Overlanders' Handbook : Trailblazer

INTRODUCTION                            8
PART 1: PLANNING & PREPARATION                       9
    A plan 10 – Which continent 11 – Seasons and Climate 12 – Time and 
    Money 14 – Fuel prices 15 – Overlanding: what are the alternatives? 16
    Getting information 19 – Travel documents 21 – Visas 21 – Insurance 24
    Vehicle documents 25 – Carnet 27 – Money and currencies 29
    Sponsorship 31

PART 2: CHOOSING A VEHICLE                      34
    Paris to Peking 35 – What car, van or truck? 36 – Regional differences 37
    Renting, Mick Baines 38 – Payload 41 – Manual or Auto 43 – ECUs 46
    Ground clearance 49 – Buying abroad 52 – Diesel fuel 54 – Petrol 60
    Two-wheel drive 62 – MPVs and vans 65 – Cab-over flatbeds 71 – Dual rear
    tyres 75 – Towing trailers 76 – GVW 81 – Motorhomes 82 – Campervans 84
    Mountable cabins 87

PART 3: 4X4s                          89
    4WD 90 – ETC 94 – Choosing a 4x4 95 – Toyota Land Cruisers 99
    Land Rover Defenders 114 – Defenders in the USA, Nick Taylor – 125 – Land 
    Rover Discovery 132 – Nissan Patrols 136 – Mercedes G-Wagens,
    Russ Humphreys 139 – Double-cab pickups 144 – 4WD trucks 145
    Ex-military trucks 148 – Mercedes Unimog 157 – Iveco Daily, Richard 
    Clafton 161 – Fuso and Isuzu, John Marano 164 – Best North American 
    overlanders, Scott Brady & Chip Haven 169

PART 4: MODIFYING YOUR VEHICLE                  173
    Overland, not overload 173 – Redundancy 174 – Mechanical assessment 175 
    Engine 176 – Transmission 181 – Suspension 183 – Tyres and wheels 
    190 – Tyre speed rating 194 – Compressors 197 – Extra lighting, Matt 
    Savage 201 – Road-car specific modifications 202 

PART 5: CONVERTING A VEHICLE                      207
    Long-range fuel and water 211 – Where to sleep 227 – Roof tents 230 
    Packing and storage 239 – Roof racks 247 – Electrics 251 – Auxillary 
    batteries 254 – Solar power 258 – Inverters 262 – Lighting 264 – Cooking 
    on the road 265 – Gas stoves 267 – Ovens 272 – Fridges 275

PART 6: BUILDING A CABIN                     281
    Self-build strategy 284 – Chassis torsion 288 – Power and heating 294
    Shower and toilet 295 – Building and mounting a cabin 303 – Materials 306
    Insulation 311 – Plumbing 315 – Cabin cooling and heating 321 
    Case study: MAN 8.136 conversion, Gareth ‘Stan’ Healey 323

PART 7: DRIVING OVERLAND                  327
    Shakedown trip 327 – Culture shock 330 – Driving abroad 332 – Borders
    and checkpoints 337 – Women driving alone, Lorraine Chittock 340 – Maps     and route finding 342 – GPS & Satnav 346 – Navigation 350 – Vehicle
    maintenance and troubleshooting 353 – Fault diagnosis 356 – Spares list 
    363 – Tyre repairs 364 – Dirt-road driving 369 – Off-road recovery 387
    Single vehicle shipping, Doug Hackney 403

PART 8: LIFE ON THE ROAD                    422
    Changing money and bargaining 422 – Keeping in touch, Nick Taylor 425  
    Satellite phones 429 – Mobile internet 430 – Filming your trip 431
    Wild camping 438 – Adventures in food on the overland trail, Jan Rutters
    441 – Health for overlanders, Claire Davies 443 – First aid kit 446 
    Accidents 449 – Stomach ailments 450 – Malaria 453 – When things go 
    wrong 458 – Road accidents 459 – Robbery 461 – Survival situations 464  
    Honey let’s take the kids, John Higham 466 – Taking the dog, Lorraine 
    Chittock 473

PART 9: ASIA: ROUTE OUTLINES                   479
    Planning 479 – Map: West Asia 480 – Carnets in Asia 480
    Turkey 483 – Caucasus and the Caspian, Charlie Weatherill 484
    Syria and the Middle East 489 (Syria 489 – Jordan 490 – To Egypt via Israel
       or the Red Sea Ferry, Jan Rutters 490)
    Iran, Andy Pag 496
    Pakistan 499 (Baluchistan 500 – Northern Pakistan and the KKH 501)
    India, Charlie Weatherill 507 (Map: India and Central Asia 509 – Kashmir
       and Ladakh 514)
    Nepal and Tibet, Andy Pag 516 – Myanmar (Burma) 518
    Shipping across the Bay of Bengal, Charlie Weatherill 519 
    Russia, Charlie Weatherill 521 (Western Russia 530 – Baikal Northside
       (BAM) 530 – East of Irkutsk 534 – Map: Russian Far East 535 – The Amur
       Highway to Vladivostok 538 – Bering Strait, Mac MacKenney 540)
    Central Asia, Charlie Weatherill 542
    Mongolia, Charlie Weatherill 554 
    South Korea, Phil Flanagan 561
    Southeast Asia, Charlie Weatherill 563 (Map: Southeast Asia 564)
    Overlanding in China, Charlie Weatherill 572

PART 10: AFRICA: ROUTE OUTLINES                   577
    Practicalities 577 – Carnets in Africa 579
    Maps: North Africa 586, Southern Africa 621
    Trans-African routes 581 
    North Africa and the Sahara 582 (Crossing the Sahara 582 – Tunisia,
       Algeria and Libya 583 – Morocco and Mauritania 585)
    West Africa 590 (Senegal 591 – Mali and Burkina Faso 591 – East towards
       Chad or Nigeria 594 – Nigeria, Andy Pag and Darrin Johansen 595
    Western Route via Angola, Darrin Johansen 599 (Cameroon 599 – Gabon
       to Angola 601 – Congo 602 – Cabinda 604 – Congo Ferry to Kinshasa 605    
       DRC 606 – Angola 609)
    The Nile Route 612 (Egypt 613 – Sudan 615 – Ethiopia 616 – The Omo
       valley route to Kenya 617 – Kenya via Marsabit 618)
    East Africa, Enzo Elphick-Pooley & Dawie du Plessis (Kenya 619 – Nairobi 620 
       Kenya to Tanzania 625 – South of Tanzania 626 – Tanzania to Malawi 629
       Tanzania to Mozambique 631 – Mozambique 631 – Zambia to Botswana
       632 – Zimbabwe 632)
    Overlanding in Southern Africa, Pat Garrod 636
    Shipping from South Africa to the UK, Jan Rutters 643

PART 11: LATIN AMERICA: ROUTE OUTLINES               646
    Practicalities 646 – Map: Central & South America 649
    Mexico and Central America, Graham Jackson 650 (Baja 653 – Mainland 
      654 – Belize 656 – Guatemala 658 – Honduras 659 – El Salvador 660
       Nicaragua 660 – Costa Rica 661 – Panama 662)
    Shipping around the Darien 663
    South America 667 (Routes in South America 667 – Map: South America 668        Peru 673 – Bolivia 674 – Chile and Argentina 675 – Shipping out of   
      Buenos Aires, Kristin Brinner 679 – Colombia and Venezuela, Phil
       Flanagan 680 – The Guyanas 678 – Northeast Brazil 684)
    Across the Amazon north to south, Silviu Stanescu, Phil Flanagan 685

PART 12: NOTES FROM THE ROAD                       690

The Trail of the Turtles    Gary Wescott             690

Sahara: The Empty Quarter    Chris Scott            696
Full Timing in the Hotel Benz    Arno Waal                707
Learning to Live in the Now    Richard & Amanda Ligato    712
Low Profile Overlanding    Jurgen Stroo            717
The Rivers of Asia    Charlie Weatherill & Nina Alton    721
Our Big Overland Adventure    Hannah, Noah, Jake & Eden B    726

APPENDIX

A Short History of Roads                 731

ABOUT THE OVERLANDERS’ HANDBOOK CONTRIBUTORS    735

SUPPLIERS’ DIRECTORY               736 

INDEX                     745