit Building in Singapore to where we stand now, at the border between Nepal and Tibet, China.

As we set out on Stage Two, which will take us through China, the Stans and over to the border with Turkey, it’s a good time to take stock. For all of us (apart from our resident Overlanding Guru Larry Leong), it’ll be our first visit to this part of the world, and given the distance, remoteness and altitude that awaits, it represents ours – and Oxford’s – toughest challengeyet.

Luckily, in the fine tradition of Himalayan adventurers past and present, we’ve been taking some downtime in beautiful Nepal to get physically and mentally prepared. It’s time to get our cars, and ourselves, in the best possible shape for the road ahead!

We couldn’t have timed it better – we’ve landed right in the middle of the Dashain festival, where all across Nepal celebrations are ongoing to mark the start of the harvest season. The colour, noise and smells are exquisite!
 

The last three weeks: a recap

Since we last sat down to write in the beautiful Kaziranga National Park, we continued in the tyre-tracks of the First Overlanders. After 64 years, so much has changed in this corner of the world that it was sometimes hard to imagine what Tim and co. were seeing from the windows of the Oxford and Cambridge Land Rovers back in 1955. Or so we thought!

With the help of our trusted guide Rajan Dowerah (who turned up with his own first edition copy of Tim’s book, The First Overland) we decided to track down the Deka Julia Tea Estate,  where the First Overlanders stayed in 1955. It was their final rest-stop before their greatest challenge that would land them in the history books – the crossing of Burma via the Stilwell Road. They stayed as guests of Mr. Hannay – the Brooke Bond Estate Manager – and his wife.

We were blown away to discover that the house was still standing, and by the looks of it had barely been touched since the 50s. It was being used as a temporary guest house cum A&E for the plantation which was still in full swing, but now under new ownership. From this little corner of England we decided to give Tim a call, and  he was equally flabbergasted to learn it was still going strong!

Our nerves were still jangling from the unique experience of driving on Indian highways (traffic direction rules, cows aplenty and headlights appear to be entirely optional…), which meant the whole team were knocked flat by the welcome we received from the residents of Kalimpong. You can see a link to the local news footage here.

Swamped by crowds bearing flowers, firecrackers and ceremonial scarves, Oxford was led through the town centre by a pipe-band in full swing. It was our first taste of Gorkha culture here in the highlands of West Bengal, a community we would come to know so well over the coming days.
 

From Kalimpong it was on through the tea-plantations to Darjeeling, a destination the First Overlanders famously visited. We couldn’t resist recreating another moment from history…

Our final stop in India was arguably the most exciting for all the Land Rover lovers  out there – Maneybhanjang, otherwise known as the Land of the Land Rovers! There we met local hero Samantha Dong, the star of Land Rover’s beautiful short film. Not a bad way to end Oxford’s journey through this incredible corner of the world.

On October 1st, we left north-east India behind and crossed into the  sixth country on our journey – Nepal. This was start of a particularly special chapter for us, as we were going to get the chance to spend some quality time with our brilliant charity partner The Gurkha Welfare Trust (GWT). You can learn more about their work here.

October 1st also marked a special day for our talisman, Tim Slessor, who turned 88! Tim’s back in the UK and recovering well, even if he is, in his own words, a wee bit jealous… We’ll be updating soon on where Tim will be re-joining the journey.

Over the next few days here in Nepal we were able to see first-hand just how important the work GWT is doing to care for all surviving veterans from the British Army’s Gurkha Regiments living in Nepal.
 
For 200 years men from this mountainous (now former) kingdom have been signing up to fight for another Monarch and Country, and it’s been a source of great pride to see how the GWT – with support from the British Government and private donors – are making sure every Gurkha and their spouse is cared for until the end, no matter how remote the corner of Nepal they live in.

A particular highlight for the team was joining GWT to meet with 106 year old Lal Bahadur, WW2 veteran of Libya, Egypt and the battle of Montecasino, Italy. Even after all these years he can still remember how to order chicken and wine in Italian! If you’d like to help care for heroes like Lal Bahadur, you can make a contribution via our fundraising campaign.
 
But it wasn’t just Gurkha veterans we had the pleasure of getting to know here in Nepal – we were also treated to a night’s stay at the British Gurkha Camp in Pokhara as guests of Major Sandy Nightingale and his team. Over delicious Gurkha stew we learned about the extraordinary lives  of modern-day Gurkhas, serving in every corner of the world.

At some point in the evening Marcus and Alex decided the only way to truly appreciate how tough you need to be to stand a chance of becoming a 21stcentury Gurkha, they volunteered to try out the infamous Doka Run – the final test in the gruelling Gurkha recruitment process. It involves carrying a traditional Nepali woven basket filled with 15kgs of sand up a 5 kilometre hill climb.

Safe to say 40+ days of driving and eating curry wasn’t the perfect conditioning, but happy to report they made it to the top and the TLO team still has 8 functioning members!

Where on earth…?

 
As we prepare to cross the border into China, where some communications are restricted,  we may not be as communicative online as we have been during Stage One of our journey. However, you can keep track of our journey with a 24 hour delay here on our website

Want to join the journey?

 
Well if you’re in London, now’s your chance! Until 13th October you can catch a special Last Overland Exhibition at London Cocktail week, where our brilliant beverage partner Opihr Gin  have brought the tastes of our time travelling the ancient spice routes right to your doorstep. Check out how to visit here .

View this post on Instagram

This London Cocktail Week, we promise great cocktails, spice and botanical-blending workshops AND a replica 1955 Cambridge Land Rover in a nod to our friends at @TheLastOverland. We're here until Sunday - see you soon!

A post shared by Opihr Oriental Spiced Gin (@opihrgin) on Oct 10, 2019 at 11:19am PDT

Don’t forget you can also be part of the team with our official merchandise, designed by RetroEighty (see the link below)!
 

…and finally: OXFORD’S COMING HOME!

You’ve heard it here first. The official homecoming party for The Last Overland will be taking place between Folkestone and London on Saturday December 14th! We’ll be revealing more detail soon, but for now please save the date in your diary – particularly if you have a Land Rover.
 
To mark the historic return of Oxford to the UK, we’re attempting to set a new world record for the most Land Rovers assembled in convoy, and we need your help to do it! Please spread the word, and we’ll be in touch soon with more detail on how exactly you can get involved.
 
Until then, keep on rolling.
 
Team TLO x

P.S. David says "Hi Mam", and Larry says "Miss you Lucy."

Tales from the Road: Volume 3

Welcome to the official newsletter of The Last Overland expedition. Here you’ll have access to all the latest news and events before the rest of the world gets to see!

Are you following us online too? Don't miss out! #TheLastOverland

"The mother of all road trips"
Land Rover Monthly, 2019

DAYS ON ROAD: 28 

KMS COVERED: 4,093

COUNTRY COUNT: 5

It’s been three weeks since our last ‘Tales from the Road’, and what a three weeks it’s been...

We’ve covered almost 2,500km since we last sat down to write in southern Thailand, crossing the length of beguiling Burma (Myanmar) and on to the breath-taking views and spine-rattling roads of north-east India.
 
Back in 1955 the First Overlanders used their Expedition typewriter to provide irregular updates from the road, dispatched whenever they had a chance to catch up with themselves. 64 years on, and even with a laptop and wifi, it’s still hard to find time to sit still and write!

Thankfully we’ve paused in the beautiful Wildgrass Resort at the edge of the Kaziranga National Park in Assam, one of the world’s most precious biodiversity hotspots. Last night as the sun went down, the Team sat in silent awe, watching elephants bathing and rhinos grazing (while keeping a wary eye out for the bumper population of tigers.) Oxford was even treated to a very unique escort out of the park...

View this post on Instagram

Oxford’s had police escorts, Land Rover Club escorts, crowds of cheering fans - but an elephant escort? That’s a first for @thelastoverland... #thelastoverland #thelastoverland2019 #ᴛʜᴇʟᴀsᴛᴏᴠᴇʀʟᴀɴᴅ #passionmadepossible #spiritofadventure #overland #singaporetolondon #landrover #elephant #kaziranga #india #incredibleindia #wildlife #nature #documentary

A post shared by Alex Bescoby (@abescoby) on Sep 21, 2019 at 1:54am PDT

One month in: a recap
 
We’re now four weeks and 4000km into our journey back to London, and the Flag Off in Singapore on August 25th now feels like a lifetime ago. Thankfully our friends over at JLR Asia Pacific made this wonderful mini-film from the day to keep the memories fresh!

After an overwhelming response to Oxford’s arrival in Malaysia (see photos here), we passed on through to Thailand and headed straight for the bustling metropolis of Bangkok.

We were treated to lunch at the Royal Bangkok Sports Club (see below), and Oxford broke all the rules of this prestigious place by doing a victory lap of the racetrack!

All was forgiven it seems, as on departure Oxford was awarded an exclusive Sports Club car shield which she’ll now proudly be wearing all the way back to London.  

After Bangkok we headed for the border with Burma – a country close to the hearts of many of the Last Overland team. Alex, Marcus, Leo and Davidhave all lived and worked in this country for many years, and Burma was the destination Tim was most looking forward to revisiting.
 
We had an action packed weekend in Yangon, where we were hosted for dinner by the British Ambassador, HE Dan Chugg, and the British Chamber of Commerce at the beautifully restored Pegu Club. 

We also managed to sneak in the Myanmar Premiere of Grammar’s latest film, Forgotten Allies: the search for Burma’s lost heroes. Hosted at the newly opened Rosewood Hotel in partnership with Dulwich College Yangon, we were honoured to have the front row filled by Myanmar WW2 veterans – many of whom featured in our film.

For lucky viewers in the UK, you’ll be able to see it for yourselves on The History Channel on September 27th at 9pm. Pop it in your diaries!

From Yangon we headed north and west through Bagan, Naypyitaw and Mandalay where we shot a short film with one of our supporters, Opihr - you'll see it soon!

Our last stop in Burma was the Tamu-Moreh border crossing, our gateway to Manipur and north-east India. Sensing the Team’s mood, Oxford was galloping like an excitable puppy as we crossed a country she’d last visited 63 years before.
 

Following in the exact tyre-tracks of the First Overland was not an option in 2019, as the famous ‘Stillwell Road’ (or what remains of it) through northern Myanmar is now closed due to the rumbling conflict in Kachin State. We were however able to pay homage to history in another way, by recreating one of the First Overland's most iconic photos. Can you spot the difference?

Entering India – our fifth country – felt like a new frontier. None of the team has been to the this part of the world before, and all of us have been blown away by what’s on offer here for the 21st century overlander. Our first stop (Alex insisted) was to visit Imphal and Kohima, two of the most important battle sites of WW2 in Asia.
 
A visit to the Kohima Cemetery in Nagaland was particularly moving, and the Team walked in silence through the beautifully preserved headstones of the more than 1400 British and Commonwealth soldiers who died here, in one of the most savage and little known chapters of WW2. 

Famous for its (now retired) headhunters, this corner of India is still referred to by the locals as the country's “Wild West”. We quickly got a taste of how wild it could be when the convoy was trapped in the middle of a land dispute that turned violent between two Naga clans. The Mao Nagas had closed the only road between Kohima and Dimapur to protest the burning of several of their homes and shops that morning by a neighbouring clan.
 

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Best laid plans... do not include violent disputes resulting in road blocks accompanied by hundreds of militiamen, soldiers and police - all with guns. We were lucky yesterday to only get held up for two hours by Mao tribe villagers outraged by neighbouring Maram burning several of their roadside shops to the ground. Being the only foreigners we were eventually allowed through but today the village elders continue to mediate, and the only road between Imphal and Kohima remains blocked. #thelastoverland #jeopardy #hamitup

A post shared by Overlanding (@marcusallender) on Sep 18, 2019 at 3:42am PDT

Luckily no one was hurt, and the TLO team were able to dissolve tensions slightly by handing out our supply of Fortnum & Mason’s biscuits and spinning yarns from the First Overland. Cool heads in a crisis, etc.
 
Nagaland’s other nickname is “The Wettest Dry State”, which is fortunate as we celebrated two birthdays last week. Fortunately thanks to a fresh delivery of Opihr's new Far East Edition a few days earlier, the Team were able to raise a birthday toast to Marcus and Alex!

Questions, questions…
 
We’ve been thrilled by how many of you have been in touch asking questions about our adventures. Nat and Alex took some time out in Mandalay to answer a few of them from the hotseat in Oxford – watch below. Please keep your questions coming for our next Q&A session (tag your questions with #TheLastOverland so we spot them!)

Where on earth are you?

It's a question we've been getting quite a lot, and for you special people on the newsletter we wanted you to be the first to see a new map we've made tracing our journey to date. Let us know what you think! 

Please forgive delays, we do spend a lot of time out on the road in the middle of nowhere! Don't forget - you can also see our planned forward route on our website here (although it is being tweaked every day in response to unfolding events.)

And how is Tim?
 
How times change… While settling down to some wonderful Naga cuisine in the middle of nowhere, we were ambushed by a video call from York. On the screen was none other than Tim Slessor! Now on the road to recovery after falling ill in Singapore, he was having a catch-up lunch with TLO's home team, and Oxford’s owner/restorer, Adam Bennett.

Tim and Adam were celebrating TLO’s 8-page spread in the latest edition of Land Rover Monthly, written by our mate Patrick Cruywagen who joined us for the first week of our expedition. Patrick kindly dubbed TLO "the mother of all road trips" - we rather liked that. While we were on the call, we asked Tim him if he had a message to share with his fans. He did!

Tim also let slip where he ideally wants to rejoin the expedition, a moment all of us (and many of you!) can’t wait for. But you’ll have to tune in next time for more on that…
 

Where next?
 
From Kaziranga we rejoin the same road through Assam that the First Overlanders traversed 64 years ago, as we head on towards Darjeeling, and after that Nepal. The team are well (although we’re all missing our loved ones out here in the wilderness), and Oxford is coughing and spluttering a little due to the dust and dodgy fuel (as are a couple of us!)

We've also started putting the plans in place for Oxford's homecoming celebrations in December. More on that soon...
 
Until then, keep on rolling!
 
Team TLO x

Tales from the Road: Volume 2

Thank you for signing up for the official newsletter of The Last Overland expedition, and for being part of history in the making. Here you’ll have access to all the latest news and events before the rest of the world gets to see!

Are you following us online too? Don't miss out! #TheLastOverland

…and they’re off!

Thank you Singapore! We couldn't have asked for a more extraordinary send-off for The Last Overland Team on Sunday. The convoy that formed behind the 64-year-old Oxford car set a new Singaporean record for the most Land Rovers ever gathered in one place (95!) Roads were closed and police riders set the pace as Oxford thundered towards the first border crossing - now that's how to start a journey...

A huge thank you to all the Land Rover owners and spectators who came down to wish us well. As Nigel Newbery of the First Overland said on stage in Singapore - "we didn't quite get a crowd like this when we set off in 1955!" You can relive the moment here on Channel News Asia.

Amid the happy chaos of Sunday's Flag Off came some sad news. TLO's dynamic talisman, Tim Slessor - the man whose dream to relive the adventures of his youth brought us all together - was suddenly taken ill in Singapore hours before the Flag Off. After making an astonishing recovery from recent surgery, he was in Singapore ready to join the start of the expedition he had inspired.

Sadly, life often doesn't follow the fairy tale script, and Tim was forced to change his plans and sit out the start. However, we can now share the good news that he's been cleared by the doctors to return to the UK, where he'll be recuperating until he can rejoin the expedition. Yesterday he recorded a message for his fans in Malaysia, and we wanted to share it with you all first.

LINK: https://vimeo.com/356683149
PASSWORD: GetWellTim

All of us on the TLO team are badly missing him as we journey on (Tim wouldn't stand for any dithering). If you'd like to send a get well message to Tim, Oxford's owner/restorer Adam Bennett is kindly offering to forward letters to him:

Tim Slessor c/o Adam Bennett, 58 Gillygate, York, YO31 7EQ England UK

In the meantime, Oxford's door remains slightly ajar for Tim to join whenever he's ready. (It's currently letting in the monsoon rains in Thailand, so please hurry up Mr. S!)

But as Tim would say himself, the show must go on! And what a show it's been. With Tim's grandson Nat carrying the family torch, the response to Oxford and our team in Malaysia and Thailand has been phenomenal. We've been carried through the first few hundred miles of our journey on a wave of hospitality and good will. We never expected quite so many police escorts, free lunches and photo sessions!

Luckily some of our fans in Malaysia have already made a highlights reel of our visit to what they call "The Land of the Land Rovers", which you can watch below. It just goes to show how the spirit of adventure (and the love of these wonderful old cars) is something that unites us all. 

Today Oxford is speeding through southern Thailand (where the First Overlanders really struggled for any proper roads!), and the convoy is working hard to keep up. The Doc seems to spend an inordinate amount of time greasing her nipples each morning, but Oxford's happily chewing up the miles so it must be doing some good.

In a few days time we'll be reaching Bangkok, and then onwards into Burma - a place dear to many in our team, as it is to Tim.

Until then - keep on rolling!

Team TLO

Tales from the Road: Volume 1

Thank you for signing up for the official newsletter of The Last Overlandexpedition, and for being part of history in the making. Here you’ll have access to all the latest news and events before the rest of the world gets to see!

Are you following us online too? Don't miss out! #TheLastOverland

“Never has so much disorganisation been caught on camera.”

So wrote Tim Slessor in his diary on September 1st September 1955, describing the scene at the Grenadier Pub in Belgravia. He and five friends were packing two Series One Land Rovers, as a throng of journalists looked on.

They were making final preparations before embarking on an historic journey – “The Oxford & Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition”. Six months and 18,000 miles later, Tim and his friends made history by parking up at the Rover Garage in Singapore. The ‘First Overland’ was born.

On Wednesday night, almost exactly 64 years later, Tim stood on the very same spot outside that very same pub to address a crowd of supporters and journalists. This time, he was taking part in the launch of his latest adventure – The Last Overland. Tim’s spirit of adventure has not been dimmed by age!

The crowds gathered outside the pub were witness to a truly touching moment, when Tim revealed his grandson Nat would be joining the upcoming expedition. Tim, who is recovering from recent surgery, relayed how Nat had offered to make sure there was a Slessor on the trip no matter what.

Tim - accompanied by Adam Bennett - owner/restorer of the famous ‘Oxford’ Land Rover - and his two First Overland teammates Patrick Murphy & Nigel Newbery, handed over a set of keys to Oxford for Nat’s safekeeping. We’re all wishing Tim the speediest of recoveries and he’ll be joining the expedition he inspired as soon as he’s fit and well.

Tim Slessor spoke about the thrill of sharing this journey with his grandson: “We (The First Overland) team embarked on this journey when we were in our early twenties, and at that age, you make the impossible, possible. To be able to share this journey with Nat, a young and would-be explorer, is quite moving as The Last Overland now represents both a family journey and an adventure of a lifetime.”

Despite just completing a degree in economics, Nat George has a keen interest in geography, and can’t wait to explore the world. The youngest member of the Overland team shares his excitement for the expedition, “Growing up, I have heard so much about The First Overland from my Grandpa. His passion and enthusiasm have greatly inspired me, and I’m very grateful to be able to be part of the journey started by him. The furthest I’ve driven in the past is London to Newcastle, so this will be an eye-opening experience for me!”

We were delighted to be joined by so many of our official supporters – including Singapore Tourism Board, Opihr Gin, Revolut, Dometic, battleface, Bremont, Hagerty, Fortnum & Mason and Lonely Planet - without whom we’d never be able to undertake this mammoth endeavour. You can read more about our supporters, and why they’re backing the expedition, here.